Following the success of last year’s Active Canaries Health Month, thousands of primary school children will once again have the chance to eat like their footballing heroes during March.
Norwich City Community Sports Foundation and Norse Catering have teamed up again to deliver this year’s Health Month, which will see schools serve weekly healthy recipes developed by Norwich City chef Dan Savage.
The four recipes are based on some favourite dishes of Norwich City players Onel Hernández, Angus Gunn, Kathryn Stanley, and Kenny McLean.
Schools will serve the chosen dishes on Thursdays throughout Health Month, and children will each receive a recipe card to help them recreate the dishes at home with their families.
This year’s dishes are Mango and Lime Chicken/Quorn (Gunn), Sweet Potato and Lentil Curry (McClean), Beef/Veggie Chilli Taco (Hernandez), and Roasted Vegetable Lasagne/BBQ Wedges (Stanley).
Complementing the healthy recipes will be four online assemblies for participating schools – these will focus on four areas of wellbeing: Eat smart, Drink smart, Move smart, and Think smart.
Last year’s Health Month saw over 15,000 healthy meals served and over 3,500 children join online assemblies.
Health Month 2023 kicks off on Wednesday, March 8, with the Eat smart assembly – schools can still sign up to join the assemblies on the Active Canaries page.
Active Canaries is delivered in two strands: through Health Month in March, and throughout the year at six-week sessions in schools that focus on well-being topics such as activity, nutrition, hydration, sleep, and mental health.
The first year of the project was funded by donations from first team players, senior staff, and directors as part of the Club’s community response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The second year has been sponsored by Norse Catering after their collaboration in year one.
Zoe Webber, executive director of Norwich City, said: “The first year of Active Canaries had phenomenal reach and we were proud to help so many local children to improve their nutrition and well-being.
“The involvement of our first-team players is a powerful tool to engage with children and helps to get them excited about trying new food.
"We are grateful to Norse Group for their sponsorship and delivery support for Active Canaries, which has meant we can have the same impact for a second year.”
Justin Galliford, chief executive officer of Norse Group said: “We are delighted to partner with Norwich City Football Club and Community Sports Foundation again on this project.
"Supporting communities is at the heart of our business and, as we know from last year’s event, Active Canaries Health Month will help make a positive difference to local school children.”