2007 grants support local food hygiene and nutrition schemes UK-wide

Bath and North East Somerset Council - Feel Good Food

Feel Good Food is a small existing local box scheme whereby individuals with learning difficulties purchase a box which contains all the ingredients for two main meals and a dessert with an easy English/pictorial recipe card. Clients independently, or with assistance, cook the meal at home from fresh ingredients. The project will build on past work carried out with people with learning difficulties. The authority plans to completely review the current project and concentrate on promoting independent healthy eating and safe food preparation. The scheme will then be trialled/re-launched with learning difficulty groups and individuals throughout the area and then promoted throughout the area as a model.

Finally, the project would be made available as a social enterprise template to other groups, such as older people in sheltered housing and low income families, possibly in conjunction with cooking skills classes.

For further information please contact:
Sue Green, Public Health Development Officer, Environmental Services, Bath and North East Somerset Council, 9-10 Bath Street, Bath BA1 1SN
tel: 01225 477562, fax: 01225 396142, email: sue_green@bathnes.gov.uk

Belfast City Council - Choose 'n' Move

In Northern Ireland over 20% of children are overweight or obese. Choose’n’Move is an educational toolkit for 4-16 year olds that allows youth leaders to encourage children and young people to make healthy life choices in order to tackle childhood obesity.
The four key messages of the scheme are:

• The importance of breakfast
• The importance of keeping moving
• The need to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables daily
• That being active is good for your health

The scheme, which will be co-ordinated by the Health Development Unit in Belfast City Council, will provide an education pack which includes activities, lesson plans and learning tools which are tailored for different age groups. This funding will also support the provision of vouchers for fruit and pedometers to each group.

Belfast City Council is aiming to initially target 300 groups and as the toolkit can be used repeatedly, and there is the potential for over 3,000 children and young people to benefit from the training.

For further information please contact:
Eve Bremner, Belfast City Council, The Cecil Ward Building, 4 -10 Linenhall Street, Belfast BT2 8BP
tel: 02890 320 202, email: bremnere@belfastcity.gov.uk

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council - From Shop to Plate

The project aims to encourage and teach parents/carers of children under five years, within disadvantaged areas, to cook and eat more healthily in the home and give them a qualification to use to gain employment in the food industry.

Blackburn aims to change the way families choose their food by giving them professional advice from nutritionists and support with weekly shopping. They will encourage basic cookery skills and demonstrate how to produce food safely. They will work with local communities and regional bodies such as the Blackburn with Darwen Primary Care Trust to promote awareness of how to reduce diet-related diseases

The project meets strategic objectives linked to improving health and social wellbeing, reducing obesity in children and the increasing mortality rates of young women - currently 10% higher in the north compared to the south of England.

For further information please contact:
Joanne Wellock, Food hygiene team leader, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, 3-5 Salford, Blackburn BB1 6HG
tel: 01254 222536, email: joanne.wellock@blackburn.gov.uk

Bridgend County Borough Council - Better Food Bridgend

It is recognised that a poor diet is one of the main causes of ill health and premature death. With the consumption of food and drink outside the home having increased this project has been devised to ensure the availability of safe, nutritious food, prepared using good hygiene practices within catering businesses.

This will be achieved by a series of planned workshops to approximately 400 catering businesses, which will promote the use of food safety management systems, in conjunction with healthy menu options by promoting consideration of nutritional value and salt content. To ensure the effectiveness of this project follow up visits will be made to catering premises six months later with the incentive of the proposed Healthy Options Award Scheme offered.

