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Residents of Coatbridge are learning how they can drum up healthy meals that are also affordable, quick and tasty.

The Kirkshaws Neighbourhood Centre has been running a series of cookery classes with a grant of £2389 from the Scottish Community Diet Project. Since launching the classes, the Centre has been inundated by requests from people wishing to take part.

Participants get to keep utensils such as scales, aprons and wooden spoons once they finish their course. Gillian Kynoch, Scotland’s food and health co-ordinator, says: ’This project is an example of one of many initiatives throughout the country providing practical help to people to take simple steps towards leading a healthier lifestyle.’

Anne McCormick and Gemma Wight are just two of the parents who have been inspired to create healthy snacks for their children after attending a ’Cooking for Tots’ workshop at Greengables Nursery School in Craigmillar.

Anne, mother of four-year-old Jordan, says: ’We’ll definitely take ideas from today home and I’m going to pick up the new food later that he enjoyed!’

Cooking for Tots is a series of four themed workshops aimed at nursery schoolchildren and parents from Greengables. Children and their parents are invited to work together to prepare and taste simple nutritious snacks like ’yummy yoghurts’ and ’silly sandwiches’. Gemma Wight, mother of three-year-old Michael who particularly liked creating his own healthy yoghurts, adds: ’I found the workshop really interesting. It’s given me lots of extra tips and Michael seemed to really get a lot out of it.’

Partially funded by Sure Start Edinburgh, children are encouraged to devise their own fun but healthy versions of these popular foods, and the course allows parents the opportunity to talk and get advice on any mealtime issues. ’As part of the course, we demonstrate how healthy eating can be achieved within a limited budget and we help develop basic cookery skills that can be transferred into the home environment,’ says Barbara Jessop, food for tot development worker.

Greengables Nursery School believes in a holistic approach to education to achieve the best for the nursery children and their families. Other healthy eating programmes run by the nursery include ’Nursery Nibbles’, an activity attended by parents and their child just before a nursery place is taken up that advises on healthy snacks. A café is also run by trained local nursery parents twice and week: the café extends the choice of healthy fresh produce to families.

East Ayrshire Council’s Outdoor Access Unit organised a Spring Outdoor Access Festival from the 19th -27th March this year as part of Scottish Natural Heritage’s celebration of the new Land Reform Act. One event of the festival was a celebration day for all walkers who have been involved in the local Paths to Health scheme that is established in East Ayrshire through the Coalfield Access Project.

The day was a great success with existing members from groups attending, as well as those interested in joining new groups in their local areas. Those who came along to the party listened intently to Kenny Steele, Project Manager for Paths to Health, putting the local scheme into a national perspective. Indeed, many commented that they did not realise the scale of the project and just how much was going on in Scotland to promote walking!

In addition, local scheme co-ordinator Jennifer Stevenson gave an overview of the work from the last year and congratulated walkers for their effort and commitment to the groups.

Walk Leader, Lynn Sloan talked about why she became a walk leader and what benefits she gets from being a walk leader.

Once the presentations were finished the highlight of the day was next - the first screening of a film made about the walking groups starring members of the Auchinleck group! The Auchinleck stars pretended to be shy but the film was fantastic and really encouraged those thinking about joining groups to make the move.

The day also included taster sessions of reflexology, reiki and massage for walkers to experience as well as free health checks on the C.H.I.P van.

To finish the party off, walkers took part in a health walk in Auchinleck and were then each presented with a relaxing gift to thank them for all their support of the project.

’Walk it!’ has received nearly £12,000 to help people in the Borders enjoy the social and health benefits of walking.

The project is aimed at getting people involved in walks, particularly those living in the Langlee area of Galashiels, Burnfoot in Hawick, Walkerburn and Newtown St Boswells. The project hopes to expand across the region over the coming months.

As a nation Scotland is inactive, unfit and increasingly overweight. The health of two-thirds of the Scottish adult population is now at risk from physical inactivity according to the Scottish Physical Activity Task Force (1).

Walking is one of the easiest and most effective ways to become more active.

As well as providing walks to people of all ages and fitness levels, the project will take referrals and target those people at risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and depression.

Walk It! is one of 53 projects across Scotland to benefit from grants from Paths to Health, a Scottish project which supports local walking schemes.

“We are lucky in the Borders to be surrounded by such beautiful countryside, and walking is a great way to explore the outdoors as it is an activity which people of all ages can do at their own pace,” says Phil Waite, Access Officer with Scottish Borders Council.

“This project can benefit people who may not feel confident walking on their own to take part in an activity which will help improve their health and allow them to meet other people.”

Kids have been going fruity over a project which has got under way in Bellshill aimed at encouraging healthy eating.
More than 30 youngsters this week took part in the first of a series of fruit and vegetable taster sessions organised by the Living Waters Community Outreach Project.

The group, which helps young people, some from disadvantaged backgrounds, was able to launch the healthy eating programme after receiving £3,000 from the Scottish Community Diet Project (SCDP), a Scottish Executive funded initiative.

The SCDP funding has been used to organise taster sessions giving children up to five years old, and their parents, the chance to experiment with a range of different fruit and vegetables such as mangos, mandarins, kiwi fruits and avocado pears.

Under the programme which will run until the end of the year, children are also being supplied with healthy recipes each day and parents will be given the opportunity to submit an idea for a nutritious meal.

All the suggestions will be published in a recipe book and a sheet recording the details of foods which the young people enjoy will also be used for continuing feedback and future diet development.

Vita van Tonder, project manager, said: “The funding from the SCDP has allowed us to encourage youngsters to learn about healthy eating in a fun way, and we hope it will help them form lifelong healthy eating habits.”

Scotland’s Food and Health Co-ordinator Gillian Kynoch welcomed the Bellshill project.

She said: “Imaginative projects like this are a fun and enjoyable way for young people to learn about the importance of healthy eating and get hands-on experience of just how easy it is to prepare healthy food.”

Bill Gray, National Project Officer with the SCDP, added: “These projects, like many others across Scotland, will help make it easier for local people to access affordable healthy food and increase skills, confidence and awareness of the importance of a healthy diet.”