Welcome to the March edition of the Living Well newsletter.
Find out about our new Grow Well to Eat Well initiative encouraging everyone in Bradford district to have a go at growing some food at home! Sign up for a free kit to help you get started!
It’s No Smoking Day on 13 March and our service can now offer completely FREE vaping kits to help people who would like to quit.
It’s Nutrition and Hydration Week 11-17 March and we will be looking at how to make sure you are on top of this for your health and wellbeing with a focus on healthy eating, drinking and physical activity. Read on to find out more.
Grow Well to Eat Well
Ready, set, grow!
 Following the amazing success of our previous Swap Well to Eat Well, healthy eating campaign, we now want to help people in Bradford district have a go at growing their own food at home.
Homegrown food is fresher, tastier and bursting with flavour. It’s easy, fun and a great way for you and your family to eat your 5 a day!
You don’t need a big garden or an allotment to join in. You can grow your own food in pots, or on your windowsill, balcony, patio or even in a hanging basket. Everyone can have a go at growing their own food!
We’ve teamed up with Horton Community Farm and Grow To School, to offer some FREE Seed Growing Kits to help people get started.
There are three FREE seed kits you can choose from:
Kit 1
Two types of seeds for growing indoors or outdoors
Kit 2
Two types of seeds, a pot and compost for growing indoors
Kit 3
Three seed packs, a small window box and compost for growing outdoors
To get your free seed kit please click the button below to complete a short form and select where you would like to collect your pack from.
There are lots of places across the district where you can pick up your pack, but please hurry because stocks are limited.
Don’t miss out, sign up for your kit today.
Come on Bradford district, let’s get growing!
Schools are getting involved in Grow Well to Eat Well
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On the 7th February Feversham Primary School planted some fruit trees on their school site. |
They were supported by LW Schools, in collaboration with Trees for Cities, to plant apple, cherry and plum trees so that, with some love and nurture, current and future students will be able to enjoy free fruit picked fresh from the tree!
Grow Bradford
 Grow Bradford aims to help people in Bradford connect to local places with themes of food growing, biodiversity and developing ourselves within community.
The Grow Bradford website offers information and resources and also provides a map of local projects for people to learn, share and get involved. Watch out for their monthly updates and downloadable guides and join in with the monthly #LoveYourVeg post on social media. Share your favourite veg that you have grown or love to eat.
This month they are celebrating women of the world to coincide with International Women's Day and Mother's Day and to say thanks to mother earth for all she gives us, by sharing the hashtag #TheMotherOfAllVeg with our #LoveYourVeg hashtag. This month’s veg is broad beans.
Warmer Homes Fund
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YES Energy Solutions are offering eligible households up to £250 to help with fuel debts. |
With the ongoing rise in energy costs and the cost of living, YES Energy Solutions have pledged £250,000 to deliver a Warmer Homes Fund. The fund will be used to provide West Yorkshire residents with free advice visits and funds to make their homes warmer and greener.
The payments could include payments directly to energy suppliers, in fuel vouchers and contributions towards the cost of oil/bottled gas.
They are also supporting people to access funding for boiler replacements, insulation and low carbon heating.
Call: 03301 359 110 or text the word ADVICE to 82228.
Bradford Sports Awards
 Nominations are now open to vote in the Bradford Sports Awards. Now in their 8th year the awards aim to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of athletes, coaches, administrators, and volunteers of all ages and levels from across Bradford district.
The awards hope to inspire and motivate others to engage in a more active and healthy lifestyle. There will be a total of 26 awards presented in seven main categories: Senior Achievers, Young Achievers, Active Achievers, Professional Achievers, Team Achievers, Ethical Contribution and Outstanding Contribution. You can see a full list of the awards available here
Suicide Prevention Champions
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Could you become a West Yorkshire Suicide Prevention Champion? |
Suicide is more common in West Yorkshire than in England as a whole – for men and women. Nationally, it is our biggest killer of men and women aged 20-34.
Join in by helping to challenge stigma and get more people talking about suicide and how to prevent it.
