Joe Wicks to visit Dover primary school for workout with pupils
17:00, 16 May 2024
updated: 07:24, 17 May 2024
Internet sensation and fitness coach Joe Wicks is set to lead pupils at a Kent primary on a whole school workout.
The YouTuber, also known as The Body Coach, will delight youngsters in Dover today (Friday).
Wicks, who was awarded an MBE in 2020 after holding virtual PE lessons during lockdown, will be doing exercises with the children followed by a Q&A session.
He will be coming down to Charlton Church of England Primary School at 9am.
Headteacher Sally-Anne Pettersen applied to The Body Coach Schools Tour after it was announced on April 4.
She said: “We are very excited.
“As a school, we are passionate about the health and future of our children and of the community.
“The children have been preparing questions to ask Joe and doing a few workouts to warm up.
“We have also had a focus on healthy eating.
“We already have an enriched sports curriculum, with a variety of competitions and events available to all and we run inclusive sports clubs for children of all abilities and needs.
“We sit in an area of high deprivation with 43% of our pupils on free school meals and 25% of our children speaking English as an additional language.
“We have 20% of our children with an identified special educational need. Studies show that these groups of children find it harder to access sport and physical activity on a regular basis, outside of school.”
She added that one of the reasons they really wanted Joe to come was the closure and relocation of Dover Leisure Centre to Whitfield, making access harder for some children.
Mrs Pettersen will be on kmfm Breakfast with Garry and Claire (who's in for Chelsea) tomorrow morning after 8am.
The visit to Dover is part of Wicks’s second tour of UK schools.
Announcing the scheme on his Facebook page, he said: “I’m continuing on my mission to get more kids moving and learning about the incredible benefits of movement and exercise, and I’m taking my Schools Tour back on the road.
“I’m going to visit as many schools as I can over five days between May 15th and 21st, and my goal is to meet and exercise with over 10,000 kids.
“I can’t wait to meet some of you.”
It’s not the first time the fitness fanatic has visited Kent.
In 2022, he was spotted at Bluewater for a signing of his book Feel Good Food.
Joe Wicks first rose to fame in about 2014 for his fitness and nutrition-related content on social media.
His videos, spread across various platforms, include workouts and advice on healthy eating.
He has 4.7 million followers on Instagram, and 2.81 million subscribers on YouTube - as well as several cooking and exercise books to his name.
In March 2020, he launched his first PE with Joe video, aimed at helping kids stay active through the pandemic.
The series ran for one year and was watched by more than one million users worldwide.