At Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál in Inchicore, the school day doesn’t begin with spelling tests, maths tables or geography lessons.

Instead, there’s a 15-minute run around the local park and sports grounds.

By the time they come back, say teachers, the children are re-energised and have better focus and concentration.

Since the school started the “Daily Mile” last year, the improvement in students’ fitness has been striking.

Pupils across the board have greater stamina, are running faster and are performing better in other sports.

Read more here: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/daily-mile-improving-schoolchildren-s-fitness-and-self-esteem-1.3869673 

We are delighted to announce that The Daily Mile has been nominated in the category of ‘Best programme or campaign to increase participation’.

The Federation of Irish Sport has announced the shortlist of finalists for the 2019 Sport Industry Awards today (April 5th 2019).  The awards were set up in 2015 to highlight the contribution that sport makes to Ireland’s economy both directly and indirectly. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Monday 15th of April in the Crown Plaza Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. The Awards recognise and reward excellence in the business of sport, whilst simultaneously highlighting the contribution of sport to Ireland.

A women in sport award, under the banner of 20×20, will be a new addition to the award ceremony this year in a move towards showcasing the increasing contribution and value of women in sport in Ireland. In all a total of 14 awards will be distributed on the night, reflecting the diverse nature of Irish sport.

Speaking at the announcement of the short-list, Mary O’Connor, CEO, Federation of Irish Sport, said “The awards were set up to highlight the importance of the business of sport in Ireland and the value of sport to the Irish economy.  Today sport supports almost 40,000 jobs, represents almost €2.4 billion in household expenditure and has been estimated to contribute almost €1.9 billion in tourism revenue.  And that is beyond all of the other contributions sport makes in areas such as health, inclusivity, diversity and reputation both at home and abroad.”

The winners will be determined by a judging panel drawn from both the business and sporting community.   The panel is Cliona O’Leary, RTE Sport, Athlete Fiona Coghlan, Carol Andrews, BNY Mellon & 30& Club Founder, Amanda Harton, JLT Insurance, Sinead Galvin, Galvin Sports Management, David McHugh, Line Up Sports, Gerry McDermott, Fingal County Council, Miriam Malone, Paralympics Ireland and Jill Downey, Core. The panel is chaired by Sport for Business founder and past Irish Sport Industry Award winner Rob Hartnett.

Shortlists:

Best Sporting event of the year:

• World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships
• Ladies Gaelic Football LIDL All Ireland final
• All Ireland Hurling Final
• Guinness Series – Ireland v New Zealand
• SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon

Best Sports Sponsorship of the year:

• Vodafone & IRFU
• LIDL & Ladies Gaelic Football
• Liberty & Camogie
• SoftCo & Hockey
• Allianz & Paralympics

Best Sports Business of the year:

• Orrecco
• Sport for Business
• Croke Park Stadium
• Kitman labs
• Line Up Sports

Best New Sports Business of the year:

• Galvin Sports Management
• Leading Sport
• ND Sports Performance
• Uppercut
• Profile 90

Best use of Social media by an organisation:

• Basketball Ireland
• Gymnastics Ireland
• AIG
• Horse Sport Ireland
• LIDL

Best Sports Media outlet of the year:

• The 42.ie
• Sport for Business
• GAA Now
• Irish Independent
• Pundit Arena

Jimmy Magee Sports Journalist of the year:

• Keith Duggan
• Kieran Shannon
• Ian O’Riordan
• Cliona Foley
• Mary Hannigan

Best sporting innovation of the year:

• FAI Walking Football
• South Dublin/FAI Frame Football
• Munster Rugby High performance training centre
• Park Run
• 20×20

Best programme or campaign to increase participation:

• Athletics Ireland – Daily Mile
• LIDL Ireland and LGFA
• Cork Sports Partnership – School sports programme
• Basketball Ireland – Junior NBA
• Badminton Ireland – Shuttle time schools programme

Inclusivity:

• Louth County Council Sports Unit – Sports Inclusion Disability Programme
• Gymnastics Ireland – GYMable
• Irish Sailing – Watersports Inclusion Games
• #GameOn Autism Golf Programme Ireland
• Irish Wheelchair Association

20×20

• Basketball Ireland – Women’s Coaching Forum
• Volleyball Ireland – Transition Year Women in Sport programme
• Dublin City Sports and Wellbeing Partnership – GAGA Programme
• Sara McFadden
• Waterford & FAI – Soccer for Girls

LSP initiative of the year

• Wexford Local Sports Partnership – Experiencing Success
• Wicklow Local Sports Partnership – Wicklow Warriors
• Cork Local Sports Partnership – HSE classes
• Limerick Local Sports Partnership – Sports Talk
• Fingal Local Sports Partnership – Athletics League

NGB of the year

• Horse Sport Ireland
• Gymnastics Ireland
• Cricket Ireland
• Basketball Ireland
• Special Olympics Ireland

Outstanding Achievement award will be announced on the night.

For further information please contact [email protected].

THE DAILY MILE FOUNDER RECEIVES MBE FOR HER SERVICES TO THE FITNESS OF CHILDREN

• The Daily Mile’s Founder, Elaine Wyllie, has received an MBE for ‘Services to the fitness of children’ in the New Year’s Honours list. Speaking at Buckingham Palace today, she said: ““In just a year, we have experienced monumental growth and now have 1.75 million children across 61 countries quite literally taking steps towards a healthier future with The Daily Mile.”
• In just one year, The Daily Mile has grown by 150% with 1.75 million children now running for 15 minutes every day.
• Over 5,000 UK schools and a further 3,000 schools across 61 countries now take part in The Daily Mile.

Elaine Wyllie, the founder of the well-known children’s fitness initiative, The Daily Mile, has received an MBE for services to the fitness of children as part of the New Year’s Honours list.

The recognition follows an incredible year of growth in which The Daily Mile’s popularity skyrocketed by 150%. Now over 8,200 schools in 61 countries with a total of 1.75 million children signed up to the life changing initiative aiming to make children fit for life. The initiative is now in 1/5^th of schools in England, 1/3^rd of Welsh schools and half of schools in Scotland.

Just six years ago the initiative was taking place at a single primary school in Stirling. Concerned about the children’s lack of physical fitness, The Daily Mile’s Founder, Elaine Wyllie, decided to get her pupils moving for 15 minutes every day to improve their overall fitness and wellbeing.

The Daily Mile is proven to work. Backed by hard evidence the initiative has been shown to improve children’s fitness, body composition and concentration in class. In the last 12 months it has been included as a key measure in the UK Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy – which aims to halve all childhood obesity by 2030; it has earned praise from Prime Minister Theresa May and cross-party MPs; and has developed strong partnerships with ITV, Sport England and London Marathon Events.

Speaking at her investiture ceremony, Elaine said: “In just a year, we have experienced monumental growth and now have 1.75 million children across 61 countries quite literally taking steps towards a healthier future with The Daily Mile. I am delighted by the growth but hope this is just the start! Our aim is to provide every child, at every school, the opportunity to experience the benefits of doing The Daily Mile.”

ENDS.

Media contacts

Media Zoo: Chris Hall – [email protected] – 07739 571 634