Billy Jones has been taking time out from training to encourage Preston's stars of tomorrow to eat healthily and become a 'healthy hero' just like him.

The up-and-coming England U21 international visited Fulwood and Cadley Primary School to find out how well the youngsters being educated just round the corner from Deepdale had taken to Lancashire County Council's 'Healthy Heroes' initiative, and the results were hugely appetising!



Following the school's adoption of the campaign - which sees the children adhering to the principle that certain types of food can be classed as 'heroes' for their nutritional value - Jones went along to chat to year four, five and six pupils about eating the right kind of meals, as well as answering questions on daily life as a footballer.

Billy was joined at the front of class seven and class nine by Karen Yates, service improvement manager at Lancashire County Council, and PNE's community manager Gary Robinson, who explained:



"The concept behind 'Healthy Heroes' is to encourage youngsters to see the right kind of foods as 'heroes', and as such, the most beneficial and nutritious foods on the menu are depicted as hero characters which have been displayed on the wall around the school's canteen.

"Bringing a real life hero like Billy into the classroom really helps to hammer the message home, as he's an example of somebody who has to adhere to the right kind of diet to get to where he is today.



"From the positive response we got when we asked how many of the youngsters want to become professional footballers, it's clear that many of them will want to aspire to get to the level he's at, and will hopefully take on board the message that he helped to put across about eating the right foods.

"The visit was a huge success with some very well thought out questions from the pupils, and it was clear that both Billy and the children really enjoyed the trip because so much good work is already taking place at schools like Fulwood and Cadley who are following this scheme."