People throughout the UK helped raise awareness about a healthy diet as well as money for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) by taking part in Fruity Friday on May 15.
Celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott got behind the event as did visitors to Carmarthenshire County Council’s three customer service centres in Wales. They were offered fruit kebabs and smoothies along with health information packs.
Bupa care home residents in Walton and Weybridge in Surrey dressed in yellow as part of the Go Bananas theme for the day. They also took part in competitions, as well as downing smoothies and scoffing fruit tarts and cakes as part of their fund-raising endeavours.
Gilly Podd, home manager of Clare House, said: “Campaigns like Fruity Friday are a great way of getting the message across about the importance of healthy eating while having a bit of fun. It’s never too late when it comes to your 5 A DAY.”
Pupils at Beckington First School made fruit salads, dressed in yellow and tried to score goals past a goalkeeper dressed as a giant banana.
The WCRF held a Beat the Banana! 5k fun run in central London and an avocado giveaway at King’s Cross station, organised by Peruvian avocado body ProHass. Commuters received a free bag, information leaflet, a knife and spoon, as well as an avocado, as part of the push.
Some 40 runners managed to beat the banana in Hyde Park, with Chinese students Ka-Ho Chan, 25, and Kit-Ching Yiu, 21, placing first and third. The couple took part in World Cancer Research Fund Hong Kong’s (WCRF HK) Beat the Banana! 5k elite race in Hong Kong in March and won the fastest men and women’s titles in the race.
Their prize was round-trip tickets to London sponsored by Virgin Atlantic Airways and a three-night hotel stay in London courtesy of Shaftesbury Metropolis London, Hyde Park, to take part in the London run, which WCRF said was its most successful ever, with more than 200 runners.