No Smoking Day - 13 March
You CAN quit - We CAN help!
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We have a new offer to help smokers in Bradford district quit smoking for good. |
Quitting is the single best thing a smoker can do to improve their health, reducing the risks of heart attack, stroke, coronary heart disease and cancer. Smokers know it isn’t easy, but with help from our free service, even if you have tried before, this time you can quit and we can help!
There is strong evidence that combining vaping products with stop smoking behavioural support could help more smokers to quit successfully.
Our service is now able to offer smokers a FREE 12 week vaping kit when they attend either face to face clinics or appointments by phone with our trained stop smoking advisors.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Bupropion are also available on prescription to help beat cravings, if you normally pay for your prescriptions, usual charges will apply for these.
Watch a film explaining what to expect from the Living Well Stop Smoking Service (available in various languages), along with a series of other short films that may help to motivate you. Click here
To get in touch please call: 01274 437700 or email us or click the button below to find out more.
Keighley Healthy Living - Menopause Café
 Keighley Healthy Living are offering a monthly support group where you can share your experiences with other women at different stages of the perimenopause and menopause.
Each month a variety of topics will be discussed and guest speakers are welcomed.
- Wednesday 20th March: 6 - 8pm
- Wednesday 24th April: 6 - 8pm
To book a place please call 01535 677177 or call in to reception 13 Scott St, Keighley BD21 2JH or click the button below.
Walk and Wheel Group
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Walk and Wheel sessions to improve confidence and skills in wheelchair use. |
A group supported by the Active Travel Social Prescribing Project and Keighley Town Council is offering new Walk and Wheel sessions.
The sessions are led by a walk leader at a relaxing pace lasting around 60 minutes each.
Refreshments will be available to purchase at the Dunelm Café as a pitstop before resuming the walk and wheel route back to the Keighley Leisure Centre.
Sessions will be on the first Tuesday of each month starting from 5th March 2024. Meet at 1.30pm outside the main entrance of Keighley Leisure Centre BD21 3JN.
If you would like to view the route, have any questions, or want to book a place, please click the link below.
Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel
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Can you and your children join in with Sustrans Walk and Wheel? |
Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel event 11 - 22 March 2024 is the UK’s largest inter-school walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling to school challenge. It inspires pupils to make active journeys to school, to improve air quality in their neighbourhood and discover how these changes benefit their own community as well as the world!
If your children’s school hasn't already signed up, please encourage them to! There's a prize draw for schools that have 15% of their pupils taking part, with lots of prizes to be won, including skateboarding and scooting coaching, scooters, a Frog bike and cycle parking stands!
Please share this link with your children’s schools:
Register — Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel 2024
Living Well Academy Training
Making Every Contact Count (MECC)
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A free two hour course to support people to understand factors that impact health and wellbeing. |
If you work and interact with people and want to make the most of brief discussions you have in day to day interactions and would like to learn how to support them to make positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing - this is the course for you.
The course can help you to encourage people to stay well, take steps to address the challenges they face, access support they need, and generally cope better in challenging times. This approach can help to reduce health inequalities.
Visit the Living Well website to find information about other learning opportunities offered by the Living Well Academy and other training providers across the district to develop new skills and the confidence to improve health and wellbeing.
Focus on:
Healthy Eating, Drinking & Physical Activity
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Eating Well
Nutrition and Hydration Week: 11 - 17 March
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Nutrition and Hydration week highlights the importance of eating and drinking healthily. It’s important to eat well for a number of reasons:
- To maintain a healthy weight
- To protect you against developing diseases and conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and so on
- To help you to feel good about yourself
- To give you more energy to enjoy life
Eating and drinking healthily, making sure you’re getting the right combination of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fats and minerals is important for your health and wellbeing.
Download our handy Swap Well to Eat Well toolkit! It’s full of tasty yet healthy low-cost recipes including step by step guides and films on how to make delicious Fakeaways. There’s info about easy everyday food swaps you can make and ideas for yummy lunchboxes!
