April 2011
april
newsletter from
Change4Life
hange4 L i fe local sup p orter
C
r
a
De
Dear Change4Life
local supporter,
Spring is in the air, making this the ideal time to encourage
the adults and families you work with to leap into action
and enjoy the warmer weather and longer days.
We’ve lots of fresh hints, tips and advice to help you read on to find out more.
Spring into action
Recipes for success
On your marks
Start 4 Life
Supporters of the month
Healthy bites
Spring into action
Now the weather’s improving, it’s the perfect time to help the
adults and families you work with shed those winter layers and
enjoy a more active time in the fresh spring air. We’ve got lots of
ideas you can use to build on the good work you’re already doing,
by passing on information or organising activities which are
suitable for all ages and levels of fitness.
Take swimming for example. Everyone from the youngest to the
oldest will feel the health benefits of being in the water, and it’s a
great way to have fun or unwind together. Plus we have a
fun-packed toolkit to help you give them even more reason to take
the plunge and visit the pool.
We have some fantastic Swim4Life videos showing games that are
bound to be a success in the pool. If you’d like a copy, please email
c4lpartnerships@dh.gsi.gov.uk and put Swim4Life videos in the
subject line.
Fun-packed tool kit
email us
Walking is another activity that’s ideal for spring.
It’s not too hot, or too cold, and at this time of
year there’s plenty to see with spring flowers
bursting into bloom. Check out the Walk4Life
website where you’ll find thousands of routes
that adults and families can enjoy exploring.
Have a wander around Ramblers’ website and
find out how you can get involved in their Get
Walking Day on 15th May.
Walk England and Living Streets are organising
a National Walking Month for the whole of May.
More info
Walking for Health also offer lots of useful
resources to get you out and about. More info
And if you think the adults and families you work
with would like to walk for a good cause why not
take a look at the Stroke Association’s
Step out for Stroke where you can find out how
to join a walk to support them.
Recipes for success
Spring’s a great time to get everyone thinking about
what they eat. With the longer days and warmer
weather you can encourage people to swap eating
stodgy winter meals for lighter, healthier ones. Plus,
there’s so much fresh food available healthy eating
becomes easier and cheaper to do.
Cooking’s a great activity for the whole family to get
involved in and even the pickiest of eaters are more likely
to try something new if they’ve spent time making it.
If the adults and families you work with need inspiration
for new healthy things to cook with then why not order
some Change4Life recipe cards from the DH order line
to give them some ideas. To give you a taste of the
delicious food on offer here’s our Fun Fish Cake recipe:
1
WHAT YOU NEED
400g mashed potato
leftovers are great or make it
from scratch (the cottage pie
recipe card tells you how to
make parsnip mash – just use
potatoes instead)
500g boneless white fish
cod, coley or haddock would do
Semi-skimmed milk
4 medium eggs
Handful chopped fresh parsley
Handful of plain flour
150g wholemeal breadcrumbs
to make yourself, you can
grate some old bread
2
WHAT YOU DO
pan and
STEP 1 – Cover the fish with milk in a frying
you
when
done
’s
it
–
simmer it for about 10 minutes
it
Take
fork.
a
with
y
easil
s
can separate the flake
put
off the heat and drain the milk off. Meanwhile
and
r
wate
cold
two of the eggs in a small pan of
the
bring it to the boil. After about 7 minutes, tip
cold
’re
they
once
–
r
wate
cold
of
bowl
eggs into a
you can take the shells off.
k for
STEP 2 – Take any skin off the fish and chec
to,
pota
the
with
fish
the
mix
to
bones. Use a fork
ey.
parsl
and
eggs
boiled
make
STEP 3 – Divide your mixture into 12 balls and
put
and
flour
with
them
them into fish shapes. Dust
tes.
minu
10
least
at
for
e
fridg
them in the
break
STEP 4 – Turn your grill on to medium. Then
them
beat
and
bowl
the other 2 eggs into a small
te.
with a fork. Spread the breadcrumbs on a pla
en
beat
the
in
s
cake
fish
the
dip
one,
by
Now, one
mbs,
dcru
brea
the
egg and put them straight onto
red.
turning them over so they get completely cove
on a
STEP 5 – As each fish cake is coated, put it
until
grill
the
r
unde
them
put
Then
tray.
g
bakin
through
they’re golden brown and warm all the way
side.
ach
e
tes
minu
5
t
abou
take
ly
– it will probab
More healthy recipes
3
Tasty tip
4
Try serving your fish
cakes with a mixture
of peas and carrots
Change4Life for Schools
Look forward to summer
Even though we’re only just into spring we’re already
thinking about activity for the summer. We’ll be
focussing on physical activity and will be delivering
fun free resources to schools to help teachers with
their end of term activities. As with the Great
Swapathon, we’re really counting on you to make it a
huge success. Watch out for more details soon.
