Japanese pharma group Takeda has partnered up with national charity SportInspired to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of youths living in certain parts of the UK.
The Active Communities, Brighter Future initiative will see over 200 school children – between the ages of 8 and 9 – participate in the project, which will be implemented in three phases until the end of the 2018 academic year.
Building on the government’s 2016 childhood obesity strategy, the first phase of the project aims to promote healthy eating and wellbeing by introducing five simple activities into the participant’s daily life.
Richard Raynes, chief executive officer of SportInspired, said: “Across the UK, nearly a third of children are obese or overweight.
“In Buckinghamshire, almost 27% of children aged 10-11 are overweight or obese and in Slough, that figure rises to 38%.
“By increasing the level of sport among young people, we hope to transform the local community by improving mental wellbeing, addressing obesity and preventing chronic illness in the future.”
Supporting SportInspired’s vision, phase two will see children partake in the day-long festival of wellbeing which will take place on 25 January 2018. Various sports – such as taekwondo, fencing and yoga – will be offered to the children so they can “try out sports that may not usually be open to them”.
Following the festival, the children will then decide which sport they would like to keep practising and each of the seven participating schools – based in Slough, Maidenhead and South Buckinghamshire – will offer the activity as an after-school club for the rest of the school year.
This will be the third phase of the project, which aims to develop positive, habit-forming sustainable change.
Adam Zaeske, managing director of Takeda UK and Ireland, said: “Takeda and SportInspired share the same vision of a healthier and more active society, and I am proud of the enthusiasm my colleagues have shown for this programme.
“We look forward to working in partnership with our community to achieve lasting impact for school children.”
Takeda staff volunteers will join SportInspired in delivering the Festival of Wellbeing event and supporting after-school sports clubs.
In addition, both companies will deliver ‘Young Leader’ training sessions to 35 young people – aged between 13 and 14 – helping them develop employability skills.