A DAILY dose of fresh air has been boosting the mental well-being of children in Tynedale.

Corbridge Middle School became the third school in the district to sign up for the Daily Mile UK, a global initiative to get children exercising for 15 minutes every day, in order to boost their mental health.

In addition to Corbridge, the programme is up-and-running at St Matthew’s Primary School, in Prudhoe, and Hexham First School.

The idea to introduce it in Corbridge tied in with the school’s aim of improving young pupils’ well-being, which also coincided with its annual support of Mental Health Awareness Day, by wearing yellow to raise funds for charity Young Minds.

The walks, which were scheduled on top of the usual PE lessons, had been timetabled to ensure pupils weren’t missing the same lessons.

Assistant headteacher Lindsay Hamilton said: “There are four key elements to the Daily Mile; fun, friendship, freedom and fresh air.

“I did some research about raising levels of activity for children and what has worked across the UK. This was easy to set up and very cost effective, and has been very successful elsewhere. Improving children’s well-being is at the forefront of everything we do and try to do, and it’s such an important issue in this day and age.

“The children are loving it as it helps build friendships, allows the children to speak more with the teachers when walking around and gives them more access to fresh air.”