16 March 2009
St Genevieve's students take part in pilot project.
Local pupils taking a healthy approach to living an active life
St Genevieve's students take part in pilot project.
The girls at St Genevieve's High School are being encouraged to choose an "Active Life" through their lunch time menu choices. The Active Life scheme aims to work as an incentive for local pupils to examine their options in the school restaurant wiht the opportunity to win rewards for those who make the healthiest choices. Said St Genevieve's Principal Mirella Smith "As educators we are ever more awer of the responsibility to equip the girls with the knowledge and skills to grow into healthy adults. Marking the right choices is a very important part of that. We are delighted to be the pilot school for the scheme and are confident that our pupils will enjoy the challenge of picking the "Active Life" choice and the chance to earn rewards for their efforts".
Interserve, the school's facilities management provider, and Mount Charles Catering are working in partnership wiht local suppliers North Down Food Group, Belfast City Council and the West Belfast Cineplex to launch the Active Life scheme. Running from Monday March 2nd to Wednesday 8th April, the three stage scheme operates by giving each pupil a loyalty card that will be stamped every time they pick the "Active Life" choice on the menu on a particular day.
After filling the card with 4 loyalty stamps the pupils put their names on the card to enter a draw, with 100 lucky winners sure of a prize. Aidan McCuaig, Contract Manager with Interserve, said "Interserve is delighted to be promoting such as excellent scheme and helping to drive healthy eating for all pupils as St Genevieve's."
Positive Changes
"We hope this scheme will be a success in encouraging and educating the girls to make a positive change to their eating habits".
To celebrate Active Life's launch Mount Charles have donated a corporate box at the Odyssey Arena for a Belfast Giants Ice Hockey game as an extra special prize for winners who can bring along a friend. Regional Manager for Education & Healthcare at Mount Charles, Caitriona Lennox, explained the rationale behind the scheme and why her company picked St Genevieve's as the pilot school. "As the leading local independent catering company we wanted to help our partners in schools reinforce the message that young people must take responsibility for their health and life-style. We needed an innovative way to encourage pupils to think about diet and the effects on their well-being so we designed "Active Life", she added.
