WEET-BIX GIRL BELLA
A new face soon to be smiling out from the side of your cereal box has a good reason to be grinning.
Bella Stainthorpe, 10, landed herself an advertising deal after she performed a touching act of kindness during the ocean-swim leg of a Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon in New Plymouth earlier this year.
‘‘I was ahead of another girl when I heard her start to cry and say she was scared. I think she thought there were crabs in the sand.
‘‘I looked back, turned around and held her hand, and said, ’It’s OK, there are no crabs in the sand so they won’t pinch you. It’s not scary, because I’ve done this before’.
‘‘Then I helped her because I didn’t want her to be sad or scared, and we finished the swim together.’’
Weet-Bix, owned by Sanitarium, were running a competition to find kids to feature on the cereal boxes and Stainthorpe said she couldn’t believe she was one of only six children chosen from the hundreds who applied.
‘‘When I found out I was chosen to be on the box I was really nervcited. Nerv-cited is nervous and excited combined together! I was squealing and jumping up and down and I was really happy,’’ she said. A trip to Auckland to get professional photos taken was also extremely exciting for Stainthorpe.
‘‘It made me feel like I’m someone really posh or famous.
‘‘We flew up on a plane from New Plymouth and we got up really early to get to the photoshoot. It was fun meeting some of the other kids they’re really friendly and nice.
‘‘I can’t wait to see myself on the boxes, it will be great - I’ll be able to show other kids how much fun it is to do a TRYathlon.’’
"I looked back, turned around and held her hand, and said, 'It's OK, there are no crabs in the sand so they won't pinch you. It's not scary, because I've done this before'.'"
Bella Stainthorpe
Sanitarium sponsorship manager Nigel Chenery said Stainthorpe’s story of bravery made her the perfect candidate to represent the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon on Weet-Bix packets.
‘‘The TRYathlon is all about giving it a try, setting goals for yourself and achieving them. We had hundreds of children enter our competition to appear on Weet-Bix packs and we picked children who demonstrated the brand’s values most,’’ he said.
‘‘Because this was Bella’s second TRYathlon, she was able to reassure another participant and help them reach their goals too, which makes her very brave. She is the sort of girl who will inspire others to give it a go, which is exactly what we are looking for in our Weet-Bix kids.’’
The annual Sanitarium WeetBix Kids TRYathlon is open to children aged between 7 and 15 years old. To register visit try.weetbix.co.nz.