For further information please contact:
Jane Donagh, Public Protection Department, Bridgend CBC, Civic Offices, Angel Street, Bridgend CF31 4WB
tel: 01656 643256, email: donagej@bridgend.gov.uk

Bristol City Council - Cooking From Scratch: Going Greener

Bristol City Council will be working with various groups of teenagers and young parents in an area of high health need in Bristol (Southmead). Participant groups will be selected by youth workers/outreach workers, Connexions staff, excluded pupil key-workers, and other relevant agencies. A combination of ‘Taster’ cooking sessions and longer courses will be run, aiming to give participants an enjoyable experience of cooking from fresh ingredients, as well as practical skills and knowledge in preparing affordable balanced meals, food hygiene and nutrition. It will also incorporate a ‘going greener’ strand based on the traffic light labelling system. Students will also be given the opportunity to take the level 1 certificate in the Essentials of Food Hygiene as part of the longer courses.

For further information please contact:
Grace Davies, Food Safety Team, Public Health Services, Bristol City Council, Brunel House, St. Georges Road, Bristol BS1 5UY
tel: 0117 9223409, mobile: 07810506684, email: grace.davies@bristol.gov.uk

Cookstown District Council

The Eat Healthy, Stay Healthy Roadshow

The project will deliver Roadshows to Cookstown and the surrounding rural villages in order to promote Food Safety, Nutrition and Physical Activity. The Roadshow will be open to people of all ages and abilities and will be an interactive day, showcasing the important messages in a fun, memorable way. The messages will be delivered through a programme of visual displays and demonstrations on food safety, nutrition and health promotion along with physical activities such as walks, races, mini sports tournaments. The overall aim will be to improve the knowledge and awareness of the people of the Cookstown District Council area with regards to these issues and in turn, reduce incidences of food poisoning, obesity and heart disease in the local area.

For further information please contact:
Marissa McCormick, Environmental Health Department, Cookstown District Council, Council Offices, Burn Road, Cookstown, N. Ireland BT80 8DT
tel: 02886762205, email: envhealth@cookstown.gov.uk

City of Edinburgh - Food4Life

This project aims to spread the healthy eating and food hygiene message to young adults by distributing the colourful Food4Life booklet and promotions at University Freshers Fayres in Edinburgh. The project also funds food hygiene training for voluntary and community workers involved in cooking activities with 16-25 year olds.

For further information please contact:
Fiona Dey, Senior Officer, Health Improvement Unit, Community Safety, Services for Communities, City of Edinburgh, Chesser House, 500 Gorgie Road, Edinburgh EH11 3YT
tel: 0131 469 5403, fax: 0131 469 5849, email: fiona.Dey@edinburgh.gov.uk

Fife Council - Keep Food Safe

Full details to follow.

Fylde Borough Council - Taste for Life

Taste for Life is aimed at improving the health, wellbeing and quality of life for people aged 65 years and over living in the Fylde area. Residential care providers will receive support for improvement in food hygiene, nutrition and care catering to ensure national minimum standards are met. Qualifying participants will receive a certificate of compliance. Businesses will also be encouraged to work towards a certificate of excellence by fulfilling additional criteria. This would include consulting with residents or their representatives, offering interesting and varied choices of meals, menu planning, providing comfortable dining areas and including themed mealtimes to enhance social wellbeing.

Fylde Borough Council’s community-based activities will include awareness raising sessions at lunch clubs, day centres and sheltered housing scheme social events. Independently living older people will receive information about food hygiene and nutrition enabling them to make healthier choices.

Local sourcing of fresh fruit and vegetables will also be promoted to encourage sustainability and support the local economy.

For further information please contact:
Ciara Gregson or Amanda Bate, Consumer Wellbeing and Protection, Fylde Borough Council, Town Hall, Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire FY8 1LW
tel: 01253 658536 (Ciara Gregson) or 01253 658448 (Amanda Bate), email: ciarag@fylde.gov.uk
Or amandab@fylde.gov.uk

Glasgow City Council - Basic Food Hygiene Course for Persons with Learning Difficulties

This project will deliver the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) elementary food hygiene course to persons with learning difficulties in order to facilitate their transition into the food industry workforce and to assist them in their everyday life. The project concentrates on the practical aspects of food handling and has an element of nutrition included in it. Throughout the six months of the project, at one day a week, all aspects of the elementary food hygiene course will be covered, interspersed with practical and nutritional elements.

