People in Oldham are set to benefit from a £143,000 cash injection that will be invested in two well-established and successful health and wellbeing projects over the next two years
The Oldham Health Improvement Service, part of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, is one of several health improvement teams in the North West to benefit from a successful bid to the Big Lottery Fund.
It was led by Stockport Council on behalf of The North West Healthy Living Network, which supports healthy living activities across the region. The grant is part of a two-year, £1.8 million wellbeing programme supporting 19 health improvement projects across the North West.
Oldham’s portion of the grant will be used to fund the existing Activate and Digging for Health initiatives.
Activate:
Activate is cycling programme, led by trained leaders, which aims to increase people’s activity levels. People can cycle various routes in the borough. All equipment, including bikes, helmets and vests are free of charge.
People can either attend a single session, or sign-up for a six-week beginners or advanced course. Sessions can be tailored to the needs of a specific group.
To date, over 2,000 people have accessed the project. The aim is to involve a further 1000 people over the next two years.
Digging 4 Health:
Digging 4 Health is a gardening and food growing initiative, which aims to support people to be more active, eat more healthily and improve their wellbeing.
People can attend sessions, at the service’s ‘hub’ in Alexandra Park, to learn how to grow food and prepare healthy recipes using the fruits of their labours. Sessions can be tailored to the needs of specific groups, for example families and adults.
People are also encouraged and supported to establish growing projects in their local community.
To date over 2,600 people have benefitted from the initiative and the aim is to involve a further 950 people in the next two years.
Tom Maloney, Health Improvement Manager, said: “We’ve been supporting people to improve their health and wellbeing for several years and I’m delighted that they will directly benefit from this additional funding.
“We have clear demonstrable evidence of the success of both the Activate project and Digging 4 Health. Feedback from local people has also been excellent.
“I’m looking forward to using the money to build on the success of the projects and further improving the health and wellbeing of local people.”
Gillian Halliwell, Wellbeing Manager from the North West Healthy Living Network, said; “This is a really exciting opportunity for us to continue to help improve the health of people living within some of the region’s most disadvantaged communities.
“Our projects are building on years of experience and expertise in delivering accessible and engaging activities to people of all ages and abilities. Through this programme we’re aiming to support over 10,000 people to improve their mental and physical wellbeing.”
To get involved in the Activate and Digging 4 Health projects, or to find out more, phone the Oldham ‘One Stop Shop’ on 0161 621 7128 or email pcn-tr.oldhamonestopshop@nhs.net
The post Cash injection to benefit local people’s health and wellbeing appeared first on Manchester Gazette.