Environment, Wellbeing and Healthy Lifestyle Conference

Guest Posting

Date of the event: 21st October 2009
Organised by: Staffordshire University
Venue: Best Western, Stoke on Trent
Reported by: Jane Friend, Development Manager, Groundwork NW

I attended the event to promote Groundwork's contribution to the improvement of the environment and health. A link to all presentations can be found at Staffordshire University

Speakers came from far and wide (the furthest away, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency) to talk about a diverse range of topics linking to how the environment impacts on the health and wellbeing of communities and individuals.

What did I learn?
1. Marcus Sangster from the Forestry Commission reaffirmed the importance of access to a quality environment. Marcus gave a historical perspective to the positive effects of the environment on health. He felt that we had come full circle since the Kinder Trespass and that like then the full benefits of access to the environment are now being recognised again. To reflect the importance placed on health and wellbeing by a new project called NHS forest has been launched which aims to plant 1.3 million trees on NHS Estates.

2. Maximise the potential of green space. The quality of green space really matters when looking at the impact of the environment and health.

3. Edward Hobson from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment explained that places are shaped by history, typography and resources. Legacy means that some communities are better off than others in the same way vulnerable communities will be more affected by climate change. This is because the areas with the least green space will be the hottest areas. To counteract this, communities need to adapt by changing behaviour into every day life to build resilience to unavailable consequences of climate change.

4. Hugh Barton from WHO Collaborating Centre for Healthy Cities and Urban Policy described how urban planning that takes into account access to public transport can increase the number of episodes of walking and cycling in an area. He pointed out the where people reside should be 800 metres from public transport should be multi model so that people can pick either the quickest or healthiest route.

5. Health Impact Assessments should be integrated into the planning process.

The event organiser Jon Fairburn did mention that the turn out to the event had doubled since last year. Baring in mind the success of this year’s event it looks like a bigger venue might be needed next year!

Mental Health First Aid

Date of event: 14th and 15th October 2009
Organised by: Delivering Inclusion Network
Venue: Hulme, Manchester
Report by: Rob Squires, Network Co-ordinator - Third Sector

I have just undertaken two days of very interesting training on mental health first aid. I decided to do the training in order for me to have better understanding of the mental wellbeing work that is going on across the Target: Wellbeing portfolio. Also living in an inner city area where mental health issues are in your face, I thought it would be useful on a day to day basis. At the start of the course I was apprehensive that because I was not a frontline mental health worker, I might be a little out of my depth. As it turned out, my life experiences, and a general interest in psychology, set me up quite well for the experience. I was also reassured to find out that the training is designed for the public as much as for front line workers. The majority of folk on the course are working on the front line, and it was an inspiring experience meeting and talking to them.

The Mental Health First Aid training is new to this country, and the course was delivered by the Delivering Inclusion Network, which in Manchester is a partnership of third sector providers, including HARP, Mind, and the Roby. HARP are the delivery organisation behind Bite, which is part of the Target: Wellbeing Programme. The trainers were Rowena Pyott from Bite, and Graham Hayes, who is a service user, and works for Mind in Manchester, and it was very useful to get first hand accounts from him.

The training itself gives an overview of general mental health issues, including depression, anxiety disorders, and psychosis. (More information can be found on their website.) It provides you with the knowledge to be able to assess problems at an early stage, and make useful interventions. I will definitely be recommending the training to other Target: Wellbeing projects in the future, if it is repeated, and will help to promote it on our new website when it goes live.

Winning at Wellbeing

Date of event: 30th September 2009
Organised by: Target: Wellbeing
Venue: Novas Contemporary Urban Centre, Liverpool
Report by: Rob Squires, Wellbeing Network Co-ordinator (Third Sector)



Well the big day finally came and went! Thanks to Rhiannon, who put loads of time and effort into making it happen, the whole event was carried out without a hitch .. we even managed to keep to the schedule. I remember talking to other members of the TWB team as the day progressed, and sharing surprise at just how smoothly things were going. This was reflected in the feedback forms, which showed that participants appreciated the day as much as we did.

Despite the fact that Sue Henry, chair of the Board of Governors was not able to make it, due to sickness, we got the day of to a positive start with an inspiring Top 5 Good News stories. The Knowsley programme excelled in this, and have laid down the gauntlet, for other TWB programmes to get better at providing us with information on all the good things that are happening in your areas.

The day proceeded with a host of different workshops and activities, too many to name, from a diversity of partners and collaborators. TWB projects 'Shared their successes' by running mini sessions throughout the morning, in which they told us all about how their projects are working. There were also wellbeing exercises including chair based exercise by Age Concern Cheshire, and salsa dancing by Shimmey Shimmey Shake Shake. I delivered a 45 minute workshop on Sustainable Funding which was well attended, in which I reinforced the message that we are already half way through our 4 year TWB programme, and need to be thinking about how we can innovate, and work together, to sustain projects when the funding runs out.

After lunch there was an Open Space workshop session, which was an opportunity for participants to discuss issues amongst peers, that were of concern to them. I pulled together a group discussion on practice based commissioning, and we chewed the fat on this for a while, sharing a range of different views. Mark Dorris and Alan Farrier from UCLan, closed the day as our two appointed 'key note listeners', giving a wonderful summary of everything that happened, and the major learnings from the day.

The presentations from the event, along with Mark and Alan's final report will be made available on our new web site very shortly.