Watergrasshill National School is celebrating this week after being chosen as the regional winner of the Lidl Fit Factor, a fun competition designed to promote healthy eating and physical activity, developed in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation.

Watergrasshill NS, who go on to represent Munster, will now join four other primary schools from across the Republic of Ireland to go head to head and compete for the top prize of €5,000 worth of sports equipment vouchers and the honour of being crowned ‘Lidl Fit Factor champions’. But they need your help!

Already, Watergrasshill NS has won a bonus of €500 worth of sports equipment vouchers and €500 of Lidl vouchers, just by being chosen as a regional winner. Over 20,000 3rd and 4th class pupils took part in the Lidl Fit Factor competition, which was designed to help teach aspects of the SPHE curriculum in a fun and enjoyable manner.

AMBITIOUS SCHOOL

Speaking to The Avondhu this week, principal Pat O’Brien was naturally delighted with the school’s success, “I’m delighted for the teachers and 3rd class pupils who took this project on. The competition took into account in all things healthy which the school have in place, including a healthy eating policy and our ‘Fruity Friday’.”

Going for an impressive 4th Green Flag, Mr O’Brien said “This also ties in nicely with the Green Flag for transport, which we are currently in the process of securing. We hope to have this in place by the end of the year and with a view to this we have a ‘Walk only Wednesday’ and ‘Park ‘n’ Stride’ programmes in place, which encourage a healthy lifestyle choice”.

Commenting on the competition, Caitriona McCarry, Lidl Ireland, said: “Watergrasshill National School now has a fantastic opportunity to clinch one of the top prizes, but they need the local community to get behind them and vote for the class, so get voting now!”

Maureen Mulvihill, Irish Heart Foundation, said: “Congratulations to Watergrasshill NS and all the other finalists. Many lifelong habits are formed during a child’s early years therefore communicating positive healthy lifestyle messages such as a varied diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and encouraging physical activity, will help children adopt a positive outlook to food and exercise. These crucial life lessons will lead to a healthier lifestyle in adulthood and hopefully reduce their future risk of heart problems by a significant amount.”

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

All you have to do to help Watergrasshill NS in their quest is log onto www.fitfactor.ie and follow the link to register your vote. Voting opened on Monday this week and will finish on Friday, 22nd February at 5pm.

The overall winners will be chosen based on the following criteria: 40% on the number of votes received; 60% on the decision of the independent judging panel, consisting of high calibre personalities Derval O’Rourke (Irish sprint hurdles athlete); Kevin McLaughlin (Ireland and Leinster rugby); Michael Conlan (boxer and Olympic bronze medallist) and representatives’ of both the Irish Heart Foundation and Lidl Ireland.

Fantastic runners-up prizes are also at stake with 2nd place receiving €3,000; and 3rd place €2,000 worth of sports equipment vouchers. To find out more information on the Lidl Fit Factor visit www.fitfactor.ie

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