On your marks
...get set
...GO!
The new School Games are underway and if you’re a teacher, the
race is on to get your school involved
The School Games is a great new opportunity to motivate more young people to enjoy the
benefits of playing competitive sport. It’s been designed to involve children from year 3 to 13
across four levels of ability and backgrounds.
Every school in the country has an opportunity to join in the School Games so why not find out
more by downloading the School Games Prospectus for Primary or Secondary Schools to get a
full overview and for more details on how your school can take part.
With the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics just over a year away, it’s the perfect time
to get young people excited about competitive sport. You never know, you may discover an
Olympic champion in your midst.
Breast is best says
Bath and Somerset
A very important message is being driven around Bath and North
Somerset – breastfeeding gives children the best possible start in life.
In the first step of a long-term campaign, NHS Bath & North East
Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset Council are working in
partnership to try and change the attitudes towards breastfeeding in
the local area. To do this they have adopted Start4Life’s messaging
and turned it into a high-profile poster campaign which is currently
adorning the region’s buses.
Recognising that many new mothers
are bombarded with contradictory
advice the partnership decided to
focus on Start4Life because it provides
consistent, evidence-based advice on
feeding and active play.
The team decided on bus advertising as a good
way to reach not only mums with babies but to
influence their friends and families too. Over
time, they hope that by raising awareness of
the importance of breastfeeding and making
mums feel safe and supported to breastfeed
their babies when they’re out and about, the
campaign will change perceptions of local
people towards breastfeeding.
We have two invaluable Start4Life leaflets - Off to the best start
and Introducing solid food - aimed at expectant or new mothers
available to order for free from the DH orderline . These can also be
downloaded from the Start4Life section of our website.
Off to the
best start
Introducing
solid foods
Let’s do lunch in Nottingham
NHS Nottingham certainly proved to have the recipe for
success with their Healthy Lunch Club, called ‘Let’s do lunch
in support of Change4Life’, which they hold in a community
centre every week.
The Healthy Lunch Club aims to improve the overall health
of the local community, by offering only sustainable,
healthy and affordable foods as well as free exercise
sessions including Hula Hoop classes, Martial Arts/Self
Defence, Salsacise and Boxerexercise. The team also provide
nutritional support and talks, to increase the knowledge and
confidence of healthy lifestyles in their community.
By encouraging attendees
to make small swaps and
to try new things, the
Healthy Lunch Club has
been a hit drawing up to
40 people a session.
We hope these stories encourage you to
share your own - tell us what you’ve been
up to and next month you could feature
as one of our ‘Supporters of the month’.
Tell us what you’ve
been up to
Healthy Bites
Here’s a round up of other lovely news and useful info, in bite-size chunks:
Holiday offer!
Hoseasons are offering local supporters and the
adults and families they work with a 10% discount
on all holidays including their exciting Go Active
Breaks collection. To make a booking call
0844 847 1356 and quote C4LIFE.
Please keep signing up!
Share your stories
Sharing your stories with Change4Life is really
easy! Our new online survey aims to give you the
opportunity to share information and photos
of Change4Life events or activities you’ve run –
and help us to recruit and inspire more campaign
supporters in the process. Why not take a few minutes
to tell us what you’ve been up to and complete the
survey here .
If you’ve been forwarded this email or
think any of your colleagues might want
to receive it, you can register on the
Change4Life website and it will be sent
straight to your inbox. As a registered
local supporter you can use all of our
resources free of charge and create your
own materials using the brand assets.
Complete survey
Follow Change4Life
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activities taking place around England by
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fans (by clicking ‘like’) or following
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Are your details up-to-date? Please don’t forget to let us know if your contact details have changed, or are about to
change. We’d love to be able to keep you in the loop on everything we’ve planned in 2011. Send your new details to
c4lpartnerships@dh.gsi.gov.uk and put ‘Details change’ in the subject heading.