Gateway Health awarded small grants to Outside School Hours Care providers in the Ovens Murray region to incentivise participation in the Vic Kids Eat Well initiative.
Vic Kids Eat Well is a state-wide initiative designed to support schools, Outside School Hours Care (OSHC), sports clubs, and a wide range of community organisations to offer healthier food and drink options.
OSHC programs play a big role in the health and wellbeing of the children in their care. When children eat well, they learn better, are more alert and are more likely to grow and develop to their full potential. OSHC providers who participate in Vic Kids Eat Well will work towards meeting the healthy eating requirements of the National Quality Standard, Quality Area 2 - Children’s Health and Safety.
Vic Kids Eat Well registrations in Wodonga were low in comparison to other regions participating in the initiative. To incentivise the uptake of Vic Kids Eat Well registration amongst OSHC services, Gateway Health provided $200 grants for providers to use for healthy eating related activities.
A one-page grant application was emailed to OSHC services and follow up calls were conducted by the Gateway Health Promotion Team. This process assisted Gateway Health to build relationships with OSHC services, a setting the team hadn’t traditionally worked with before.
Eight grant applications were received of the 21 OSHC services in the region, and all were successful. Funding was used for worm farms, healthy eating resources and cooking equipment such as air fryers.
Gateway Health would like to thank La Trobe Community Health Service, Sunraysia Community Health Services, Bass Coast Health and Connect Health and Community for sharing information on their incentive programs that enabled this program to be delivered.