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4 million children across more than 16,500 schools and
nurseries across 90 countries are now signed up to The Daily
Mile, the life-changing children’s health and wellbeing
initiative.
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2 million children taking part in England alone.
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The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, gets millions of children
active through 15-minutes of outdoor exercise to promote
positive physical, mental and social health.
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS: “INEOS has supported
the Daily Mile for years because it’s a free, simple, and
effective way to improve children’s physical and mental
wellbeing. It has been a natural fit for us to work with an
initiative that is so passionate about helping more children
enjoy exercise more often, and we look forward to its success
as it continues to transform more lives around the world.”
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Elaine Wyllie MBE, Founder of The Daily Mile:
“From a single school in Stirling to now over 16,500 schools
and 4 million children, it is staggering to see how this
initiative has grown into a global movement in a little over
10 years.”
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The Daily Mile Foundation, supported by INEOS, today announced
that 4 million children in 90 countries worldwide are taking part
in the health and wellbeing initiative, up double in size since
2019.
2 million children are taking part in England alone.
The initiative has received formal backing from the Scottish
Government and in 2022 Scotland was announced as the world’s
first Daily Mile Nation, meaning over half of primary schools
across all 32 local authorities are doing the Daily Mile,
developing healthy habits for life.
The Foundation’s expanding network of partners in the UK, Europe,
USA and beyond continues to focus on increasing the number of
schools taking part. In England alone, partnerships with Sport
England, supported by the National Lottery, ITV and London
Marathon, have led to record engagement with The Daily Mile,
resulting in over 2 million children participating. The support
from national and local partners around the world who share the
ambition to help children become more active is critical to the
continued growth of The Daily Mile.
The Daily Mile initiative was founded by Elaine Wyllie MBE in
2012 - born out of a concern around children’s lack of physical
fitness. Headteacher of St Ninians’s Primary School in Stirling,
Scotland, at the time, Elaine got her pupils moving for 15
minutes every day to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
The Daily Mile in partnership with ITV created an advert to
promote the benefits of The Daily Mile, which highlighted how The
Daily Mile can contribute towards improved academic attainment,
and encouraged more schools to join the initiative. As did high
profile support from sporting legends including marathon
record-breaker Eliud Kipchoge and rugby’s All Blacks.
Research shows the benefits of The Daily Mile for children’s
physical health, mental wellbeing, and learning. Increased
activity means increased fitness, helping children feel happier
and supporting children’s focus and concentration in the
classroom. Research by the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh
found that the success of the initiative lies in its core
principles and ease of implementation.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of INEOS says: “INEOS has supported
the Daily Mile for years because it’s a free, simple, and
effective way to improve children’s physical and mental
wellbeing. It has been a natural fit for us to work with an
initiative that is so passionate about helping more children
enjoy
exercise more often, and we look forward to its success as it
continues to transform more lives around the world.”
Elaine Wyllie MBE, Founder of The Daily Mile says: “From a single
school in Stirling to now over 16,500 schools and 4 million
children, it is staggering to see how this initiative has grown
into a global movement in a little over 10 years. Being active is
key for everyone’s health and wellbeing.”
“I’d like to thank the children, teachers, schools and all of our
partners in 90 countries who share our vision of helping children
across the world to get fit for life. Reaching the 4 million
milestone is a brilliant way for us to kick off the year and
we’re excited to continue to make a positive impact on children’s
lives in the years to come.”
If you want your school pupils to benefit from taking part in The
Daily Mile, sign your school up here.
