…Children Throughout Ireland Join the HB Let’s Sail Competition As They Play Their Part in the Volvo Ocean Race…
Model Children Leah Cleer (7), Kaitlin Dunne (8) and James Hegarty (9) were on hand this morning to help launch the HB Let’s Sail Competition, as part of the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover 2009. Primary and Secondary school students throughout the country are being invited to design and build a boat, made using HB ice-cream sticks, by the closing date of 27th April 2009. The overall winner will receive a family trip to the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Stockholm and all finalists will meet the Green Dragon crew during their stopover in Galway from 23rd May to 6th June 2009.
To get your 'HB Let’s Sail Starter Kit', which contains over 300 ice-cream sticks and tips on how to build your boat, contact the HB Careline on 1850 444 424 between 9am-6pm. The entries judged to be the most creative, with the entrant’s age taken into account, will be displayed in the Race Village during the Volvo Ocean race's Stopover in Galway.
Giving tips on how to build your boat, top boat builder and Green Dragon Show Crew Manager Johnny Smullen said: “It is important that the hull is strong and stable and it should be pointed at the front so it van glide through the water. The mast should be high enough to support a large sail and strong enough to hold the boom.”
And of course, entrants can recycle their used HB ice cream sticks if the creation requires additional ice cream sticks. Ice cream sticks from Brunch, Choc Ice , Loop the Loop, Wibbly Wobbly Wonder, Twister & Split, are available from supermarkets and convenience stores nationwide, to ensure you are finished in no time.
Commenting on the initiative, Colette Coughlan, Brand Manager, HB ice cream added: “We are delighted to run this excellent initiative, which allows children throughout Ireland show their creative talents. Our judging panel, including members of the Green Dragon Boat, are already excited about the competition. We also see this competition as a unique opportunity to provide many schools with the opportunity to attend what is sure to be the sporting event of 2009.”
The HB Let’s Sail Competition, part of the Ocean Adventure Schools Programme 2008-2009, is aimed open to students in primary and secondary schools throughout Ireland, sailing club junior members and youth clubs throughout the country are also encouraged to sign up online and get involved in this exciting ocean adventure at, www.hbicecream.ie or www.letsdoitschools.com
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Editor’s Notes:
Fun Ice-Cream Facts From HB:
· Ice cream makes you happy! Most European consumers say that ice cream is fun to eat (71%) and nearly two in three say think ice cream is great for socializing (63.2%)*
· Some of the very first ice creams were developed over 3000 years ago when the Chinese started mixing snow with fruit and honey
· The average number of licks to finish off a single scoop of ice cream is 50
· We use the equivalent of between 15,000 and 20,000 tonnes of fruit in our ice creams every year in Europe alone. That’s a lot of fruit!
· The use of wooden sticks for ice cream dates back to 1921. Ola in the Netherlands sponsored a project that inspired children to recycle wooden ice cream sticks, by creating a 15-meter long authentic replica Viking ship
· The biggest ice cream sundae ever made was 12 feet high, and made with 17,665 litres of ice cream and 7,000 pounds of toppings in Anaheim, California in 1985 (Guinness Book of Records)
· In recent research amongst over 500 European nutritionists, 70% say one of the reasons we’re failing to stick to a balanced diet is because people tend to exclude fun foods, such as ice cream
· The US has the highest consumption of ice cream in the world at around 24 litres per person per year. The average consumption in Europe is around 6 litres per person
· Magnum, launched in 1989, was the first ice cream on a stick produced especially for adults and today sells around 1 billion products a year
*Consumer research commissioned by Unilever in 2002 with 6514 people across 14 European countries
Interesting Ice Cream Facts
Ice cream makes you happy – we all knew that but now it’s a scientific fact!
A study was carried out in the Institute of Psychiatry, London, based on FMRI brain scanning shows that ice cream lights up the pleasure zones of the brain!
Ice cream is the food mostly like to make you happy!
The team of researchers, from the University of Amsterdam, analysed the facial expressions of more than 300 European participants using an emotion recogniser computer system as they ate five different everyday foods; apple, cereal bar, chocolate, ice cream and yoghurt to determine which foods made them look happiest. Each of the respondents faces were measured as they made instinctive responses to what they were eating.
Key findings of the research are:
• 64% of European participants showed a look of happiness when they ate ice cream and 13% showed surprise, which is also a positive reaction
• Chocolate resulted in just 12% showing a happy face across Europe
• Apples fared the worst with 11% of European participants actually displaying a look of anger whilst eating one!
• Yoghurt did not have a very positive effect either, with 28% of Europeans looking sad when they ate it
• Cereal bars sat in the middle, with 97% of Europeans displaying a neutral
facial expression
Interesting facts
1. Ireland has the 3rd highest ice cream consumption per capita in Europe, third to Sweden and Finland. Who says you need sunshine to eat ice cream?
2. It has been scientifically proven that Ice cream makes you happy
3. In a recent study , 85% of Irish parents said they give their kids treat foods once a day or less, but ice cream was the most popular choice as they believe it’s the healthier choice.
83% of Irish nutritionists agree that fun foods like ice cream can help maintain a balanced diet. More than half surveyed said that ice cream can be eaten once or twice a week as part of a balanced diet.
4. Consumers are definitely more health conscious about what they eat and want the best of ingredients in products. In 2006, HB increased the fruit juice content and reduced the sugar by 10/20% in 90% of its kids ice creams and ice lollies. All kids ice creams now contain no artificial colours or flavours.
The Ocean Adventure Schools Programme 2008-2009
The Ocean Adventure Schools Programme 2008-2009 is sponsored by HB and Volvo Cars Ireland.
The Ocean Adventure Schools Programme 2008-2009 is an exciting educational programme is based around the Volvo Ocean Race Galway Stopover 2009 is a structured learning programme, which introduces school children to the following areas of learning associated with the sport of sailing.
Introduce students to the areas of learning associated with the ‘marine world’ including the sport of sailing, climate, technology, geography, history and the marine environment.
Help students understand and appreciate the development of marine tourism activities in Ireland.
Introduce students to the range of options available for careers in the marine industry.