The project will be held in a community venue and will consist of a practical demonstration of food safety techniques, the planning of a nutritionally sound lunch for the participants to enjoy and a classroom section to cover the REHIS syllabus.

The project will involve partnerships among various agencies, and these are Glasgow City Council, Social Work Services, Cardonald College, REHIS and the East End Healthy Living Centre.

For further information please contact:
Helen Lang, Team Leader, Food Safety, Land and Environmental Services, Glasgow City Council, 231 George Street, Glasgow G1 1RX
tel: 0141 287 6570, Fax. 0141 287 8101, Email: helen.lang@eps.glasgow.gov.uk

Herefordshire Council - Care 2 Cook?

Care2Cook? is a joint initiative with the Primary Care Trust to support 14-19 year olds with a care background to develop knowledge and skills in food hygiene and healthy eating. Practical workshops will include shopping, cooking and an opportunity to achieve an accredited qualification. Individuals' contributions will be celebrated at the annual awards event for children and young people, their carers and staff.

For further information please contact:
Sophie Hughes, Project Manager, Safeguarding and Assessment, Herefordshire Council, 8 St. Owen’s Street, Hereford HR1 2PJ
tel: 01432 260072, Mob: 07792 880684, email: shughes@herefordshire.gov.uk

Horsham District Council - Raising the Level of Food Safety Awareness among Voluntary Sector Workers

The project aims to provide both formal and informal food hygiene training and advice, free of charge, to persons working in the voluntary sector in the Horsham district who prepare and/or cook food for other people, especially people in vulnerable groups.

They hope to raise the level of food safety awareness amongst voluntary sector workers and thereby assist the FSA’s objective to reduce the level of foodborne illness in this country.

Furthermore, they hope to promote and establish valuable partnership working and the exchange of information with the many voluntary sector agencies.

For further information please contact:
Ray Grant, Principal EHO, Horsham District Council, Park House, North Street, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1RL
tel: 01403 215415, Fax: 01403 215461, e.mail: Ray.Grant@horsham.gov.uk

London Borough of Islington - Teenage Traits

Islington’s project will target vulnerable young people using referrals from the leaving care team, youth offending team, youth workers and Connexions. The project will be delivered in partnership with the Community Kitchen Project.

The project aims to develop life skills based around hygiene in the home, shopping on a budget, cooking skills and the eatwell plate. There will be four workshops in community facilities for groups of ten young people. The first two will be interactive theory based on developing their understanding of the need for hygiene in the home and how what we eat affects our health, mood and behaviour. The last two are entirely practical and are based around a cook taste formula that has been successfully used before.

Between September 2007 and March 2008 Islington aims to deliver these courses to 70 young people. They also intend to leave a legacy pack of information for the referral teams to be able to use with young people who were not able to participate in the project themselves.

For further information please contact:
Ms M A Webb, Principal EHO, London Borough of Islington, Public Protection, 159 Upper Street, London N1 1RE
tel: 020 7527 3852, email: michelle.webb@islington.gov.uk

Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council - Eat Clever

Full details to follow.

North Ayrshire Council - S1/2 Healthy Eating project

Hungry for Success is a government initiative. This project will provide the opportunity for a more dynamic delivery of a Healthy Eating curriculum insert for pupils in S1 or S2 in each of the secondary schools in the area to assist with meeting the aims of Hungry for Success. Foodlab will be employed to deliver either a ‘Junkfood Roadshow’ or ‘Lowdown Roadshow’ workshop to all S1 or S2 pupils within North Ayrshire Council secondary schools, with individual schools having the opportunity to select the most appropriate ‘Roadshow’ for their school cohort. The Home Economics Departments will then build on this experience, in collaboration with North Ayrshire Council’s Catering Service and Community Dietician to offer young people the opportunity to put into practice the messages promoted within these workshops. Additionally, the target group will all have the opportunity in S2 to achieve the REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene Certificate (which is now fully embedded in the curriculum as a result of a previous successful FSA project) thus providing young people with a well-rounded educational opportunity.

