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Greggs Tackling Health

Premiership Rugby and Northampton Saints are proud to present a schools programme that helps teachers and parents prevent the ‘obesity epidemic’ among children in England’s primary schools, where one in three children leave primary school overweight.

Tackling Health is a free interactive education programme designed to help teachers embed physical literacy skills and build better understanding and habits among seven and eight year olds in Years 3 and 4. 

Tackling Health is funded by Greggs Foundation and designed to educational and dietary standards set by Change for Life, Public Health England’s public health campaign. 

It will be delivered in classrooms across England by Premiership Rugby clubs but will also make teaching materials available over the internet, with the programme aiming to help over 30,000 children over two years.


2018/19 PROGRAMME

Saints' 2018/19 Tackling Health programme wrapped back in May, funded by Greggs Foundation with a showcase day at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens wrapping the 2018/19 term.

The day saw 12 schools from across the region converge on Northampton to put the skills they had learned in the programme to the test.

First taking part in a healthy sandwich making challenge, with their efforts judged by members of the Greggs Foundation, before the students were treated to a tour of cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, learning about how Northampton Saints plays in developing players off the pitch as well as on it. 

Eleanor Thompson, a teacher at Our Lady of Walsingham Primary School, said:

“The children have really enjoyed the delivery in school and were really excited to come to the stadium which many of them haven’t visited before. Walking past Dylan Hartley and touring the ground has helped them learn and understand more about the Saints.” Said Eleanor Thompson teacher from Our Lady of Walsingham Primary.

“Having Saints involved in the project has raised the profile of the project and adds another dynamic to health eating."

Eleanor Thompson, teacher at Our Lady of Walsingham Primary

“Having Saints involved in the project has raised the profile of the project and adds another dynamic to health eating, as well as engaging the children in Northampton Saints as a club.”

After tucking into the healthy sandwiches they created earlier in the day, the students then took part in a festival of tag rugby on the back pitches at the Gardens, showcasing the practical skills they’d picked up along the course of the programme. 

Tracy Lynch, Head of Greggs Foundation, added: 

“The Greggs foundation have always work in areas of real need and over the last few years have highlighted children’s health and decided that working with the Saints and other premiership clubs would be a great way to tackle some of those problems. 

Rugby is a great fit for this programme due to its inclusivity as well as its great values which are important to us, we’re just here to support and provide funding, the real work is done by the community teams across all the clubs.”

“We’ve loved delivering the Greggs Tackling Health project this year, and the schools have been really receptive to the messages we have been sharing.” Ben Lawrence, Rugby Development Officer and programme manager for Northampton Saints. “Having the support from the Greggs Foundation on projects like this enable us to really make a difference in important areas across our schools, and healthy eating and lifestyles underpin everything we do across Northampton Saints Community.” 

For more information and to download key Tackling Health resources visit www.premiershiprugby.com/tacklinghealth and for more information on the Greggs Foundation please visit www.greggsfoundation.org.uk

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