Hertfordshire Catering signs up Saracen rugby players to promote school dinners

Hertfordshire Catering has signed up the Saracens rugby union team to help convert more school children to the benefits of having a school meal.

The St. Albans team is collaborating with Hertfordshire county council’s school meals provider for 12 days of competitions aimed at encouraging children towards a healthy lifestyle.

“This is a great way for children to enjoy a nutritious school lunch and take part in an exciting competition with some brilliant prizes on offer,” said Lin O’Brien, head of Hertfordshire Catering. “The Saracens are ideal ambassadors for us to team up with and to encourage young people to link healthy eating with activity and keeping fit.”

Every day there will be a set of different posters highlighting either food or sporting facts displayed in school dining rooms with a question for children to answer.
Pupils having a school lunch will also be given a special sticker each day for 12 days to arrange on a collector’s card to make a complete ‘spot-the-ball’ picture. The children must then guess where the rugby ball should have been.

The campaign, aimed at primary school pupils, starts today. Prizes include a family trip to Wembley Stadium to watch the Saracens play rival team the Harlequins for the overall winner; a Saracens shirt signed by the 2010 squad; and prize vouchers worth £300.

Other prizes include a Saracens goody bag for the winner drawn from each school taking part. Players from the Saracens will visit schools to award the top prizes and meet the winners and their classmates.

School meal uptake in Hertfordshire for October to December 2009 has seen an increase of 5.3% against the same period in 2008, which accounts for an additional 1,998 meals served each day.

Football star Jonathan Woodgate helps promote healthy school dinners >>

Only 1% of packed lunches in primary schools meet nutritional standards >>

Free school dinner pilot boosts uptake in County Durham to 86% >>

School Food Trust launches £1 school dinner campaign in North Somerset >>


By Janie Stamford

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