East Anglian based charity, Healthy Ambitions, is launching a pilot programme of Early Birds Breakfast Clubs, in five Suffolk primary schools, starting on 25th February 2013.
Healthy Ambitions is the local charity taking action to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Suffolk and beyond. Healthy Ambitions works with schools, businesses, colleges and community groups to promote heart health and physical wellbeing.
Early Birds Breakfast Clubs are run in partnership with locally based organisation Cook With Me Kids. Each school will receive an extra member of staff for six weeks to train volunteers to prepare healthy breakfasts and to teach the children about food and cooking as well as about where their food comes from. All the produce used in the breakfast clubs is locally and ethically sourced.
Chief Executive of Healthy Ambitions, Richard Powell, says, “We know how important a good breakfast is to a successful day at school, greatly improving concentration and behaviour in children. It can also be the start of a real understanding of healthy food that we hope will make these children Suffolk’s healthiest, whatever their background. Healthy Ambitions is all about action to make real change for people’s health in the county. With recent figures showing Suffolk to be the third worst performing authority for primary education, and with a direct correlation between child poverty and attainment, it is clear that action is needed for Suffolk’s schools.”
Emma Haines, Director of Cook With Me Kids, explains why the Early Birds Breakfast Clubs are about making a lasting difference; “By training volunteers, such as parents and family members, we can make this programme sustainable. This isn’t about a short, sharp injection of cash, but rather about fostering understanding and ownership of the project within the school, so it keeps on working to benefit more children. We are also delighted to be working with brilliant local suppliers to source high quality produce.”
Magic Breakfast, the national charity providing free, healthy breakfasts to hungry UK schoolchildren, (and which this year has been chosen as one of 10 Downing Street’s two charity partners for 2013), have given their support to the Early Birds Breakfast Clubs programme. Carmel McConnell, Chief Executive of Magic Breakfast, had this to say, “This is an important and welcome new initiative, providing a free healthy breakfast to children who need it most. The Healthy Ambitions team deserve praise for making it happen and we offer our support. A hungry child cannot concentrate, so if we want to make the most of our education system, we should make sure every child starts the day well fed and ready to learn. Magic Breakfast research shows that breakfast clubs can improve child attendance, punctuality, concentration and behaviour, so this pilot programme is a great social investment”.
The first breakfast club will be launched on Monday 25th February at Wickham Market, primary schools in Eyke, Ipswich and Felixstowe following soon.
If you would like to find out more about having an Early Birds Breakfast Club at your primary school, please contact Anne Gartley at Healthy Ambitions on 01473 786678 [email protected].
Notes
Healthy Ambitions is the local charity taking action to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Suffolk and beyond. Healthy Ambitions works with schools, businesses, colleges and community groups to promote heart health and physical wellbeing. Registered charity number 1142134. www.healthyambitionssuffolk.co.uk
Cook With Me Kids is a not-for-profit community interest company that is all about bringing real food to children and children to real food. Based in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, the organisation works with schools and groups to help teach children and adults the importance of healthy food and to understand its provenance. www.cookwithmekids.co.uk
Background information
1 in 6 Suffolk children live in poverty
Compared to their more affluent peers, children from the most deprived areas in Suffolk are:
- 4.5 times more likely to be absent from their lessons
- More likely to be in the lowest 20% achievers at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (age 5)
- Performing 63% lower at GCSE level (age 16)
- 34% more likely to be obese
- Three times more likely to be a teenage parent
- Have higher prevalence of mental health, ill health, behavioural and emotional disorders.
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