Activity the key for healthy happy school holidays

Media Release July 2009
Activity the key for healthy happy school holidays

During the July school holidays kids will be encouraged to abandon the couch, DVDs and Playstation in favour of getting active and shaking off stress - all in aid of a fabulous cause.

From Saturday 6 July to Friday 19 July, Botany Town Centre and LynnMall Shopping Mall in Auckland, and The Palms Shopping Centre in Christchurch, will be setting up specially-built Fit2Fly adventure courses to encourage kids to keep moving during the holidays.

For every child that has a go on the Fit2Fly course, $1 will be donated to the Foundation for Youth Development’s (FYD) Project K – a proactive programme that involves three key stages: a three week Wilderness Adventure that provides challenges and grows self-confidence, away from students’ normal environment; a 10-day Community Challenge that helps transfer new found confidence into day-to-day life and build knowledge of community resources; and finally a year-long mentoring partnership that focuses on providing support and encouragement towards achieving goals.

Over the two weeks of the holidays, the shopping centres hope to get more than 10,000 kids moving, and in the process raise as much as possible for the work of Project K.

Bruce Pilbrow, a Families Commissioner and CEO of Parenting Inc, says it’s important for kids to let off steam when they’re not at school. “Kids can get just as stressed as adults, and they need activity. Sitting in front of the TV or computer, especially if the weather is grim, means they’re not getting a much-needed energy vent, and it’s important for kids to keep active daily – the more the better,” he says.

The Fit2Fly course lets kids loose on an activity course where they test their abilities running through tyres, sliding under cargo nets, balancing on low beams, navigating obstacles, walking the plank and shooting basketball hoops.

As an added incentive, each child that takes on the adventure course will go into the draw to win an extreme adventure prize pack, with the winner and a friend taken on an extreme day out. The prize will be drawn randomly from the pool of entries, so the more turns they take on the adventure course the greater their chance of winning.

Kids can also win points for their schools, so schools with the highest percentage of entrants will be awarded LynnMall and Botany shopping vouchers. First prize will be $2,000, second prize $1,000, and third prize $500. The school that is awarded first prize will also get the chance to nominate a deserving student and a friend to fill two extra spots on the extreme adventure day out.

“We’re delighted to be helping to get kids stimulated during the holidays and offering prizes to encourage them to get involved,” says Botany Town Centre manager Jennifer Manning. “We hope to raise even more money for Project K this year and would love to see 20,000 kids through the Fit2Fly courses, to help get behind this wonderful cause.”

The centres’ Fit2Fly activities in 2008 raised $10,000 around the country for Project K.

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