ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher announced $316,000 in funding through the Health Promotion Grants Program to help promote healthy school communities in the Canberra region.
Chief Minister Gallagher commented “The funding awarded enables school communities to purchase equipment and implement projects that promote healthy eating habits and regular physical activity,”
The 2012 Healthy Schools, Healthy Children Funding Round attracted 58 applications, with 33 projects awarded. Some of the successful projects that received funding include:

• Pedal Power- ‘Travel Smart to School Project’ which aims to support families to change their behavior towards more sustainable travel, both to and from school. The purpose of this process is to encourage more active travel, including walking, cycling and use of public transport to school, and to minimize car use.
• North Ainslie Primary School (NAPS) Parents and Citizens Association; ‘Healthy Eating Hub, Sensory Garden and No-Waste Chook Pen Project’ which aims to demonstrate to students that food can be part of a sustainable environment, by provision of healthy canteen food, utilizing salad vegetables from the school’s Sensory Garden and eggs from the No-Waste Chook Pen. Food scraps will be gathered from children’s morning teas and lunches and the school canteen, to be reused in the No-Waste Chook Pen.
• Evatt Primary School – Yoga and Relaxation Project which aims to provide students with a disability with opportunities to experience and understand components of a healthy lifestyle that include healthy eating and elements of yoga (physical activity; relaxation; and meditation) that are fun and meaningful to the children.