The active partnership for Northumberland and Tyne & Wear, Rise, is working with schools across Northumberland to launch a competition to encourage primary school aged children to become more active.

‘#TheDailyMileNorthumberland’ will allow primary schools and nurseries as well as families at home, the chance to win vouchers which can be used to purchase sports and PE equipment.

The competition coincides with the launch of the Daily Mile’s first ever national event - England Does The Daily Mile - on Friday 30th April, and will run on Twitter using #TheDailyMileNorthumberland.

To enter, education providers and parents or carers of those aged three to 11 years old in Northumberland can simply tweet a picture or video of their child/children or pupils taking part in The Daily Mile either at school or at home, once per week from Monday 4 May until Friday 28 May, 2021.

Gary Young, Daily Mile Coordinator at Rise, said: “England does the Daily Mile on Friday 30th April and following on from this we’d like to encourage all primary schools to take part in the Daily Mile, providing their pupils with an opportunity to be active whether this is running, walking, skipping or jumping for 15 minutes each day outside in the fresh air. We’re looking forward to seeing the efforts of primary schools, nurseries, parents and carers in getting the children moving.”

What’s more, Rise is also giving schools and families the opportunity to take part in an alternative form of activity if running doesn’t work for them and is therefore giving an option to submit tweets including footage of children doing a daily dance – something which has been growing popular with some schools throughout the national lockdown, where children dance in the playground or simply stand up at their desk in the classroom.

Gary continued: “We recognise that running or walking around a playground doesn’t work for all schools, therefore, we want to provide an additional opportunity for schools to utilise the principle of 15 minutes of activity but instead use this time for dancing – this could be designing a dance routine in the classroom or practicing those Fortnite or TikTok dances during breaktimes in the playground. The aim though is to have fun rather than having a highly practiced routine.”

Schools or families who would prefer to take part in the Daily Dance, can do so by using #GrowingUpNorthumberland.

If you work in a school and would like to know about how you can get involved with The Daily Mile, or you’re a parent and would like some more information on how your children’s school can become involved in the initiative, contact Gary.Young@WeAreRise.co.uk

Full competition rules, terms and conditions can be found below:

The competition entry period opens on 4th May 2021 9am and closes 28th May 2021 at 5pm.

The competition will run exclusively on Twitter.

To take part in the competition, eligible schools/nurseries/parents/carers must:

• Be based in Northumberland delivering education to children aged 3 - 11 years, or be parents and carers of children who attend school or nursery based in Northumberland delivering education to children aged 3 - 11 years, to be eligible to enter the competition and win competition prizes.

• Post video’s or photos of their pupils/children taking part in The Daily Mile or Daily Dance on the school/nursery Twitter page (parents/carers on their own personal Twitter page ensuring they mention their child’s nursery or school) during the competition period.

• Post one video or photo per week during each week of the competition period, or at least one per week if they happen to miss one week. For example, no videos or photos on week one, but two videos or photos on week two, to make up for the week missed. The more photos or videos posted, the more chance of winning.

• Posts must include the tag #TheDailyMileNorthumberland or #Growingupnorthumberland (and parents/carers must mention their child’s nursery/school).

• Historic videos/photos (i.e. those taken prior to the competition starting or that have been posted previously on the nursery/school’s twitter page) will not be accepted.

Consent:

• Eligible schools/nurseries/parents/carers take full responsibility for all aspect of consent by posting video’s and photos on Twitter.

• Posts may be shared by Northumberland County Council, Northumberland Communities Together, RISE, The Daily Mile Foundation and our partners on Twitter and other social media platforms.

Competition Format and Prize Draw:

• When the entry period ends, all schools and nurseries that are valid and eligible to take part in the competition will be entered into a prize draw.

• The final decision relating to validity of entries will be made by Northumberland County Council and Rise North East.

• Prize winning schools/nurseries/parents/carers will be drawn at random.

• The prize draw will be made by individuals without direct links to schools (e.g. school staff or governors will not be eligible to draw prizes)

• Competition Prizes: Monetary vouchers to be spent on physical activity and sport equipment will be awarded to the chosen nurseries/schools/parents/carers. Prize allocations will be as follows:

Daily Mile

Schools taking part must tweet a picture/video using the #TheDailyMileNorthumberland.

Prizes as follows:

Overall winner: £1000. Second place: £500. Third place (x3 prizes) £250.

At home prizes: Overall winner: £100. Runners up (x3 prizes) £50.

Daily Dance

Schools taking part must tweet a picture/video using the #GrowingUpNorthumberland.

School prizes: Overall winner: £1000. Second place: £500. Third place (x3 prizes) £250.

At home prizes: Overall winner: £100. Runners up (x3 prizes) £50.

Awarding prizes and use of prize money:

• By taking part in the competition each winner agrees to use the prize money to fund the purchase of sports and activity equipment that will be used to benefit their pupils/children within six months of receipt of the prize money.

Follow up:

• By taking part in the competition each winning school or nursery agrees to take part in a promotional activity after the competition. This may comprise of an activity such as an interview with a member of staff to understand how prize money has been used or photos of pupils using equipment purchased using the money.