Primula celebrate Dunston Hill’s Daily Mile Launch with Olympic Athletes Joel Fearon and Katie Stainton  

Primula Cheese is owned by Kavli Trust, a charitable foundation, and every year we donate millions of pounds to good causes. We find and fund projects that positively impact people’s lives in local communities.   

Continue reading to learn how enjoying Primula Cheese helps to support young people’s mental health and well-being, such as pupils at Dunston Hill Community Primary School in Gateshead. 

In January 2021, Primula contributed £16,000 to Dunston Hill Community Primary School sports facilities for students aged 5-11. We were invited to their launch event on 31^st January this year to celebrate the opening of a running track built around their school field that will host the ‘Daily Mile’.   

The Daily Mile aims to allow pupils to get outside and participate in physical activities, challenge themselves and improve their overall learning and well-being.  

One of the biggest highlights of the event was for the children to get the chance to meet two Olympic athletes, Joel Fearon and Katie Stainton. Joel is an Olympic Bronze Medallist who started as a track athlete and is now the 5^th fastest runner in Britain, completing the 100 metres in 9.96 seconds at the Bedford CAU Inter County Championships in 2016. For him to come as a guest to the school on the opening of the Daily Mile was brilliant as it’ll inspire the young ones to get into running and even compete in races. 

Katie Stainton was also a great inspiration to the students as she talked about her motivation to challenge herself in different sports. She competed in the UK 2019 2-day heptathlon in Manchester, where she achieved 1^st place ranking! Day one of the heptathlon consists of 100m hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200m. Day two comprises the long jump, javelin and 800m. 

Both athletes spoke in the morning assembly about their journey as athletes, their experience as children at school and why they wanted to do sport in the first place. Joel talked about his struggles with ADHD and Dyslexia at school and how this didn’t hold him back but spurred him on to be the best he could be. He said ADHD gave him the focus and energy to strive for his goals and become the Olympian he is known as today, which was very positive and inspiring to hear and very impactful to the children. Katie talked about her motivation to challenge herself constantly and how she was inspired by her Gramps, who always kept active and encouraged her to do the same.  

The students received important insight into the fear of failure and embarrassment. Katie mentioned tripping over a hurdle on live television, which she recalled knocked her confidence, but then she realised it was only a big thing for her and nobody else cared once it was over. It was important for Katie to mention she had failed more times than she had won because it sent the message to the students that it is okay to fail; as long as you keep trying, you can achieve your goals and the positive feeling at the end makes it all worth it.

Joel talked about how he hadn’t started track until he was 16 years old, encouraging the children as it gave them the message that you can achieve your goals at any age. It’s all about having self-belief and confidence in yourself.  

The teachers were very impressed with the athletes’ speeches; they knew how excited and inspired the children would be after hearing them speak about real things they had experienced.  

Both athletes commented on sport’s positive impacts on them and others, saying sports can help young people come out of their shells, learn teamwork skills, and grow in confidence, as there is always a goal to achieve and something to strive for.  

The headmaster talked about the emotional and physical benefits of Daily Mile on the children who don’t have the same facilities and opportunities at home as at school. Some pupils will benefit from socialising and the physical benefits of using the facilities with their peers either before the school day start or between lessons to get some fresh air and feel energised for the rest of the day.  

The athletes spoke with encouragement and enthusiasm, leaving the students in awe and exciting the children to complete the Daily Mile run for the first time! It was thrilling to cut the ribbon and see the kids completing the Daily Mile for the first time with Katie and Joel.   

 Thank you for reading our news. For more information on children’s mental health causes we supported in 2022, check out our news post here. For more information about Kavli Trust, visit their website here.