One of the South West’s first Change4Life convenience stores has opened at the Spar store on Filton Avenue in Bristol.
To mark the occasion local, primary schoolchildren gave the first public performance of their 5 A DAY rap and provided wraps for guests and shoppers.
The event was held at the Spar store, which is one of more than 30 convenience stores across the South West to join Change4life and work with their local NHS to promote healthier eating in their communities.
The pupils from Upper Horfield Primary School have been working with acclaimed Konnakol vocal percussionist Dr Joel to write the rap, which includes lively dance moves and promotes the importance of eating fruit and vegetables.
Other children from the school worked with Francine Russell - the teacher of NHS Bristol’s acclaimed Change4Life cookery classes - to provide healthy wraps, fruit kebabs and smoothies for shoppers throughout the morning.
Following a successful pilot in the North East where sales of fruit and vegetables grew by almost 50 per cent, convenience stores across the South West are now joining the Change4Life movement.
Tim Seddon, deputy head at Upper Horfield Primary School, said: “The project is a fantastic opportunity for the children to have fun learning about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. It links really well with our literacy and poetry curriculum and helps the children find out how nutritious and delicious fruit and vegetables are to eat. It has been a particularly useful stimulus for getting boys writing."
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said: "Change4Life has been at the heart of the convenience store sector's efforts to grow sales of produce, particularly in deprived areas. Working with the Department of Health and using the Change4Life branding, members have grown produce sales by nearly 50 per cent, bringing significant and lasting change to those stores and for the communities they serve."
Other Spar stores taking part in the project are the outlets in Withywood, Penryn, Netherton and Glascote.
