Press Release: The Daily Mile Foundation announces, ‘Fit For Life’ a version of The Daily Mile for anyone aged 11+

  • The Daily Mile Foundation has created a version of The Daily Mile aimed at anyone 11+ in secondary schools, colleges, universities, workplaces, secure settings and retirement homes.
  • The initiative builds on the success of The Daily Mile in primary and nursery schools, with the total number of schools currently signed up to The Daily Mile at over 4,000, with over 700,000 children participating in 36 countries.
  • Elaine Wyllie, founder of The Daily Mile said, “It has been an incredible period of growth for The Daily Mile over the last few months. I am delighted to launch ‘Fit For Life’ as I strongly believe that just 15 minutes of daily physical activity can have powerful health and well-being benefits for everyone, regardless of age, ability or personal circumstance. It’s my hope that Fit For Life will build on the success of the children’s initiative and will lead to everyone taking part in The Daily Mile.“

The Daily Mile Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of ‘Fit For Life’. Fit For Life is inspired by the success of The Daily Mile, the highly successful children’s health and wellbeing initiative, which was started by Elaine Wyllie in 2012 as headteacher of a large Scottish Primary school.

The Daily Mile Foundation has now created a version of The Daily Mile aimed at anyone aged 11+ in secondary schools, colleges, universities, workplaces, secure settings and retirement homes.

The Daily Mile was founded to combat the growing epidemic of obesity, sedentary behaviour and inactivity which effects many children and can cause significant health risks in later life. The Daily Mile Foundation are aware that the same health problems associated with inactivity and sedentary behaviour can affect anyone and are particularly prevalent in increasingly sedentary workplaces. There are now over 4,000 schools participating in The Daily Mile and by participating they are enabling their children to have a positive transformational change to their health and well-being. We want to improve the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of everyone – regardless of age, ability or environment.

Motivated by the Scottish Government’s desire to be the first ‘Daily Mile Nation’, Fit For Life has been started with great success in Scottish Power, NHS Greater Clyde and Glasgow, Universities such as Heriot-Watt and Glasgow, and Dundee and Angus College. Outside of Scotland, INEOS had a highly successful Daily Mile challenge to get their 18,000 employees moving and Cornwall Council is also encouraging its employees to participate as well. Across these workplaces and universities more and more people are feeling the physical, social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing benefits of The Daily Mile.

The aim of The Daily Mile Fit For Life is to incorporate 15 minutes of self-paced physical activity (walking, jogging or running) into your daily life, to experience the benefits of regular exercise.

The Daily Mile is an easy step towards a healthier life, it costs nothing, it is social and non-competitive and you are in complete control of it. The Daily Mile has shown that regular physical activity has a positive impact on our health and wellbeing, and can help us to feel refreshed,
happier, more productive, and less stressed.

The Daily Mile, which was founded at St Ninians’ Primary School in Stirling by Elaine Wyllie is now growing at its fastest ever rate. The popular children’s initiative, which has formal backing from Scottish and Welsh governments, has seen its profile soar and experienced its highest period of growth ever having harnessed the power of television to engage with new audiences and broaden the reach of the message.

The campaign’s profile was furthered boosted from research findings announced by the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh, on 10th May. The study found that policymakers should consider introducing The Daily Mile to improve the health and fitness of schoolchildren around
the world. It confirmed that it boosts activity levels in class and improves fitness and body composition. The findings were reported across broadcast, print and online media.

Elaine Wyllie, founder of The Daily Mile said; ‘It has been an incredible period of growth for The Daily Mile over the last few months. I am delighted with the launch of ‘Fit For Life’ as I strongly believe that just 15 minutes of daily physical activity can have powerful health and well-being benefits for everyone, regardless of age, ability or personal circumstance. It’s my hope that Fit for Life will build on the successes of the children’s initiative and will lead to everyone taking part in The Daily Mile.’

The Daily Mile is simple, free and transferable across all settings. To get involved with Fit For Life, please visit www.thedailymilefitforlife.com and register your interest.

ENDS. 

 

Media contacts

The Daily Mile: Joseph Wade (+44) 207 384 6980 – (+44) 7758 074 576

The Daily Mile: Chris Hall (+44) 207 384 6980 – (+44) 7739 571 634

INEOS: Richard Longden (+41) 21 627 7063 – (+41) 79 962 61 23