Cornish Pirates back ‘Dig Down South West’

Cornwall’s premier rugby team the Cornish Pirates are throwing their weight behind the highly successful ‘Dig Down South West campaign’, aimed at encouraging the Duchy’s youngsters to grow their own.

Laurie McGlone, Ian Nimmo and Rob Elloway from the Pirates took a rare pre-season day off to help children at St Meriadoc Junior School in Camborne to harvest some of the vegetables they have been growing and help to tend their gardens. The players were also on-hand to give their own advice about the benefits of eating healthily and exercising.

St Meriadoc Junior School was among eighteen primary schools in Cornwall to receive their own vegetable garden from the ‘Dig Down South West’ campaign, supported by regional insurance firm Cornish Mutual, which is based in Truro. The initiative was launched earlier this year by well-known TV gardening expert Charlie Dimmock.

Ian Davies, Forwards Coach with the Cornish Pirates commented: “Teaching kids at an early age about healthy eating and a balanced diet, including fruit and vegetables, is really important. As professional rugby players, it’s great for them to be able to pass on their experience of staying fit and on top of their game through initiatives like ‘Dig Down South West’. I hope that through today’s visit to the school we can make a small difference to the children’s enthusiasm for growing their own produce.”

Alan Goddard, Managing Director of Cornish Mutual, said: “It’s great to have the support of the Cornish Pirates for ‘Dig Down South West’. The team can act as excellent role models for the youngsters involved – inevitably children look up to sports stars and are often influenced by them. We hope that through campaigns like this we can help to build their knowledge for the future.”

50 vegetable gardens have been created in schools across the region, as a key part of ‘Dig Down South West’. The objective of the project is to help primary school children, between the ages of five and eight, take an active interest in gardening and learn about the benefits of growing their own produce.

The children at St Meriadoc Junior School planted their organic vegetables in the existing flowerbeds of their school courtyard, in many pots and containers, as well as in some newly created raised beds out on the school field.

Jason Richards, a teacher at St Meriadoc Junior School, added: “This initiative from Dig Down South West has really enabled our children to be enthused about growing their own fruit and vegetables. We are just starting to enjoy the spoils of our labour and we can’t wait to see how much further our produce will flourish before the end of the school year!”

Cornish Mutual is the only general insurer based in the South West and provides a broad range of insurance cover for rural communities in the region, www.cornishmutual.co.uk.

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