Balsall Heathan # 261 Dec 2006 - St. Paul's Community Trust

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Avoidance Tactics Some foods are less friendly than others when it comes to immunity. Sugar is one that will decrease the function of the immune system, so try to avoid it, especially refined sugar. So drinking a hot toddie (whiskey or Brandy) will not really help with colds or flu. The fact that they're hot will soothe, but the sugar content will affect the immune system. Animal fats are another. When animal fats such as, butter, ghee, lard and some cooking oils are consumed, they congest the Lymphatic system, causing an obstruction to the White Blood Cells. Imagine the Lymphatic system is the M42, consumed animal fat is rush hour traffic, a cold virus is a bad accident and NEW YEAR, NEW START ALL ROUND FOR WOMEN IN BALSALL HEATH In the New Year a new health and fitness course will be running for young women aged 11 – 25. It starts on Tuesday 9 th January 2007 at 4.30pm – 6pm. The first venue will be the Saheli Hub on the corner of Court Road and Edward Road. There are only 16 places, so please contact Chris McGuinness on 0121 440 6311 / 07951734762 for further information on how to reserve a place. Also in the New Year, Food Net will be running a Size Down Club for ladies only, at Strensham Community Flat (the corner of Strensham and Edgbaston Road). The class will run every Monday afternoon from 1pm – 3pm and will start on Monday 15 th January 2007. white blood cells are the ambulances. Your body's ambulances are not going to get through to absorb the cold virus. So warm wholesome low fat foods and drinks (plenty of non sugary drinks) will help you to increase your immune system in the early days of a cold or flu. Extra Help If you do feel that you're slowly giving in to the battle of your immune system versus the air-bourne virus, then reach for the vitamin C - 1000mg is the recommended level for helping decrease the duration of a cold. Zinc supplements can also help prevent germs from staying around, but also echinacea can help stimulate white blood cells into action. Heath Healthy Living Centre and Balsall Heath Forum begin their campaign to collect festive food parcels for those people who live in Balsall Heath who might be elderly, alone and even sick during the holiday season. We had an amazing day on Friday 8 th December. Every Child at Clifton Junior and Infant school took part in a festive fitness day and donated at least one food item for the parcels. In total, Clifton Junior and Infant school have collected over 1000 items. This will help us create approximately 100 parcels. We hope to match that fantastic achievement through festive fitness at Selly Park Technology College and Jakeman Nursery, taking place on December 18th. If you would like to contribute you can drop your donations off to the Tree Nursery on St Pauls Road, or contact Chris McGuinness on 0121 4406311 / 07951734762 and she will arrange a collection. If you know an elderly person in Balsall Heath who is sick or alone during the holiday season then please also contact Chris McGuinness who will ensure that the person receives a festive parcel. Balsall Heath Healthy Living Centre would like to wish everyone in Balsall Heath and all Heathan readers, a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Stay Healthy! x And Finally. It’s that time of year again when Balsall
Balsall Heath Forum Focus The Baths and Civic Centre for Balsall Heath by Chris McGuinness One hundred years ago, the Moseley Road Library was built. It was an era when the book ruled and everyone needed to read and write to get on. But, most people could not afford to buy their own books. At the same time, the Baths were built next door. It was an era when Balsall Heath’s terraced houses had no bathrooms or hot water of their own. Swimming was a mechanical ‘up and down the lane’ thing and people needed a baths’ to get clean in not a leisure centre to enjoy and get fit in. At the same time, Edward Road Police Station was built. It was a time when it made sense to arrest criminals and take them to the ‘nick’. In those days, crime prevention was an instinctive reflex of the whole community, so the criminal stood out and could be dealt with. Today, we need a community safety centre. Far more recently the Health Centre was built at the back of the Baths and opposite the police station. Even so, health was seen as a thing the doctor and the centre did, not what was a key part of everyone’s responsibility. Today, we need a Healthy Living Centre, not a Sick Centre. The costs Recently, the Baths nearly closed and a campaign was launched by those who swam in it to ‘save it’. At first glance, this makes sense. It would cost £17,000,00 to save it for the purposes for which it was built originally 100 years ago. But, it could cost £5m to construct a new, modern, purpose built swimming centre. Pause for thought. The Primary Care Trust is about to spend £1m on refurbishing the Health Centre and make it more ‘community friendly’. Some also feel the need for a brand