MP TO CELEBRATE FREE MILK IN SCHOOLS

MEDIA RELEASE

18th September 2013

Mike Thornton, MP for Eastleigh, will be acting as milk monitor for the day in Bursledon Church of England School in celebration of World School Milk Day. 

To mark the event, Bursledon Church of England School will be encouraging 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.

An initiative driven by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, World School Milk Day (25th September 2013) has celebrated children drinking milk in school 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 11 receive subsidised milk.

Delivered fresh to the classroom, the milk is enjoyed as a group, promoting responsibility, independence, manners and numeracy, and provides important social time in a child’s day. Milk is vital for building healthy bones and teeth and improves a child’s concentration, memory and creativity.

World School Milk Day is funded in the UK by Cool Milk, the country’s leading school milk supplier. Managing Director John Sedgwick said establishing good eating and social habits through milk schemes at an early age was a vital part of a child’s education.

“School milk provides a great boost for children because it is such a wholesome and nutritional product,” he said. “All children in nurseries and schools up and down the country should have access to school milk every day.”

Mike Thornton will be attending Bursledon Church of England School, Long Lane, Bursledon, Southampton S31 8BZ on 25/09/13 at 10.00am to act as honorary milk monitor. Photo and interview opportunities will be available on the day. For more information call Charley Sowden from Shooting Star PR on M: 07971 200 510 T: 01522 528540 or E: charley@thisisblyth.com

Notes to Editors:

• 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.
  
  

Tags: