 Welcome to the September edition of the Healthy Telford newsletter
The summer holidays have flown by and it's back to school this month, but hopefully we've not seen the last of the good weather just yet. There are plenty of opportunities coming up to get out and about in your local area, including a Couch to 5K programme in the Woodside area, and the Wellington Walking Festival. We're also looking for your feedback on how you use Telford's green and blue spaces, and if you're into cycling the Travel Team would love to hear from you.
So it's time to grab yourself a drink or a healthy snack and catch up on what's going on in Telford and Wrekin this month to support your health and wellbeing.
And don't forget this month's quiz, which may give you some inspiration for how to build a range of physical activities into your daily life, even if living with a long-term health condition.
 Do you know your numbers?
Blood Pressure UK runs the Know Your Numbers campaign every September and this is the perfect opportunity for you to get your blood pressure done if you haven't recently had a check.
Getting your blood pressure checked is the first step to preventing heart attacks and strokes. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the UK, and it’s known as ‘the silent killer’ because it often has no symptoms until it’s too late.
Knowing your numbers means you can start making healthy lifestyle changes or taking medication if you need it, to bring your blood pressure down to a healthy level. So, it is important to make the time to check your blood pressure to see if it’s under control.
And you don’t have to make an appointment with your doctor to get checked. Ask your local pharmacy if they offer a checking service, or take advantage of the Community Blood Pressure Project which does blood pressure checks at community groups and events around Telford and Wrekin.
Visit the Healthy Telford website to find out where the Community Blood Pressure Project is offering checks this September.
 World Suicide Prevention Day event
On Saturday 7 September, our local Suicide Prevention Action Group have organised an event to mark World Suicide Prevention Day. This will take place in Southwater Square between 10.30am and 3.30pm, to raise awareness of local and national support services.
This event will feature street art, face painting, circus skills, dance demonstrations, physical and creative activities, live music (including Trademark Blud) and lived experience speakers. Local mental health services will also be there for advice, support and resources for those who may need it.
Please show your support and help us promote this important campaign by joining us on the day. Even if you cannot attend, please consider doing the 20-minute Zero Suicide Alliance online training, which is quick and easy, and could help save a life one day.
 ...for the Wellington Walking Festival
What do these things have in common: Roman roads, the Wrekin Rough Way, Slow Ways Broseley, the Wellington Mural Trail, the Dothill and Apley water courses, creative writing, Hadley Locks, and conversational French?
Yes you've guessed it - it's this year’s Wellington Walking Festival, taking place from Monday 9 to Sunday 15 September 2024.
There are 31 free walks in the Festival, with something for every ability of walker from a gentle amble to a strenuous walk.
For further details of all the walks and how to book go to www.wellingtonwalkersarewelcome.org.uk or telephone 07481 914276.
 Are you aged between 60 and 95? Book yourself in for a Functional Fitness MOT!
Community Resource are providing Functional Fitness MOTs in Telford for those between the ages of 60 and 95. Measure your strength, balance and stamina against what is considered ‘normal’ for your age, try a free exercise taster and find out how to stay upright and active.
A Functional Fitness MOT session with Community Resource will include:
- A one-to-one session of simple tests to see how you’re doing for your age or whether you could benefit from being more active.
- A short taster session in gentle exercise and information on suitable local and online physical activity opportunities.
- A talk and film presentation on how to reduce your risk of falling, develop a personal Falls Plan for your home and learn how to get up safely if you do fall.
Take home your fitness test results, personal action plan and information about health, activity and improving strength and balance.
Where and when?
There are 2 sessions available in Telford and Wrekin, so book your place soon as spaces will fill up quickly.
The first session is on Friday 13 September between 9.30am and 3.30pm at Hub on the Hill in Sutton Hill TF7 4HG and the second session is on Monday 30 September, 9.30am to 3.30pm at Leegomery Community Centre, Leegate Avenue TF1 6NA.
To book your free 2.5-hour appointment, or for more information call Community Resource on 01743 360641 or email enquiries@community-resource.org.uk
 Improve your balance and mobility with gentle exercise
If, after having your Functional Fitness MOT, you feel that a gentle exercise class would help you to increase your strength, mobility and balance, then 'Moving On' classes may be for you. Taking place at a number of venues across Telford and Wrekin, these classes are tailored for people aged 50+ to support their health and wellbeing. They deliver a mixture of seated and standing exercises that aim to enhance participants' fitness levels and help them stay steady on their feet.
The ‘Moving On’ classes are particularly suitable for those with long-term health conditions. Led by qualified and friendly Fit4All Instructors, this programme has been made accessible with Telford & Wrekin Council's support, and are priced at £3 per session or £10 for four pre-booked sessions.
You can also call Fit4All on 01952 908738
 There are many activities taking place across Telford and Wrekin designed to support individuals, families and friends affected by cancer, and those who work in cancer services:
Telford 5K Your Way, Move Against Cancer
The Telford 5K Your Way, Move Against Cancer event takes place on the last Saturday of every month at Telford Town Park, alongside the Telford Park Run.
Whether you run, jog, walk, or just support the cause and want to cheer participants on - everyone is invited to take part. The event starts at 9am, with participants asked to arrive at the Telford Town Park Information Centre at 8:30am.
Visit the Move Against Cancer Facebook group to find out more.
Empowering Wellbeing: Tai Chi for Cancer Patients
Faye Tai Chi Friends in conjunction with the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund are excited to launch the new Empowering Wellbeing: Tai Chi for Cancer Patients programme aimed at supporting individuals and their families in Telford and Wrekin who are affected by cancer.
On Tuesday 17 September at 11am there will be a launch event at the Chinese Arts and Culture Centre, Telford TF3 3BB to introduce this unique programme which is designed to promote physical and emotional wellbeing through the ancient art of Tai Chi.
Following the launch, sessions will be delivered both face-to-face and online. The sessions will take place on Tuesday afternoons from 12pm to 2pm at the Chinese Arts and Culture Centre, with live streaming online for those who are unable to attend in person. Each session will include two 45-minute stints of gentle mindful movements of Tai Chi, Qigong and other therapeutic activities including a gong bath. Participants progress at their own pace and no previous experience is required.
Places are limited to 12 participants each session, and you can sign up for just one or for multiple sessions. Places will be filled on a first come first served basis.
For more information contact fayetaichifriends@gmail.com or use the button below to book your place.
The iCan Cancer Rehabilitation Programme
The initial iCan programme runs over a five-week period and provides tailored exercises and mindfulness tools, delivered over 10 different sessions, each focussing on various aspects of life during or after cancer treatment. The sessions are delivered at community venues as well as online for you to attend from the comfort of your own home.
In addition to the initial five-week programme, iCan offers a mindfulness and cancer programme delivered by a trained mindfulness practitioner over a five-week period, and also a six-week exercise programme.
Following on from the first three months of iCan support, the iCan team offer regular phone calls, emails, and coffee mornings to continue their support for 12 months.
You can contact the iCan team via email icanlivelife1@gmail.com or by calling 07746 462456.
Visit the Lingen Davies website for more information about the iCan Service.
 Telford & Wrekin Council have partnered with Shropshire Fire & Rescue Service, West Mercia Police Road Safety Team and West Mercia PCC to invite mature drivers to attend a FREE awareness session.
As we age a number of changes take place and some of these can affect our driving. Attendees will have the opportunity to watch a short VR film, which has been specifically designed to visually highlight areas that become more challenging – such as impaired vision and reduced mobility.
These sessions aim to support drivers and help them to manage the risks, to keep driving safely for longer. Attendees will not be assessed and information discussed will be not be reported anywhere.
Primarily for drivers aged 65+ these sessions may also be of interest to any family members who may have questions or concerns on behalf of an older relative.
Sessions will be held at Telford Central Fire Station, Stafford Park 1 on Tuesday 18 September, from 10:30am to 12:00pm and at Wellington Fire Station on Wednesday 19 September, from 10:30am to 12:00pm.
Please note that spaces are limited and attendees must book a place by emailing roadsafety@telford.gov.uk or call 01952 384000 for more information.
 What do you love most about our borough?
Telford & Wrekin Council's Family Hubs have launched a photo competition that invites residents of all ages to showcase their favourite aspects of living well in Telford and Wrekin.
Participants are encouraged to submit photos that highlight what makes Telford special to them with the caption, “What I like about living well in Telford is...”. From Green Flag parks, to local award-winning high streets, or your favourite parts of our neighbourhoods, every photo is welcome.
The grand prize for the winners of the competition is a set of four tickets to enjoy a fun-filled day at Adventure Golf or Soft Play at Telford Town Park. In addition to this prize, the winning photos will be featured on the Council's social media channels, bringing recognition to the talented photographers and showcasing the beauty of Telford and Wrekin to a wider audience.
Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People, Education, Employment & Skills, says:
“We’d love to see a broad range of photos from all across the borough that really showcases what helps you to live well.
Whether that’s getting out and about into nature, or making the most of services like the Family Hub to bring a community together, we can’t wait to hear your stories and see the way you bring them together in photo form.”
How to enter:
Entries should be submitted by email to telfordfamilyhubs@telford.gov.uk, including the photographer’s name, a contact email address and phone number (of a parent or guardian if photographer is under 16), the name of where the photo was taken, and a short caption beginning “What I like about living well in Telford is…”.
There is no limit to the number of photos entrants can submit.
The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Friday 20 September 2024.
 Run your way to a fitter, healthier you
Celebrations at the end of each year can sometimes mean over indulging more than usual with food and drink, and perhaps doing less exercise than normal too.
So why not prepare for the festive period in advance, by running your way to a fitter, healthier you?
Next month we hope to start our last FREE Couch to 5k programme of the year, which will run for 9 weeks, most likely in the Woodside area.
Couch to 5K is a popular running plan for absolute beginners, designed to gradually build up strength and stamina to take people from their couch to running 5K in just a few weeks.
The programmes are run by qualified Run Leaders who will provide a safe and enjoyable running experience for anyone aged 18 years and older, including warm-ups and cool downs, for a fun running session suitable for a mixed ability group of runners.
Our last ‘Couch to 5K’ programme for 2024 is planned to start in October and run until the end of November/beginning of December, most likely meeting on Sunday afternoons.
If you’d like to join this FREE 9-week ‘Couch to 5k’ running group please email us to let us know by emailing healthimprovement@telford.gov.uk
 Find out more about local wellness groups
Silver Threads Hall in Donnington is proud to host a number of regular groups and events to help you on your journey to positive change! So if you're looking for ways to improve your health and wellbeing come along to the Wellbeing Fayre on Saturday 5 October 2024 between 1pm and 4pm at Silver Threads Hall, next to Lawndale, Wellington Road, Donnington TF2 8AD.
Find out about local wellness groups, meet the experts and learn how small changes can impact your mental, physical and spiritual welfare, and make some new friends at the same time.
For further information contact alan.watkins@thesilverthreadshall.org.uk or call 07518 496840.
 Drop-in event at Meeting Point House
On Thursday 3 October 2024 at Meeting Point House, Telford TF3 4HS between 10am and 2pm Community Resource invites you to come to a drop-in event to discover new ways to reduce isolation.
Learn how you can become a Volunteer Buddy, offering your time to enable people to enjoy community activities that reduce isolation and loneliness. The ‘Buddy System’ is a support service for people who may be lacking in confidence, have low self-esteem, are isolated and alone or just want some company to get involved in new activities. It helps alleviate inactivity and social exclusion by supporting people into new activities, developing new interests, or pursuing new or existing hobbies with a companion alongside. The aim is to ‘buddy’ up a trained volunteer with the person needing support for an agreed amount of time to help build confidence, working towards the supported person being able to attend activities on their own. Come along and find out more about how you could get involved and volunteer in your community to help reduce isolation and loneliness.
There will also be information and advice about hearing loss and the assistance that is available through local hearing loss support hubs and home visits for those wearing Shropshire-issued NHS hearing aids.
Community Resource is a charity, committed to making life better for people and communities facing challenges in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. For more information phone 01743 360641 or email enquiries@community-resource.org.uk
Visit the Community Resource website to find out more about what they do.
 Do you, your group or club use our local open green spaces?
If so we’d like to hear from you!
We are currently speaking to local people and groups as part of our Playing Pitch and Outdoor Recreation Strategy consultation.
We are keen to understand how people use our open spaces for sport, physical activity and recreation.
We would especially like to hear from you if you are a group or club that uses our open spaces.
We’d like to hear about how you use our green spaces for recreation, such as parks, playing fields, nature reserves etc.
But we’d also like you to get in touch if you use our ‘blue’ open spaces for recreation too - our lakes, pools, rivers or canals.
By getting in touch and taking part in this consultation, you will help to provide the information needed to support investment in the borough’s open spaces and the creation of new opportunities for physical activities and wellbeing.
Get in touch via HealthySpaces@telford.gov.uk
 Would you like to be involved in future local cycling initiatives?
Telford & Wrekin Council are looking into ways to get more people cycling and we'd like to hear from you!
The Travel Telford Team are expanding to focus on community cycling and building a network of cyclists of different ages and from different backgrounds.
As part of the project we’d love to hear from community contacts who already cycle or are interested themselves, or who know someone or a group that could become cyclists and may benefit from some support and be involved in future cycling initiatives.
Interested? Email us via thebikehub@telford.gov.uk or call us on 01952 380413.
 The Healthy Telford pledge
If you're striving to be a healthier you and looking for support why not sign up to the Healthy Telford pledge - a 12-week email campaign to help you make small, simple changes to benefit your health and wellbeing.
Who or what will you "Do it For"?
Whether it's for your future self, your loved ones, or even your pet, the "Do it For" campaign focuses on creating healthier habits around a range of lifestyle topics and supports you to find the motivation and a realistic focus for you to achieve your aim.
What will your pledge be?
