OLYMPIC bronze medallist Tony Jeffries and former Sunderland AFC football player Craig Russell have joined in celebrations of a programme aimed at improving health awareness of young people.
Dozens of children from across Sunderland took part in a special festival at the city’s Crowtree Leisure Centre today.
Heart of the Game is a programme of classroom based and physical activity sessions that focus on heart health for primary and secondary schools in Sunderland, South Tyneside and Durham.
It is funded by Subway and Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Grant.
Pupils learn about how their heart works, what makes a healthy diet and try out activities including athletics and football to get their heart beating faster.
Sunderland AFC Foundation also uses its Active Bus to give health MOTs to children taking part, measuring their heart rate, body fat and other health indicators.
Since the programme was launched in January, 433 youngsters have taken part in the 10-week programme, with participants showing a 90 per cent improvement in knowledge of heart health.
Heart Research UK national director Barbara Harpham said: "Heart of the Game has been a great success in terms of helping young people to adapt and develop healthy habits that will benefit their heart health in the long term."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here