Press Release: Scoil Na Mainistreach Leads The Way

On Monday November 19th, Scoil Na Mainistreach National School in Celbridge, County Kildare hosted the Counties launch of The Daily Mile in association with Kildare Sports Partnership and Athletics Ireland.

Elaine Wyllie, founder of The Daily Mile UK was delighted to witness students from Scoil Na Mainistreach engaging in their daily 15 minutes of exercise.

“The Daily Mile started with my simple belief that it would help children lead more active lives and encourage the development of healthy habits for their futures,” said Elaine. “You look at the apple-cheeked and bright-eyed children enjoying their 15 minutes and you can straight away see the benefit. It helps children improve their health and fitness, and they go into class energised, ready to learn and focus.”

“The Daily Mile is wholly simple and fully inclusive. It introduces daily physical activity into children’s lives with the minimum of fuss. It takes place outside in the fresh air every day and it has the full support of parents and school staff. On reflection, The Daily Mile succeeds because the barriers to participation in physical activity are removed.”

Ray D’Arcy, Chairman of Kildare Sports Partnership, has long been an advocate of The Daily Mile and Elaine Wyllie has appeared as a guest on his RTE radio show on a few occasions.

“It’s a fantastic initiative. Anything that gets schoolkids active every day irrespective of their level of fitness has to be supported. It is great to see Kildare Sports Partnership and Athletics Ireland working together to promote The Daily Mile in Primary Schools all over the county,“ Ray said. “When you see the enthusiasm of the teachers and children for The Daily Mile here at Scoil Na Mainistreach, it tells you why this initiative promoted by Athletics Ireland is becoming so popular in Primary Schools all over the country.”

Syl Merrins, Co-ordinator with Kildare Sports Partnership, said: “The Kildare Sports Partnership wants to encourage all Primary Schools in the county to adopt The Daily Mile.”

“All schools that register with Kildare Sports Partnership will receive a Kildare Calendar for The Daily Mile and will also be invited to an Awards Ceremony in April 2019 hosted by Kildare LSP. We are delighted to have representatives from Celbridge Athletic Club and Castletown parkrun Celbridge with us who are wonderful supporters of exercise activities in”

School Principal at Scoil Na Mainistreach, Matthew Heffernan was also fulsome in his praise and support for The Daily Mile. “We are delighted to host this Kildare launch of The Daily Mile and we see and appreciate the many benefits that The Daily Mile delivers for both teachers and children,“ he said.

Athletics Ireland CEO Hamish Adams confirmed that over four hundred Primary Schools across Ireland have already signed up for The Daile Mile. “Athletics Ireland, in association with the Local Sports Partnerships, is leading the promotion of The Daily Mile Ireland,“ he said. “It is great to witness The Daily Mile in action here at Scoil Na Mainistreach and it is also nice to welcome The Daily Mile founder Elaine Wyllie to the school.”

Kildare primary schools can register for The Daily Mile Kildare by emailing Kildare Sports Partnership at [email protected] or by registering at www.thedailymile.ie.