Healthy Living Programme's Welby Tour Brings Healthy Breakfasts to Orkney Schools

June 20, 2025

We recently wrapped up an incredibly impactful five-day trip to the Orkney Islands, from June 15th to 20th. Kathryn, Gillian, and Yvonne from our HLP team journeyed over 300 miles to bring the HLP Welby Breakfast events and healthy eating messages directly to primary schools across the islands.

Our journey began with a significant trip to John O'Groats before we crossed over to Orkney, setting the stage for a week of engagement and distributing healthy food.

Our trip kicked off with a fantastic start on June 16th (Day 2)! We delivered Welby Breakfasts to three brilliant schools: Stromness Primary, Stenness Primary, and Orphir Community School. It was wonderful to see a grand total of 226 pupils enjoying a nutritious start to their day.

Day 3 brought continued busy efforts with two more breakfast events. We worked alongside Lil and Lindsay from Co-op to serve pupils at Glaitness Primary School (209 pupils served) and Dounby Community School (134 pupils served), and it was great to see Welby's popularity growing across Orkney!

Day 4 was another incredibly busy and rewarding day for us! We visited Firth Primary School, Hope Primary School, and Burray Primary School. We served 213 breakfasts, and beyond the meal itself, these events also gave us a vital chance to teach pupils how important breakfast is for starting their day right.

We wrapped up our trip on Day 5 with our final Welby Breakfast events and healthy snack stops. We truly enjoyed our time at St Andrew’s Primary School (serving breakfast) and Evie Community School (providing healthy snacks). In total, we distributed 244 breakfasts and healthy snacks across these two schools, helping all pupils start their day strong and healthy.

Our Healthy Living Programme team had an absolutely wonderful time connecting with all the schools and the broader Orkney community, bringing our healthy eating initiatives to the Islands.

Looking Back: Our Orkney Trip in Numbers

Our five-day Orkney outreach trip was a resounding success, and here are some impressive numbers that show just how far we reached and the impact we made:

  • 1173 miles covered by road
  • 10 schools visited
  • 1015 pupils served a healthy breakfast
  • 11 retailers visited
  • 4 cooking at home events completed

A massive thank you, as always, goes to our valued partner, Co-op (both as wholesaler and local retailer, particularly Co-op Kirkwall). Their essential and consistent support was key to making these impactful events a huge success. The positive reception from pupils and staff truly showed us how important it is to bring these vital programmes to our rural communities.