MP CELEBRATES FREE MILK IN SCHOOLS

MEDIA RELEASE

19th September 2013

Ian Mearns, MP for Gateshead, acted as milk monitor for the day in Bensham Grove Day Care in celebration of World School Milk Day.

To mark the event Bensham Grove encouraged children to drink milk and understand the nutritional benefits milk provides, alongside hundreds of schools and nurseries across the UK throughout September and October 2013.

Mr Mearns said “I’m delighted to support “World School Milk Day”. Milk is an essential food for young people, helping the healthy development of bones, teeth and muscles. World School Milk Day helps to highlight these positive health benefits and the importance of milk as part of a balanced and healthy diet”

World School Milk Day is on Wednesday 25th September. An initiative driven globally by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, World School Milk Day is funded in the UK by Cool Milk, the country’s leading school milk supplier.

The annual event, held on the last Wednesday in September, has been celebrated by children drinking milk in schools and early years settings in over 30 countries around the world since 2000.

In the UK, an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five receive free milk every day, while pupils aged five to eleven receive subsidised milk.

Delivered fresh to the classroom, the milk is enjoyed as a group, promoting social development and independence. Milk is vital for building healthy bones and teeth and improves a child’s concentration, memory and creativity.

Denise Henry, Head Teacher at Bensham Grove Nursery School, and Christine Smith, 4Children Daycare Manager say : “At Bensham Grove Drinking milk on a daily basis is something which Bensham Grove Nursery School and 4Children Daycare believe is very important. We know that a glass of milk every day will provide an important boost to a child’s daily calcium intake and ensure that they develop healthy bones and teeth. Councillor Angela Douglas, Gateshead’s Cabinet member for Children and Young People, says: “It has long been recognised that good nutrition can really help to improve a child’s concentration and boost their performance at school. That’s as true in nursery education as it is in secondary schools.  Milk is the perfect way of giving children that vital nutritional boost.

“With many families really struggling to make ends meet, free nursery milk has never been more important. It means that parents can be reassured that their children are getting what they need to help them to grow and to help them make the most of their day.

Our children love to visit our snack area where as well as the fun social opportunities, their drink of milk will provide them with the energy they need for a busy stimulating nursery environment!”

For more information about World School Milk Day, please visit www.worldschoolmilkday.com

Images of the visit are available at:

http://flickr.com/gp/100675627@N07/Qh20H4/

PLEASE CLICK ‘SETS’. Relevant images and information regarding them will be stored in the folder named in accordance with the school or nursery. Names of those within the image are detailed in each images’ ‘tags’ (left to right).

For more information please call Charley Sowden from Shooting Star PR on M: 07971 200 510 T: 01522 528540 or E: charley@thisisblyth.com

Notes to Editor:

• Cool Milk is the UK’s leading school milk supplier, working in partnership with local authorities and early years groups to supply free and subsidised school milk to children in pre-schools, nurseries, and primary schools across the UK.

• The 1944 Education Act introduced a free milk clause which gave a free glass (1/3 pint) of milk to all school children in the United Kingdom under the age of 18. Today, under the Welfare Food Scheme run by the Department of Health, under-fives are still eligible for free school milk. Milk is also subsidised for school children aged five to 11 by the European Union under the European school milk scheme.

• It is recognised that there are a wide range of health benefits from drinking milk.
  
  

For more information call Charley Sowden from Shooting Star PR on M: 07971 200 510 T: 01522 528540 or E: charley@thisisblyth.com

Charley Sowden
Shooting Star PR
01522 528 540
charley@thisisblyth.com

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