Thousands of children and families to benefit from Rochdale AFC Joy of Moving Home School Festival

Thousands of children and their families will benefit from a full afternoon of home school activities and games to get them moving, as Rochdale AFC partners with the EFL Trust and Ferrero to launch the ‘Joy of Moving Home School Festival’ from Monday 18 May.

At a time when children are unlikely to experience the fun of their school sports day this year or missing play time with their friends, the festival, which involves 72 other EFL Trust network club community organisations, will offer children and families an afternoon of movement and fun with different games and activities to choose from via their schools.

The games and activities are based on the unique Joy of Moving methodology, developed by Ferrero with key independent parties including Foro Italico (Rome University) and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). Schools can choose a day to start, and then email a handbook of activities to parents of KS2 children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6.

This methodology inspires children to move through play across the world, whilst developing key skills in four major areas: physical fitness, motor coordination, cognitive functions and creativity and life skills.

The Joy of Moving programme, a Ferrero CSR project, has been supporting Year 5 children across EFL Communities in the UK for the past six years. The Joy of Moving programme has consisted of two elements; the Move & Learn programme and Joy of Moving Festivals.

Developed in partnership with the EFL Trust and delivered through a network of dedicated community club organisations, the festivals offer a great opportunity for children of all ages and abilities to learn life skills and move through play.

The Joy of Moving Festivals are half or full day events which help schools build physical activity into their daily routine. Taking place during the summer term in over 100 schools across the UK, the specially designed games and activities help children to develop skills including communication, empathy and team work.

Over 310,000 children have been introduced to moving and learning new skills all while having fun and playing.

Keith Hicks, Rochdale AFC Community Sports Trust Manager, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for children who are not going to school to get involved with something worthwhile, health and wellbeing and education."

Mike Evans, Chief Executive at EFL Trust, said: “We are delighted to bring the Joy of Moving Home School Festival to thousands of households across the UK. So many children will miss out on their sports day and our festival should offer fun whilst also keeping children active during these times.”

“Our network of club community organisations have been doing some amazing work in response to Coronavirus, and this is another way in which football is supporting the community and reaching families in all regions of the country.”

The Joy of Moving Home School Festival will begin next week.

Keep a look out for what is happening in Rochdale through #JOMHomeFestival, or to find more fun games to play, visit:

www.joyofmovingresourcehub.co.uk

Schools that haven't yet taken up this opportunity can contact Siobhan McElhinney at the Rochdale AFC Community Sports Trust to sign up:

siobhan.mcelhinney@rochdaleafc.co.uk