North Star funds family fitness at Evenwood Primary School
Local housing association, North Star, helps fund a family learning fitness programme for Evenwood Primary School in Teesdale.
North Star brings together Teesdale, Endeavour and Darlington Housing Associations, to provide affordable housing, along range of extra services that help improve the health and wellbeing of people living across the North East.
North Star work closely with local community groups, charities and schools to ensure its residents have access to opportunities designed to educate, inspire and improve their wellbeing. Evenwood Primary School in Teesdale recently received funding from North Star, which gave children of all ages at the school, and their families, the opportunity to take part in a 10 week family learning fitness programme.
The programme was delivered by the Foundation of Light, with over 30 people attending. Each week the Foundation offered activities designed to inspire learning and achievement, develop and build new skills, and improve relationships within the family.
The Foundation of Light is a registered charity of Sunderland AFC, established in 2001 to make a real and lasting difference to the lives of people in the North East region – and beyond. Their mission is simple, and they aim to use the power of football to involve, educate and inspire young people and their families.
At the end of the 10 weeks, the families got the opportunity to visit the Stadium of Light for an Awards presentation to celebrate their learning achievements, where they received an award from Sunderland legend Jimmy Montgomery.
Rachel Stevens, Parent Support Advisor at Evenwood Primary School, said: “The family learning programme was a great opportunity for families to learn together and have great fun in a school environment. The parents discussed healthy lifestyles, what things prevent families from being healthier and ways to get the whole family more active. It was a great success and we hope to be able to offer it again, or something similar, with the support of North Star. Our second programme has just started, with a great deal of interest from families.”
Peter Locke, Community Investment Officer at North Star, said: “It’s extremely rewarding to see what a positive difference we can make to our communities. To see so many people who have challenged themselves to learn, develop and improve their lives, for themselves and their families, is fantastic, and it embodies everything we try to achieve here at North Star. We like to think we’re so much more than a landlord, and this is a perfect example of how we’re giving people in our communities so much more than a place to live.”
