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Aberystwyth pupils win dream day with World champion cyclist

Pupils from an Aberystwyth school will meet one of their sporting heroes after designing a recipe intended to encourage children to eat healthily and take up sport.

Four boys from Ysgol Penweddig, Wil Rees, Bryn Griffiths, Dewi Davies and Dylan Griffiths, won the top prize of a track day with champion Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas – the world record holder in the team pursuit.

They won the national competition with their recipe for Welsh Lamb Greek Salad with Tzatziki Sauce – a recipe harking back to the roots of the ancient Olympics in Greece. They also came up with a catchy phrase – ‘Welsh Lamb: Food to Inspire You’.

After the result, Geraint Thomas said: “I would like to congratulate everyone who took part in the competition and I look forward to cycling with the pupils from Ysgol Penweddig at the Newport Velodrome.”

Geraint is HCC’s sporting ambassador, helping to promote the message that red meat forms a vital part of the diet for modern professional athletes.

The Recipe for Success competition was launched by Welsh red meat promotion agency Hybu Cig Cymru earlier this year for pupils in Wales aged between 11 and 16.

They were asked to design a healthy balanced meal for four people using Welsh Lamb or Welsh Beef costing no more than £10, and explain how this recipe could help to encourage young people to participate in sport.

Three schools made it to the final, where they had to prepare their recipe for a panel of judges and then explain what made their meal is nutritious and how it would help children take part in sport.

After a closely fought final, Penweddig were declared the winners with Ysgol y Moelwyn in Blaenau Ffestiniog and Ysgol y Bont in Llangefni, finishing as runners-up.

The winning team from Penweddig and their fellow classmates will get to spend a day at the Newport Velodrome with Geraint Thomas and have the opportunity to cycle around the track with him. Penweddig School will also receive a £500 voucher for sports equipment, while the two runner-up schools will each receive vouchers for sports equipment worth £250.

Elwen Roberts, HCC’s Consumer Executive, said: “Congratulations to Ysgol Penweddig on winning the competition. All three teams had fantastic recipes and gave excellent presentations.

“HCC launched this competition to get children thinking about how their diet affects their health and their ability to participate in sport. The pupils were hugely enthusiastic and really enjoyed the competition, and we hope that they will continue to come up with healthy recipe ideas to make at home.”

Thirteen-year-old Wil Rees, a member of Penweddig’s victorious team, said: “The competition was really fun. It was very interesting learning about nutrition and how it can help with sport. I’m really looking forward to going to the velodrome and meeting Geraint.”

Penweddig teacher Menna Lewis also praised the aims of the competition. “All of the pupils who took part learnt a lot about nutrition and about eating red meat as part of a healthy diet which I think is something that is often neglected,” she said.