Forest Feast Gets Young People Going Nuts For Fitness

Forest Feast has come on board as sponsor of Athletic Ireland’s nationwide initiative aimed at helping young people aged 12-19years old get fit and active, building the foundations of a healthy lifestyle as they progress into their teens and early adulthood.  Forest Feast Fit4Youth will give young participants across Ireland access to a course of fun, interactive and educational running and fitness training sessions with expert guidance and coaching.

Objective

John Foley, CEO of Athletics Ireland said “One of the key objectives of the Athletics Ireland Strategic Plan 2013-2016 is to promote health and fitness to the population as a whole. The support of Forest Feast will enable us to achieve this target by allowing young people to improve the health and fitness of young people throughout the country”

“Forest Feast Fit4Youth will seek to foster a positive attitude to health and fitness that will become a life skill for those involved. The programme will instil an awareness of fitness and enjoyment of running over a set period of weeks, with the aim of building up to 5K  through a ‘Learning to Run’ programme that is paced and carefully monitored, while increasing in incremental distances.”

Programme Growth

The programme was trialled in Kilkenny earlier this year by former International athlete Geraldine Nolan in her local Kilkenny City Harriers club. The Athletics Ireland Regional Development team has since successfully piloted the programme in a number of clubs nationwide and they are delighted to be able to expand nationwide with the support of popular dried fruit and nut snack brand Forest Feast.

Forest Feast Field Sales Manager Christine Whelan said, “We are delighted to support Fit4Youth as part of our ongoing partnership with Athletics Ireland. Through Forest Feast Little Athletics and Summer Camps, we encourage very young children across Ireland to get active and Fit4Youth will now set about reinforcing the importance of fitness with this slightly older age group. The idea is that children can progress from Little Athletics to Fit4Youth as they grow up."

“As children start to head into their teens and life often gets busier, it is so important they retain the good habit of building fitness into everyday life. A lot of adults could take inspiration from the energy and enthusiasm that young people put into fitness. By making it fun and enjoyable, it becomes an appealing way to spend time and the physical and mental benefits are huge.”

Ciara Mageean

Ciara Mageean from County Down, National 1500m champion and former World Junior Medallist, said the new initiative would be of great benefit to young people,

“Forest Feast Fit4Youth is a fantastic initiative which will give young people the opportunity to become active and improve their fitness at a pace that suits them.”

Further Information

Individuals and athletics clubs can find out more about how to get involved with Forest Feast Fit4Youth by visiting the Fit4Youth Page on the website