For further information please contact:

Alison Young, Quality Improvement Officer, Educational Services, North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE
tel: 01294 324446, Fax: 01294 324444, email: alisonyoung@north-ayrshire.gov.uk

Plymouth City Council - Food and Health Toolbox for the early years

The project will produce a toolkit pack in partnership with the Primary Care Trust, Health Visitors and local mother and toddler groups to deliver key messages to parents of children aged 0-3 years regarding food hygiene and nutrition.

A number of trainers will be recruited from the public, private and voluntary sectors and will be provided with additional training in key subject areas to enable them to deliver the toolkit to the parents. Additional training will include basic catering skills, CIEH Level 2 Award in Food Safety/Healthier Food and Special Diets, Professional Trainer Certificate.

The toolkit will ensure parents:

• understand how to prevent foodborne illness in the home (the 4 C's)
• understand the FSA’s and Industry food labelling schemes
• identify and state examples of the five food groups of a balanced diet
• plan and describe a menu list for one week that provides these elements
• explain the link between healthy food, exercise and a healthy lifestyle

The toolkit will be available in printed and electronic format and will enable a sustained delivery of the key messages about health and wellbeing.

For further information please contact:
Rachael Harris, Safety, Health and Licensing, Public Protection Service, Plymouth City Council, Civic Centre, Plymouth PL1 2EW
tel: 01752 30474, email: Rachael.harris@plymouth.gov.uk

Renfrewshire Council - Focus on Food Initiative

The Health Promotion Unit of Renfrewshire Council Environmental Services Department will develop a ‘Focus on Food’ initiative that will facilitate learning on food safety and healthy eating. Their target audience is approximately 5,000 young adults living within Renfrewshire. They aim to focus on these particularly vulnerable groups:

• those living on their own for the first time, such as students living in both student accommodation and shared housing
• final year secondary school pupils who may be planning to move away from home
• young adults identified by social work who are moving from supported accommodation to living on their own
• adults with learning difficulties who may be working towards living independently

New resources will be created to support this project, and they will be working closely with their local College, University and other Council Departments.

For further information please contact:
Anne McBeth, Health Promotion Officer, Renfrewshire Council
tel: 0141 840 3182, email: anne.mcbeth@renfrewshire.gov.uk

Salford City Council - The 'Big Book'

Salford City Council in partnership with Salford Primary Care Trust are producing a 'Big Book' for all Salford primary schools which will be used as a teaching aid in the form of stories for children at Key Stage one. The Big Book will be interactive and colourful which will enable children to learn food safety in an interesting and memorable way. In addition to the Big Book, children will be provided with a homework handbook filled with food safety messages.

For further information please contact:
Fiona Inston, Salford City Council, Turnpike House, 631 Eccles New Road, Salford M5 2SH
tel: 0161 925 1394, email: Fiona.Inston@salford.gov.uk

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council - Helping Solihull Teenagers Eat Well

The project aims to educate local teenagers in healthy food choices and the importance of food hygiene in relation to buying and preparing lunches and snacks. Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council aims to reach a cross section of teenagers through existing youth groups with emphasis on the groups where vulnerable and disadvantaged teenagers may be found.

The objective of the project is to develop an understanding of healthy food choices and the importance of food hygiene. The proposal will give teenagers the necessary understanding to enable them to make informed choices and the interactive nature of the project ensures that they practise the skills needed and gives them confidence to try things for themselves. This will be achieved through a number of workshop sessions which will promote existing messages of healthy eating and food hygiene through ‘5 a day’ and the ‘4C’s’ using various interactive activities

For further information please contact:
Jackie Paterson, Food Team Supervisor, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council , Council House, Solihull, West Midlands B91 9EG
tel: 0121 704 6858, email: jpaterson@solihull.gov.uk

South Ayrshire Council - Elementary Food and Health Training Course

This project aims to deliver 11 courses training up to 154 people who engage directly with the specific target groups of people in the community. The aim being that those trained will use the acquired knowledge of food and health to help improve/influence the diet and knowledge of food and health of their clients. Targeted groups include:

• vulnerable groups including people with learning difficulties
• disadvantaged groups such as homeless people
• pregnant women
• babies and early years
• youths not in education, employment or training
• older people and
• ethnic groups.

