Nisa retailer Kishor Patel is offering local school children a piece of fruit each plus a low sugar Robinsons Fruit Shoot drink in a five-week scheme to encourage healthier eating.

Kishor and his team are distributing around 5,000 vouchers to schools near his two Houghton Trading stores in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire. To claim their free fruit and drink, pupils simply need to bring a voucher into the store each week to exchange at the checkout.

“We want children to think that fruit can be fun. This initiative is also an opportunity to further strengthen our links with the local schools and people in our community,” Kishor said.

The head teacher at Thomas Whitehead Church of England School, Elaine Fairclough, praised the campaign: “We’ve valued the support of our Nisa Local store over the past few years with helping us to raise funds for the school and now we’re thrilled to be able to support this exciting new initiative to encourage a healthier lifestyle with our young people.”

The campaign will run from until 6 April 2014. Participants will also have the opportunity to enter into a free prize draw for the chance to win a 7 inch Android tablet.

Houghton Trading’s Toddington store was recently named Community Retailer of the Year at the Convenience Retail Awards.