Design My Break

Working with the Olympic Values to improve health and well-being

2011 Winners

Congratulations to Ysgol Tregib, winners of the 2011 DesignMyBreak Competition

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GE's business and employee commitment to supporting UK education

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GE's programme to help young people plan and improve their own physical and emotional health and well-being - now, and in the future.

New for 2012 GE has created two Design My Break workshops for use in schools.

Reflecting the Olympic and Paralympic values of respect, excellence, friendship, courage, determination, inspiration and equality, Design My Break's workshops can be run as a stand alone or with the support of GE Volunteers.

Design My Plan

This workshop challenges young people to examine how healthy their mid-day break is, suggest ways they could improve it and discover how they can make it happen. They will learn how to apply a process which can be used over and over again. Read more.

Vision My Future

This interactive workshop uses film, practical exercises and workbooks to help young people set goals, create a vision, feel empowered and improve their emotional health. Read more.

The Design My Break Story

Planning for Design My Break started in 2009 in conjunction with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Small Steps for Life, Youth Sport Trust, School Food Trust and the National Children's Bureau.

We wanted to find a programme that linked our sponsorship of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, our focus on health and well-being and our ongoing commitment to improving the lives of young people.

We were already aware of issues around the mid-day break from their innovative work with primary schools on the Imagination at Play project which transformed lunchtime for four Bristol primary schools.

After commissioning research into the mid-day break in 2010 we felt the results supported our belief that improving the mid-day break of young people across the UK was going to be an invaluable exercise with lasting benefits.

In 2011, we launched the Design My Break competition, engaging hundreds of schools across the UK and resulting in 30 Regional Finalists, all with great ideas about how to improve the mid-day break. Read more about the regional and national awards winners here.

We took it a step further in 2012, designing a series of workshops available to every school across the country; this way, we could help improve the health and well-being of even more young people.

Design My Break and London 2012

Design My Break is part of Get Set, the official London 2012 education programme for schools and colleges across the UK. By participating in Design My Break, your school/college is eligible to receive a whole range of rewards from London 2012!

To access your rewards, you simply need to complete and return your school's Get Set network application form and tell London 2012 about the activities you have been doing as part of Design My Break. You'll then receive a plaque and certificate, the right to use the London 2012 education logo, plus automatic entry into prize draws to win visits from athletes and the London 2012 mascots and much more!