new, modern Safety Centre, less an old fashioned ‘nick’, more a confidence boosting facility which encourages residents to prevent and design crime out of Balsall Heath. So, some are asking: why not construct a new, purpose built, swimming facility where the ‘nick’ now stands and join-up the functions of literacy, communications, safety and health where the Health Centre, Baths and Library now stand. That is, let’s join-up the needs of Heathans and locate them in a modern Civic Centre. A Civic Hub want to preserve the old, single purpose, swimming use in the old buildings. The architectural merit, even iconic status of the building was well made at the meeting. But, the case for simply renovating the baths in their original glory was not. It was just asserted and taken for granted. Residents from Balsall Heath wanted to explore the options outlined above. But, they were given little time, less facts and the meeting closed with the organisers saying that they would set up their working party anyway. Whilst most of the Baths present users were pleased with this outcome, most residents from Balsall Heath were very dissatisfied, felt railroaded and excluded by the organisers. The next day they told the Heathan that they will now take their own local soundings. They will set up an inclusive, multi-agency group to explore the options and agree a cost effective credible way forward. They say they are happy to include representatives from Moseley/Kings Heath and the users, but will not be dictated to by them or taken for granted. Can Super Nanny stop antisocial behaviour? In times past, the extended family helped parents to bring up children well. It taught them right from wrong and to grow into mature, caring adults. In today’s world the family has shrunk often to the single parent whose own parents did not use good parenting skills. So, many people simply don’t know how to discipline their children. Without discipline they can run wild, terrorise a whole street, even a whole neighbourhood. The TV programs ‘Super-Nanny’ and ‘Little Angels shows just how skilled, caring, adults who use ‘tough love’ can help the unskilled parents of naughty children to teach them how to behave. So, the Government has made funds available to train and deploy a bevy of Super Nannys. At £30-40k a Nanny, some say this is too much. But, guess what can happen if a naughty child of, say, 5 and their parent(s) are left unaided until she/he is 16 years old? The costs can be astronomical and include: ● ● ● ● ● Damage to property and local spirit. Social services time. Probation and courts time. Police time. Time in detention/prison It is almost unbelievable that these costs can rise to way over £100k per year per person orup to £1m over a 10 years period. The proud, self-respecting neighbourhood of Balsall Heath yearns for a hub, a focal point which could attract attention, visitors and be fit for modern purpose. Further, many local groups lack meeting and other facilities. So, local community leaders are saying: “Let’s have a feasibility study and development plan which: ● ● ● ● ● ● Gives the swimmers a new, modern, facility for a possible £5m. Integrates the functions of safety, health, fitness, literacy and civic pride. Is cost effective and can be maintained Is fit for modern purpose and is sustainable for the next 50 years. Turns old buildings into a modern icon. Can be managed locally not by remote authority. At a meeting called by a little group of Bath users and Martin Mullany, a Moseley Councillor, those present were invited to set up a ‘Save the Baths’ Action Group. The above views and those of a Consultant employed by the Council were ignored in favour of those who simply The cost of one Super Nanny’s time (10 hours per week at £40 per hours for 8 weeks) £3.2k. Just compare £3.2k with £1m. No contest. So, many people in Balsall Heath and elsewhere are saying: Lets have 1 Super Nanny per Neighbourhood, a kind of friendly parent support worker. As they say: ‘A stitch in time saves time.’ Or, in this case, a very big communal headache and an awful lot of money. A Financial Ferret for the Forum The Forum has been pressing Government to work out how much a neighbourhood like Balsall Heath costs the taxpayer each year. It wants to know how much is spent on health, housing, benefits, police, environmental services, parks and so on. It’s a surprise, but nobody knows what this figure is. Budgets for Balsall Heath (and other neighbourhoods) are entwined in for larger budgets which deliver one-size-fits-all services over far larger areas. Because nobody knows, it follows that no one person or body is
Page 1 and 2: The Balsall No. 261 December 2006 J
Page 3 and 4: The Balsall Heathan Your Community
Page 5 and 6: eating, with the third being physic
Page 7 and 8: ….Your health magazine PULL OUT
Page 9: and enter the body by the genitouri
Page 13 and 14: Heath Forum. Can’t people at the
Page 15: Joyeux Noel! Born in Balsall Heath

Balsall Heathan # 261 Dec 2006 - St. Paul's Community Trust

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