The course aims to give an appreciation and understanding of food and nutrition and the effects on health including the following areas:

• functions of food in terms of carbohydrate, protein and fat
• the role of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, fluid and alcohol intake
• people’s differing energy needs esp. babies, children, pregnant women and the elderly
• the importance of food in chronic diseases such as diabetes, coeliac disease (wheat intolerance)
• healthy eating and ways of preparing and cooking foods for a healthy diet
• assess nutrition info on food labels

For further information please contact:
Gerry Fallon, South Ayrshire Council, Environmental Health, Burns House, Burns Statue Square, Ayr
tel: 01292 616661, email: gerry.fallon@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Staffordshire County Council - Ready Steady Chefs and Foodies

This project will take a two-pronged approach: firstly targeting young people in local secondary schools, (year 7), and then parents/carers of younger children (early years), in low-income families through local Children’s Centres and community groups. The school-based programme 'Ready Steady Chefs' builds on two pilot projects and the successful outcomes of these pilot programmes will be extended to include a wider population of school children and low-income families across Staffordshire, focusing on the geographical areas experiencing the greatest health inequalities. This will be a partnership project with Primary Care Trusts and District Councils as well as the Healthy Schools Team, Children’s Centres and Community and Learning Partnerships.

For further information please contact:
Brian Camfield, Head of Public Health, Community Services, Staffordshire County Council, Social Care and Health Directorate, 14 Martin Street, Stafford ST16 2LG
tel: 01785 277983, email: brian.camfield@staffordshire.gov.uk

Warwick District Council - Community Action Partners

Warwick District Council will work with 2 established local organisations to promote healthy eating and food hygiene within vulnerable and deprived communities in the district. The project will specifically aim to reach children, young people and families and will co-ordinate a broad range of community based activities and services including food growing with schools and parents’ groups, expansion of food co-ops, promotion of healthy start vouchers, a range of cookery workshops plus accredited training for young people. This approach will ensure high levels of take up, engender a deep understanding of the complete cycle of food production and consumption from 'plot to plate', and demonstrate how this relates to good health. By working with people directly in the areas where they live, they aim to provide better access to healthy food, and address shortfalls in knowledge and skills with regard to good diet, nutrition and hygiene.

For further information please contact:
Rob Chapleo, Divisional Manager, Food and Occupational Safety and Health, Environmental Health, Warwick District Council, Riverside House, Milverton Hill, Leamington Spa CV32 5QQ
tel: 01926 456707, Mobile: 07788 972682, Fax: 01926 456746, email: Robert.Chapleo@warwickdc.gov.uk

West Dunbartonshire Council - Good Food: The Facts

This campaign consists of many projects aimed at highlighting (the 4C’s) food safety and healthy eating to the community. This will be achieved by developing current projects, launching new initiatives (designed to address needs of vulnerable groups) and a media campaign. They targeted Council staff with their messages during Food Safety Week as part of the Council’s Scotland's Health At Work (SHAW) activities.

Their new activities include the delivery of food safety seminars to primary school staff and the development of a training course for young people with learning difficulties. They will continue to build on the success of their handwashing campaigns for children and once again be involved in the annual Older Persons’ Experiential Learning Event (a multi-agency event which promotes health and well-being topics to elderly people). They will run a media campaign to complement these activities.

For further information please contact:
Caroline McMenemy, Health Promotion Officer, Environmental Health Section, Environmental Services, West Dunbartonshire Council, Rosebery Place, Clydebank G81 1TG
tel: 01389 738244, email: Caroline.McMenemy@west-dunbarton.gov.uk