So, welcome to a special Ask Jim piece about the Daily Mile. We're doing this because it's the 10th anniversary of INEOS being involved in the Daily Mile. And for this piece, I'm really pleased to say we're joined with not just Jim, but also Elaine Wylie. We're going to talk about the Daily Mile, and I'm going to start with the first question for Elaine. So, we're here to celebrate 10 years of INEOS being involved in the Daily Mile. I'm pleased to be joined by Jim Ratcliffe and Elaine Wylie. Elaine, I'm going to start with you. When you think right back to the beginning, what were you trying to solve and why did it matter to you?
I'll never forget day one. An elderly volunteer said to me, 'The children are not fit.' And I thought we were really good at sport. We were successful. And so, I watched a class of 10-year-olds attempt to run around the field. Of the 31 children, a handful could run around the field without stopping. Our sporting success was masking the fact that most of our children weren't fit.
It was a bit like the reverse of Chariots of Fire. You know the scene where the coach is watching them run along the sands thinking these magnificent athletes. Well, I was watching these children thinking, 'My goodness.' It's really shocking. I was really quite shocked. What I remember from the very beginning was the instant impact on mental health. And the very quick impact on physical health of the children. They were coming in bright-eyed, glowing cheeks, hair stuck to their head, looking like children should, looking like children from 1955. The mental health benefits were reported immediately, but they get fit in three or four weeks, the scientists tell us. That's what I remember, the impact.
Jim, what was it about the Daily Mile that grabbed your attention and made you want to get involved?
I think where I was is as a common man you could observe that children were not what they were when I was at school. When I was at school, nutrition was different and exercise was different. You got lots of exercise naturally. You cycle or walk to school and you play lots of sport. It was always on the school curriculum. There weren't any supermarkets. Nutrition was simple but quite good quality. There was no child obesity when I was at school. Everybody was in reasonable shape and quite fit. But then when you observed the children 10 years ago, that wasn't the same. You saw lots of kids distracted with their Xbox, spending a lot of time on the sofa watching TV, and eating poor food. When we first bumped into each other, I was very taken by that combination of a bit of fitness every day and getting kids back into shape. I've always been of the view that the most impressionable years for human beings are your early years. You pick things up very quickly. I think we thought if you could get kids into the habit of regular exercise when they were very young, up to the age of 11, then hopefully it might continue through life because they see the benefit. It becomes habitual.
Yeah.
And then when you first met Jim, what were your expectations?
Well, there was an email. I thought this is the chance that the Daily Mile is really needing. There were probably about 100 schools doing the Daily Mile, but they were like fires in the wilderness. There was no campaign or anything. So I thought this is the chance for the Daily Mile. I imagined a big boardroom table with Jim in a suit. I arrived on the fifth floor and you were at a coffee table wearing your jeans. So that was a good start.
It was a good start. My expectations were very hopeful. But what happened next I didn't expect. I was used to working for a local authority where nothing happens fast. The decision-making process can be very slow. But literally within 15 minutes of very intense listening, Jim said, 'Right, I'm going to set up the Daily Mile Foundation.' I was absolutely amazed.
And what triggered it for you? What were your aspirations for it, Jim, when you heard what Elaine was doing?
It seemed like a very simple concept, very attainable by schools. There was no complexity attached. The kids don't have to get changed. You can do it anytime during the day. You just pop out with the teacher. You could see it potentially could grow quite quickly if it caught on, which is in truth what happened eventually, wasn't it?
Yeah.
Tell us something what has actually happened to you from your 100 schools 10 years ago.
The growth has been absolutely incredible. Not just in numbers, but the quality of the way the Daily Mile has been adopted. People do it properly, it belongs to the children. They go at their own pace. All barriers to participation have been removed. INEOS has taken the Daily Mile from obscurity to being a household name. We're at the table with Sport England, London Marathon, parkrun. We're unignorable now because of the work INEOS did. There has been a rise in empowerment of children to look after themselves. It's about self-care and taking responsibility for your own health. The Daily Mile is working from age two; we did it from age three.
Our three-year-olds could do it no bother at all. What INEOS has done is going to have a huge impact on the future health of children. It's going to change not just their health, but the perception of what they're able to do and take responsibility for.
Yeah, absolutely. And just give us the numbers.
The numbers are over 5 million children registered to take part, around 20,000 schools, and between 90 and 100 countries across the world.
