Healthy Living in Kent making a difference - Gravesham Borough ...

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Food, diet and nutritionAll the centres’programmes in Kent focus on food: either through their community cafes or specificcommunity cooking programmes dealing with nutrition, diet and exercise. These initiatives come in manyforms and include comprehensive programmes designed to educate and change attitudes to food.Food plays an important part in our lives. Although people say that they know what they should be eating,they often lack the skills and confidence to take raw materials and turn them into food. This is why almostall of the projects featured here spend a lot of their time organising and encouraging participation incommunity cooking activities. Apart from the social aspects of this, the real benefits come as participantsexperiment with new foods and begin to make changes to their diets.All the centres have some form of café. Some of them are run as a social enterprise, othersare separate from the programme that hosts them and are run as independent businesses.Some of the centres have taken the extra step and support projects that are actuallygrowing food which is then used in the community cooking initiatives. In this way the ideaof where food comes from can be included. Young people especially have a growingawareness of the concept of “food miles”. Some of them have taken the idea of growingfood in their schools and there are now fledgling growing projects in many schoolsthroughout Kent.Getting people interested in what they eat, how it gets to theirtables and what it tastes like when they eat it, is a sure-fireway of getting people to alter their diet to include healthieroptions; even those who find food difficult start to developan interest and enthusiasm for healthy eating.ExerciseThe government is keen to ensure that all children take at least five hoursphysical activity a week in school. Adults are also encouraged to take atleast half an hour’s meaningful activity on a minimum of five consecutivedays. Encouraging people to take more exercise and physical activityfeatures in the centres’programmes.The centres’programmes have activities for a range of age groups.Some focus on young people, others have programmes specificallytargeted at older people. All of the programmes acknowledge theimportance of sustaining the interest of the participants in thelong term.The sorts of programmes on offer include:■■■■■WalkingGardeningGym activitiesDanceFootball and other sports such as swimming, and■ Opportunities to learn new games, try out new activities andmake new friends in the process.The key to all these activities is that the participants enjoy what theyare doing, realise how it has changed their lives and continue to takepart. Providing such a variety of opportunities to people increaseslevels of personal physical activity, reduces or helps to maintainweight and has beneficial effects on mental health and personalwell-being.Many of the healthy living programmes also include theprovision of nutrition, diet and lifestyle advice.6 Healthy Living in Kent making a difference7
Mental health and well-beingAlmost everything the centres do has a positive impact on mental health and well-being. Some ofour initiatives aim to help individuals cope better with their problems. The centres provide affordable,accessible counselling services for people living in deprived communities, including an active listeningservice for young people. This service is staffed by qualified counsellors who offer intensive one-toonesupport.Other initiatives aim to provide a safe place for people to meet and support others in a similar situation.The centres provide facilities for a very diverse range of support groups including mental health groups,young parents groups and ethnic minority family groups. These groups often support people at criticalmoments in their lives, helping individuals to cope with stressful situations and giving information aboutother help available.The centres also use community development techniques to increase the ability of people in ourcommunities to take action on priorities defined as important by the communities themselves. This workhas a direct bearing on the mental health of those taking part. People also get involved in communityactivities such as theatre groups, cinemas, community transport and volunteering. Participants reportbetter mental health. Some centres also provide training services to help professionals identify earlysigns of mental health problems and offer appropriate support.Learning and employmentThe centres support people who find it difficult to access traditionaleducational provision, as well as helping those seeking work. Our approachis to provide a safe learning environment which focuses on the whole person.The IT courses and internet cafes are very popular. People are offered a gentleintroduction to IT, often delivered by voluntary organisations such as 1stByte. The drop-in sessions andinternet cafes give people a chance to develop their skills at their own pace. Some people are interested inthis without any specific vocational aim. Silver Surfer courses give people aged over 50 the chance to findout about email, internet shopping, family history websites and other interesting topics.As well as IT courses, the centres provide learning opportunities which give people a chance to enjoynon-vocational learning. Courses offered include: carpentry, craft design, DJ, music and dance workshops.Once people are hooked on learning they often want to move on to accredited vocational courses. Linkswith local colleges mean that people can be helped to progress to other courses when they are ready.The centres’approach with job seekers is to offer customised support to help them to develop new skillsand build confidence. Considerable success has been demonstrated with men aged over 40, womenreturning to the labour market, and those needing additional support with mental health needs.Working with Lunchtakers, a social enterprise, the centres work intensively on issues such as preparinga CV and providing work placements to build confidence. A significant number of people have movedinto both paid employment and voluntary work.8 Healthy Living in Kent making a difference9
Page 1 and 2: Designed by Bananadesign www.banana
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