THIS MONTH'S NEWS ....

Hello and welcome to a round-up of the latest news and events from Healthier Fleetwood.

As usual we are holding our Open Meetings on the first Wednesday of the month so the dates are 3rd October, 7th November and 5th December, all at Emmanuel at the Mount Church hall, Mount Road from 6.30pm. These are always wonderful evenings full of enthusiasm and good ideas and anyone interested in promoting better health and wellbeing in the community is welcome to attend and contribute. Our thanks to Emmanuel Church for their support.

Our next major event is on Wednesday 10th October when we hold a ‘tea & talk’ at Marine Hall from 1pm to 4pm to mark World Mental Health Day. The venue’s ballroom will be set for afternoon tea served at the tables, each table hosted by a different local group or agency who support residents towards a healthy mind and a healthy body! On the day residents are invited to come along for a cuppa, cake and a chat to find out what’s available to them or somebody they care for. There will also be some interactive fun on the day, a sing-along with Harmony & Health and a prize raffle. Admission and refreshments are free, please see and share the attached poster of the event or the link on Facebook here. We do still have a couple of tables left for any partners who would like to host a table – please email us for details.

Later this month we are looking forward to one of the highlights of the year the finals of the Fleetwood Young Chef competition which will be held over 2 days at Twelve Restaurant in Thornton. On the Friday each of the seven local primary schools will send a champion to prepare their meals alongside the venue’s professional chefs ahead of judging. On the Saturday each young chef and their family will attend a celebration lunch before we find out who is this year’s winner. Healthier Fleetwood would like to thank Caroline, Paul and the team at Twelve for their generous support of the competition again this year.

One more date for you … Healthier Fleetwood will be at the Fun Palaces event on Saturday 6th October at Fleetwood Library, hosting a table in the morning. This is the event’s second year and it’s a day of creative arts, crafts and performance for all the family. Don’t forget our weekly drop-in session at the library, every Wednesday 10am to noon for anyone to call in and ask a question or share an idea.

Healthier Fleetwood has been nominated for a General Practice award in the Collaboration with Patients and Providers category. The ceremony is in London at the end of November and two local residents will be accompanying members of the team to represent us on the night. It’s a tribute to the partnership approach between residents and local agencies that we are being recognised for a number of awards now.

Residents are always at the core of our work and we welcome anybody from the local community to play an active role in Healthier Fleetwood by becoming a Trustee or a volunteer. We are looking for Trustees who can add their skills to the board and safeguard our aims for the future. As a volunteer your main role would be to attend events and just talk to people, perhaps share your experiences of how you’ve improved your health and wellbeing and encourage others to try something new and see the benefits. Please contact us if you are interested in getting involved.

A reminder that there is always a list of local groups and activities on the website under the Try Something New tab. If your listing needs updating or you want to be added please let us know. We are updating our website at the moment and expect the new site to be launched before the end of the year. If you are looking for something further afield there’s also the FYI Directory which has the most comprehensive local listing.

Using the arts in all forms is a fantastic way to improve health and wellbeing. We’ve supported several music and dance projects this year and now we are working in partnership with a number of agencies and the vibrant Fleetwood-based arts community and more details will be announced by the project leads soon. One project is already underway with the ANON group meeting weekly to look at how art can help them grow in self-confidence and this is being delivered by local artists Heather and Nick on our behalf with funding from Red Rose Recovery.

If you have an idea for a new group or activity in the community and need some support, please get in touch. We still have some small pots of start-up funding and can also help with useful contacts and promotion.

For anything above or any questions and suggestions our email is listening@healthierfleetwood.co.uk – please do get in touch.

Finally a huge thank you to everyone working so hard in the Fleetwood community: residents, voluntary groups and agencies – we are all making a difference and by working together will see a Healthier Fleetwood.