14 August 2009
2012 Olympics inspires behaviour
change
In mid Essex, as is the case across England, there
is a continuing rise in the number of people who are obese. The
local primary care trust, NHS Mid Essex, is working with Essex
County Council and other partners to address these issues and, with
the Olympics taking place on its doorstep, has been keen to capture
public interest in sport to inspire local residents to take a
renewed interest in their health and wellbeing.
To achieve this it has developed a 2012 Legacy Plan part of
which is UpStarts, an 'Olympic-style' food and fitness programme
funded by the PCT and delivered by Healthy Living Solutions
Community Interest Company (HLS CIC) in partnership with the
University of Essex, Ashlyns Organics and the Institute for Optimum
Nutrition.
UpStarts is being run in schools that teach children who may
have special educational needs, require alternative education or
have been excluded. It provides pupils with access to a year-long
programme of top quality sport coaching, enabling them to
experience what it's like to train as an elite athlete and
supporting them to become active, reach their potential and develop
their confidence and self esteem. It also aims to improve health
and wellbeing through food and nutrition classes, helping them
learn about cooking and healthy eating.
Working to a strict timeframe and budget, we coordinated and
executed a campaign to help promote UpStarts as a new approach to
help address long term behavioural change. To reinforce the tie-in
with the Olympic theme, former Olympian and 2012 Essex Ambassador,
Steve Cram MBE agreed to be involved to help promote the scheme
both locally and nationally. As an aspirational sporting hero,
Steve Cram helped reinforce the messages of health and
wellbeing.
Having secured backing for the launch from the Minister for the
Olympics, Tessa Jowell, and other third parties, Merchant arranged
a press event to coincide with the final road show. The event
welcomed local media attention with BBC Radio Essex, the Essex
Chronicle Series, the Essex Enquirer series and the Maldon and
Burnham Standard Series amongst those who attended.
David Freeman, Assistant Director of Communications and Public
Involvement at NHS Mid Essex, said: "Merchant's approach to
launching UpStarts was thorough from start to finish. The results
were impressive and have no doubt have helped us move further
towards achieving our goal of tackling issues such as obesity by
instilling lifelong positive attitudes to health and wellbeing that
will be passed down to generations to come."