Creating Healthy Communities
BCHC Charity has been able to fund an early intervention project at Lakeside Children’s Centre thanks to funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, managed through Witton Lodge Community Association.
The aim of the project was to enhance the sessions already run by the centre to families in the Erdington area by providing extra resources, equipment, activities, and classes. With a focus on early intervention and prevention for children aged 0-5 from lower income backgrounds, families benefitted from fun and educational activities to help them understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle to take them forward into adolescence and adulthood.
The engaging and interactive activities aimed to improve their life skills, social interaction, physical activity levels, sleep hygiene, and oral health, as well as helping to promote healthy living. On 19 June, the charity funded a slow cooker skills session facilitated by Change Kitchen, detailing how to use a slow cooker, the kinds of meals that can be made, and the nutritional and economic benefits. Families practiced chopping vegetables together with child-safe knives purchased by the charity, while learning interesting facts about each vegetable. Change Kitchen demonstrated how to bring the ingredients together in the slow cooker with herbs and spices to make a vegetarian curry. One mother commented “it smells so good; I can’t wait to taste it!” and families all enjoyed tucking in to a tasty hot meal. Each family was given a food parcel which contained all the ingredients needed to recreate the meal at home, along with a slow cooker, a recipe pack full of other healthy slow cooker recipes, and an eat well guide. One attendee said, “I can’t believe what you’re doing; it’s life-changing!”
The project also funded 14 arts activity sessions facilitated by Birmingham Centre for Arts Therapies, encouraging children to broaden their thinking through arts, movement, and musical activities such as craft creating and interactive drumming. On top of this were 2 sensory story-telling sessions, delivered by Sarah Hamilton-Baker. Sarah said, “We had some really lovely feedback from one of the mums attending, who said that was the first time her son had listened to a whole story… [Parents] that don't usually talk with the staff spent a lot of the session playing alongside me on the floor with their children using the sensory objects and re-telling parts of the story.”
The charity also provided wellies and puddle suits for the weekly ‘Back to Nature’ play and learn sessions run in conjunction with the Community Environment Trust, and children’s toothpaste and toothbrushes to promote good oral hygiene.
Danielle Connolly, Children’s Service Lead Early Years, said, “Through this project we have been able to support families to keep their energy costs low whilst keeping the whole family warm and fed with a nutritious meal. This has not only positively impacted them in the moment but continues to positively impact them into the future.”