Feb 2011 - Campaign Update - Gateway Ref: 15584
Date: 11 Feb 2011
Change4Life – Indoor Activities
This edition is full of ways to warm up February days by focussing attention on indoor activities, and in particular Play4Life, Cook4Life and Let’s Dance with Change4Life.
Play4Life
This February, we’re encouraging families and children to embrace active play as part of a healthy lifestyle, whilst not having to leave the comfort of their homes. They’ll hopefully find inspiration and more than enough games to stay occupied in our Play4Life toolkit.
Download the play4life toolkit now
Reasons kids love play:
- Gets them up and about
- Keeps them healthy
- Makes them smile
- Helps them make new friends
- Improves self-confidence
- Develops imagination
- Improves communication
Cook4Life
During the quiet month of February we’re also encouraging families and children to learn to cook. By showing them that preparing food and cooking it is as much fun as eating it, we’re trying to make a difference to their lifestyles.
Tips for the kitchen
- Smash it, chop it, steam it, boil it, blend it – teach people some of the basic techniques to help them prepare their own meals
- Show people how to prepare food in a hygienic way
- Get them to try new flavours, foods and spices
- Show them that healthy food can be tasty food
- Show how it’s cheaper to cook from scratch than to buy prepared foods
Need some suggestions to get started?
Our partners, Let’s Get Cooking, have some useful hints, tips and other fantastic resources on their website. Take a look.
Get cooking
We’re encouraging families and children to cook their own healthy recipes, or choose from one of the many healthy recipes on the Change4Life website.
Let’s Dance
As February can be miserable and wet, we’re trying to lift people’s spirits by encouraging them to get into dancing. There are many different varieties and it of course has significant health benefits.
Benefits of dancing
- It’s great fun
- Anyone, any age can do it
- Perfect indoor activity
- It burns energy and fat really quickly
- Helps develop coordination
- Strengthens kid’s bones
Use Diversity for inspiration
If the families and children you help really want some dance inspiration, then have a look at our Let’s dance with Change4Life youtube channel featuring Britain’s Got Talent winners, Diversity. They’ll show them the basic moves and teach some easy-to-follow routines.
You can also download the Let’s dance with Change4Life toolkit which give everyone the basic steps for lots of different styles of dancing, as well as ideas to make it even more fun such as competitions and events.
Case Studies of Local Supporter activities
We have been encouraging C4L Local Supporters to send in details about what they’ve been doing locally and have included these two examples.
Firefighters burning fat in Bury St Edmunds
Everyone knows how fit firefighters have to be, so who better to get the children and families of Suffolk in shape than the Bury St Edmunds Fire Department?
Their Firefighter Fit and Healthy Programme ran for 8 weeks at their station and was aimed at children aged between 11-14 and their families. For two hours a week, they learned ways in which they could live healthier lives including diet and nutritional classes, structured physical exercise, as well as real firefighter training!
This programme was a team effort and working along side the Fire Service were the NHS Suffolk Child Weight Management Service, MEND and Healthy Ambitions Suffolk. The organisers reported that everyone on the course found it useful and what the participants learned really boosted their confidence and self-esteem.
Such was the success of this programme, two more are running in Bury St Edmunds Lowestoft and Ipswich will be running their first course early in the summer.
One week, two counties, thousands of healthier people
Something very special happened in the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland recently. 1,579 children and adults decided to change their lives and get Active4Life through Leicestershire & Rutland Sport’s family week.
There were 24 family orientated sessions run in various locations across the region with the aim of getting anyone attending active and enjoying themselves. To achieve this, they had to have activities to suit all ages and abilities. The masterminds behind the events came up with fast and furious games of rounders, a giant parachute, activity hunts as well as a competition to find the most active family.
The events were all clearly branded Active4Life - this included brochures, posters and even the website.
Smallsteps4life Competition
We've had a fantastic response to our SmallSteps4Life competition. To give all primary, secondary and special schools the opportunity to get involved we have now extended the deadline to Thursday 31st March.
So, for a chance to win a visit from one of the London 2012 mascots to your school, visit the SmallSteps4Life competition page.
All schools that enter the SmallSteps4Life competition can apply to join the Get Set network. Get Set network members have access to exciting prizes and opportunities such as tours of the Olympic Park, and will be first in line for tickets to the Olympic and Paralympic Games through the London 2012 Tickets hare initiative. Find out more.
If you think any of your colleagues would be interested in taking part in this competition please forward this email.
Only the most imaginative and effective entries can win, so get going on your fun challenge now!
Free Walk to School Resources for Secondary Schools
Free Your Feet is a week-long walk to school challenge for secondary schools, from national charity Living Streets. The Free Your Feet kit provides everything schools need to get students walking, including a DVD assembly presentation, postcards to record walking, railing banners, posters and a £50 high street voucher prize for one student per school. Schools who took part last year saw walking levels increase by up to 15%, and it’s a great way to gain or maintain sustainable, eco or healthy schools status. To get a free kit for your school, register today at www.walktoschool.org.uk/freeyourfeet
Extra items of collateral
We have just got extra stock of the following Change4Life items which we can offer local supporters. We don't have any plans to reprint these two at the moment so get your orders in whilst stocks remain:
1. Healthy takeaway recipes
2. Change4Life shopping pads
Order them by calling 0300 123 4567.
Facebook and Twitter info
Do you have any local activities that you would like tweeted to the Change4Life followers, or have any web pages promoting activity that you would like us to add to our Facebook page “favourites”? If so, please e mail us.
Similarly, if you have set up your own Facebook page to promote activities, please “like” our Facebook page.
We recommend that anyone involved in supporting Change4Life at a local level should register as a Local Supporter – this includes all health care professionals. Registered supporters will receive regular Local Supporter Newsletters by email, with information about the launch of our toolkits and the latest news on the campaign.
You can register as a Local Supporter at www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/Partners.aspx
