Team GB gymnast Nile Wilson visits school to announce £20,000 grant for sport equipment

Pupils at Light Oaks Junior School in Salford have won £20,000 to spend on new equipment from a campaign led by Aldi.

The school won the prize as part of Aldi’s Kit for Schools campaign, with the prize money being put towards an indoor gym and parkour hall.

Team GB gymnast Nile Wilson went along to the school to hand over the grant.

The new flexible space will make use of new sprung flooring, bars and moveable objects to accommodate different levels of ability and ensure pupils can remain active throughout the winter months.

The funds will be used to encourage more children to be active ahead of Tokyo 2020, following a report by Sport England which showed that one-third of children take part in less than the recommended minimum of thirty minutes of physical activity a day.

Light Oaks Junior School was one of twenty schools across the UK to earn the £20,000 funding, while all schools who completed a poster received an exclusive Aldi sports kit, containing relay batons, bean bags, cones and bibs.

Aldi has already worked with more than 1 million young people, aged between 5 – 14, as part of the Get Set to Eat Fresh campaign, and plans to work with 1.2 million children before Tokyo 2020. Aldi has extended the initiative to run until Paris 2025, with the hope to inspire even more children to eat well.

Zandra Wilkinson, Headteacher at Light Oaks Junior School, said: “Physical education is a vital part of our curriculum, and Aldi’s support means we can provide our pupils with even more opportunities to get involved in sports and become more active. We hope it will inspire the children and, who knows, we may even discover a future Olympian of our own.

“It has also been fantastic to see so many local parents supporting us, and we would like to thank them for choosing to donate their stickers to us.”

Sean McGinty, Marketing Director at Aldi UK, said: “We are committed to working with Team GB to inspire young people in Greater Manchester to eat well and move more, and we are pleased to be able to help Light Oaks Junior School to give its pupils the chance to take part in additional sports activities.

“We will continue to work with schools across the UK in the run-up to Tokyo 2020 and beyond to encourage pupils to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.”