When you join the campaign, you'll be asked to make a pledge - anything from cooking more homemade meals, to moving more, or starting your journey to quit smoking. The pledge helps to keep you accountable to the changes you want to make and gives you something to aim for.
Over the 12 weeks, you'll receive bitesize tips on a range of topics including food portions, being active, reducing alcohol intake and more, as well as weekly challenges to help you form new lifestyle habits.
Anyone who completes the 12-week pledge will also have the opportunity to enter into a raffle prize draw to win one of a selection of prizes that included supermarket vouchers, gym memberships and more.
Visit the Healthy Telford blog for further advice and information.
 The Lingen Davies LiveLife Cancer Awareness Service is a free health-promotion service available to communities throughout Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, and Mid-Wales.
By reaching out into the wider community the charity is working to help prevent cancer by actively talking to the public, helping people recognise the signs and symptoms of cancer, encouraging them to seek treatment earlier, and accept cancer screening invitations.
The LiveLife Cancer Awareness Service is available to communities throughout the region as a mobile facility. Community groups, organisations, and large-scale event organisers can access and book the free resource to attend their meeting or event. Also on offer are in-house sessions for corporate partners and local businesses who may wish to run cancer awareness courses or days.
Please contact Kerry Morgan at Lingen Davies Cancer Fund for more information or to book this service at your event or venue by emailing kerry.morgan@lingendavies.co.uk or calling 01743 492396.
 Energize are a local charity and one of 43 organisations within the Active Partnerships network who work together with local and national partners to encourage physical activity and transform lives.
You can find out about the wide variety of work Energize are involved in, trying to eliminate inactivity, on their website www.energizestw.org.uk and by following their social media channels: Facebook | X / formerly Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn
You can also flick through their latest Impact Report to get a feel for the work they are doing across the county.
Increasing physical activity in schools
One of the many projects Energize are involved in, is increasing physical activity in schools across the county through three programmes – School Games, Creating Active Schools and Opening School Facilities – and they are having a hugely positive impact embedding physical activity into schools’ cultures. Watch our highlights video and see our free School Games programme and highlights video.
Some of the highlights of Energize's work during the 2023-24 academic year are:
- 100% of schools using Creating Active Schools programme said activity levels had increased.
- 1489 sessions were delivered as part of the Opening Schools Facilities programme enabling 1483 pupils and 139 community users to be active.
- 14 School Games events were delivered, providing 13 different activities at 10 venues for 100 schools to participate across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.
Energize are working with 74% of primary schools and 86% of secondary schools in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin... and they want to make this 100%!
So get in touch if you think Energize may be able to help you get more people moving, either in schools, local communities, healthcare and more.
Contact Nikita Whitfield, Marketing and Communications Officer at Energize via nikita.whitfield@energizestw.org.uk.
 You live and learn
The Wellbeing and Recovery College provides free wellbeing and recovery-focused educational courses on mental and physical wellbeing that are accessible to adults living in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin.
The College is a further educational college that works termly, and aims to offer a range of online, evening and in-person courses. All courses are co-produced and co-delivered by those with lived experience and a professional trainer and the aim is to work together to create an environment of hope, control and opportunity for all.
The model of co-production and shared learning is at the heart of the Wellbeing and Recovery College and allows for rich and diverse perspectives on learning for living well and how to support your mental and physical wellbeing.
You can find their most up-to-date prospectus via the button below, offering courses on everything from self esteem and assertiveness to crafting for mindfulness.
Email Wellbeingrec@mpft.nhs.uk or call 07891099460 for more information and to enrol on the course of your choice.
Visit the Wellbeing and Recovery College website for further information.
 Aquarius is a Midlands-based charity with over 40 years’ experience supporting individuals, families, organizations, and communities to overcome the physical, emotional and psychological harms caused by gambling.
The Aquarius Gambling Services support people aged 18 years and over affected by gambling, either their own or the gambling of a family member or friend, through one-to-one and group support sessions.
Support is tailored to individual needs, interests and goals, and includes:
- The psychology of gambling
- Tips and strategies to control, reduce and stop your gambling
- How to engage the support of family and friends as you stop gambling
- Coping with cravings and urges to gamble
- Signposting to debt management
- Coping skills to help deal with a family member or friend’s gambling.
You can self-refer to this service or be referred by a professional. To find out more call 0300 456 4293 or email gambling@aquarius.org.uk.
Visit the Aquarius website for further information about Gambling Services.
 Find an activity that's right for you!
Want to try something new but don't know where to start? There are lots of activities you can do even whilst living with a long-term health condition. Try this fun 2-minute quiz from We Are Undefeatable to discover activities that may suit you and ideas to help you move more.
And why not give their Five in Five mini-workouts a try too?
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