Scottish Students take on Healthy Living Challenge

Students from Glasgow and Edinburgh have completed a healthy living challenge set by educational charity The Outward Bound Trust and Sodexo.

The 144 14 to 15 year old students from St Augustine’s R.C. High School, Craigroyston Community High School and Broughton High School in Edinburgh, and Eastbank Academy, Lochend Community High School and Whitehill Secondonary School in Glasgow, completed the course between March and June.

The Sodexo Health and Wellbeing Challenge promotes healthy eating and an interest in an active, outdoors lifestyle. At the same time, it develops young people’s ability to interact confidently with their peers.

In order to complete the course, the students took part in a number of challenging learning experiences. These included talks and workshops, where Sodexo chefs shared their knowledge and expertise with the young people in theory and practice. In Outward Bound® sessions, pupils enjoyed being active and came together as team.

48 participants were selected to take part in a three-day Outward Bound residential course, where challenging learning activities in the outdoors and workshops delivered by Sodexo deepened their understanding of teamwork and the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle. They took part in canoeing , mountain biking, team building exercises and various challenging events.

Phil Hooper, corporate affairs director, Sodexo, and chairman of the Sodexo Foundation, said: "The Sodexo Health and Wellbeing Challenge is designed and delivered by a strong partnership between Sodexo, The Outward Bound Trust and the schools involved. From our point of view the Challenge enables young people to have fantastic experience as well as learning about health and nutrition along the way.  We think these things – physical activity and healthy lifestyles go hand in hand.  We take great pleasure in seeing the impact we have on young people as they experience a range of new activities.

Martin Davidson, Scottish director, the Outward Bound Trust, said: “The Outward Bound Trust believes that through a healthy mind and body young people can fulfill their potential.  These students have certainly made the most of this great opportunity and have really got involved with the adventure activities we’ve set them. We hope the experience has given them a better understanding of how to live a healthy lifestyle and has given them added confidence and a sense of pride.”