Living Well - Children and Families Service
This service is for children and young people aged 2-19 who are above a healthy weight. Our friendly, trained advisors will work with parents of children under the age of 13, or more directly with children aged 13 or over. The team is supported by a registered mental health nurse and a dietitian.
Call 01274 435660 to speak to someone about how they might be able to help you and your family or click on the link below to find out more.
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Drinking Well
Drinking enough water can help combat headaches, dizziness and in some cases even fainting.
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Adults should aim to drink at least 2 litres (8 glasses) of fluids per day. An easy way to make sure you’re drinking enough is to carry a water bottle with you and refill it throughout the day. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning to hydrate after hours of sleep and drink water with each meal.
As Ramadan is approaching it's important to stay hydrated and for those who might be fasting, drink plenty of water in between fast.
Swapping your usual pop and fizzy, sugary drinks for water can help to prevent obesity, diabetes and also tooth decay. There are so many benefits of drinking plenty of water, some you may not be aware of including combating tiredness, improving concentration, memory and sleep, and improving our skin, hair and nails!
If you're not keen on plain water you can flavour it by adding slices of lemon, lime, strawberries or other fruits. You could also try adding herbs, cucumber or mint!
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Moving Well
Being physically activity can really help to improve your health and wellbeing.
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The UK government recommends adults should do at least 150 mins of moderate intensity activity every week.
Increasing your activity and reducing the time you spend being still and sitting down during the day can seem a lot at first, but you can break it down into easy chunks of 20 minute activities everyday with our 20 Minute Movement! You don’t have to join a gym and buy fancy trainers – just click the link below to find out more.
If you would like to find classes and groups offering physical sessions near you, try the activity finder! Click here
Meet the Living Well team!
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Living Well and the BEEP service will be at the WOW Community Partnership health event |
Our team will be on hand to talk about what the Living Well service can offer you to help to improve your health. They will also be offering free BMI and blood pressure checks.
Wednesday 20th March 2024, 11:00am – 2.30pm
Buttershaw Working Men’s Club (BD6 2DA)
Family Hub Coffee Morning
Living Well’s East Children and Family Team will be at a coffee morning to offer information about eating well, moving well, sleeping well and being mentally well.
Sessions are every Thursday, 10 – 11.30am
Bradford East Family Hub, 365 Barkerend Road, Bradford, BD3 8QX
Health Fair – Connecting Roma
Our Community Health Development team will be at the Connecting Roma Health Fair as part of Nutrition and Hydration week. They can give advice about looking after your health and interpreters will be available if needed (Czech, Slovak, Romanes and Hungarian).
Friday 15th March 2024, from 11am - 2pm.
Bradford West Family Hub, Farcliffe Family Centre, 56 Toller Lane, BD8 8QH
Please email or click the button below
Community Events & Groups
Happy Healthy Community Group
Free coffee morning with a brew, biscuits and fun activities on offer each week.
Every Tuesday, 10.30 – 11.30am at Thornton Community Centre, Market Street, Bradford, BD13 3HW
Play and Learn Sessions
These free sessions are for children aged 0-5 years. Enjoy fun activities, songs and stories and get information about supporting your child’s growth and development.
Every Tuesday, 9.30 – 10.30am, Farcliffe Family Centre, Toller Lane, Bradford, BD8 8QH
Warm and Welcome
Free community space for local people to sit, relax, chat and keep warm. Toys are available for under 4s as well as free Wifi and power, for charging your electronic devices.
Tuesday to Friday, 10am – 3pm, South Square Centre, Thornton Road, Bradford, BD13 3LD. Call 01274 834747 or click the button below.
Slow Cooker Demo Workshop
Learn how to save energy and money by making simple, healthy, home-cooked meals using a slow cooker. You will get a free slow cooker to take away with you as well as some recipes and information about other ways to save money and energy!
Friday 15th March 2024, 12.30 – 1.30pm
South Square Centre, Thornton Road, Bradford, BD13 3LD
Places must be booked. Call 01274 834747 or click the button below.
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