Norwich Union today unveiled initial plans to enable Britain’s children to pursue a more active lifestyle.
Norwich Union today unveiled initial plans to enable Britain’s children to pursue a more active lifestyle.
As a direct result of their Listening to Tomorrow’s Athletes survey, undertaken by leading children’s market researchers Kids and Youth, Norwich Union has launched "Do the Right Thing" – a long term campaign aimed at creating more opportunities for children to participate in the kind of sport they want, and to find fun in exercise for them.
As part of its Ł20 million sponsorship of UK Athletics, Norwich Union already devotes Ł4 million to the development of the sport at grassroots level and has affected over 1 million kids already. Additional funding has been made available by the insurance company to support initiatives led by children and schools themselves over the next few years, enabling them to do more physical exercise both at school and outside.
Norwich Union appreciates that many people across the country are already doing their bit to encourage kids to do more sport and exercise and these people should be rewarded. These "Unsung Heroes" will be nominated by the children themselves and the winners presented with their prizes at the Norwich Union London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on Friday 8 August in front of a packed house.
As a result of the Listening to Tomorrow’s Athletes report which showed that children are demanding more choice in the sports they play, Norwich Union will be going back to the children themselves to ask them to develop their own schemes for increasing participation in sport in their communities. With Norwich Union’s financial support of these schemes, the company is empowering children to have their say rather than imposing a solution on them. Norwich Union School and Community Sports Awards will be given to schools which demonstrate how they would spend Ł10,000 to engage their own school and local community in more active pursuits. The best plans from 50 schools will then be given money grants, ranging from Ł1,000 to Ł10,000 in order to facilitate these plans.
"These awards are like sports incubator funds for children" comments David Czerwinski, head of sponsorship for Norwich Union, "We will support the best 50 plans and the children will have to control how the money is spent, nurturing their projects and taking responsibility for the success of their own schemes."
During the summer holidays, Norwich Union will also facilitate "what’s on" guides across the country to act as reference points for children and parents to let them know what there is to do in their area that is active and fun.
All these initiatives will lay the foundations for mass participatory events for children in the near future and will be detailed on www.dtrt.info
Czerwinski continues: "We are committed to supporting athletics from grassroots to elite level until at least 2006 and see ‘Do the Right Thing’ as a long term initiative to encourage today’s children to pursue a more active lifestyle. As a result of this activity, we also hope to help uncover tomorrow’s athletes who will hopefully go on to compete for Britain in 2012."
Richard Caborn, Minister for Sport, adds: "It is vital that we encourage more children to participate in sport and Norwich Union’s efforts are much appreciated and supported by the government. Not only will they help boost activity levels amongst children, boosting the overall health of the nation, but will also help us identify more elite athletes who will hopefully go on to compete in the 2012 Olympics."
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Press office contacts:
Stuart Wareman - Total Sponsorship - 020 7803 2306
Suzie Dias – Total Sponsorship - 020 7803 2416 (suzie@totalsponsorship.com)
Louise Goffee - Norwich Union - 08703 66 68 70
Notes to editors
- Norwich Union is the UK’s largest insurer. It is a leading provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the leading IFA providers. IFAs provide around 70% of the company’s long- term savings business.
- Norwich Union has strategic alliances with building societies and other leading UK brand names including Tesco Personal Finance and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
- Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media.