Stewartstown Primary School '¨takes gold in Action Cancer awards

LOCAL SCHOOLS SCOOP AWARDS: Zoe Salmon, Jennifer Morton Centra, and Rebecca Dalzell Action Cancer along with Kendra Bolton (Teacher) Keera McElhennon and Jamie McElhennon pictured at the annual Health Action Awards, where Stewartstown Primary School, Dungannon scooped a Gold award. The Awards are part of Action Cancers unique Health Promotion Programme, sponsored by Centra, as part of the brands Live Well initiative. Fifty schools across Northern Ireland picked up awards for their innovative approach to good health promotion across various areas including, providing healthy meal options, promoting healthy snacks and water, encouraging extra-curricular exercise programmes and running cancer awareness initiatives. A full list of the 2017 award winners is available at www.actioncancer.org

Pupils from Stewartstown Primary School (Gold award) and St Mary’s Primary School, Fivemiletown (silver), joined thousands of schoolchildren across Northern Ireland at the annual Health Action Awards in Lisburn.

The awards are part of Action Cancer’s unique Health Promotion Programme, sponsored by Centra, as part of the brand’s ‘Live Well’ initiative. Now in its 15th year, the series has delivered healthy lifestyle messages to more than 11,000 young people in schools, nurseries and colleges this academic year and over 500,000 since its launch in 2003.

This year, 50 schools from across the North picked up awards for their innovative approach to health education, with the highest scoring schools in each Education and Library Board region receiving cash prizes of £200 for school equipment.

In addition, The Stewart Bryans Memorial Prize of £400 was awarded to Saint Pius X College, Magherafelt for demonstrating the best overall improvement this year to health education.

The schools awarded demonstrated good health promotion across various areas including providing healthy meal options in their cafeteria, promoting healthy snacks and water, encouraging extra-curricular exercise programmes and running cancer awareness initiatives.

Action Cancer Health Promotion Officer Amy Thompson said: “Our congratulations go to all of the schools recognised at this year’s Health Action Awards. We are delighted to be able to recognise the great work local schools carry out to provide their pupils with health education.

“It is so important for Action Cancer, with the support of Centra, to deliver our healthy lifestyle sessions and with our new-look programme we are looking forward to continuing to reach even more schoolchildren in the new term.”

Desi Derby, marketing manager for Musgrave said: “Through our partnership with Action Cancer, we are proud to support the promotion of healthy, active lifestyles for children across Northern Ireland.”

Throughout the partnership, more than 1,000 nurseries, schools and colleges in Northern Ireland have benefitted from the cancer prevention sessions, which includes information about keeping fit and active, eating well, being safe in the sun and avoiding the dangers of smoking and alcohol. The award-winning programme, has benefited from £1million support from Centra retailers in NI.