Tewkesbury Celebrates Healthy Community Bid Success
10.11.2008
Tewkesbury is set to benefit from a major cash boost of over £2.4 million to promote healthy lifestyle choices after an ambitious partnership bid to the Department of Health was given the official thumbs up this week.
The Tewkesbury Living for the Future project led by Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, Gloucestershire County Council, Active Gloucestershire and Food Vision was one of only 9 projects given the green light nationally as part of the Healthy Community Challenge Fund (Stage 3).
Progress can now be made on making this exciting project a reality.
The Partnership will oversee a programme of activity with the aim of offering greater opportunities for those who live, work and visit Tewkesbury to make healthy lifestyle choices and enjoy a better quality environment with cleaner air.
Individual projects will include setting up extra cooking clubs for every school in the area, a healthy schools pilot study with Tewkesbury School to look at diets and physical activity and developing Active Start – an early years physical activity coaching programme for children and parents.
Other community and social projects include identifying community green spaces for members of the community to grow their own fruit and vegetables and a project to encourage employees and students to travel to work or school by walking and cycling.
Cllr Gordon Shurmer, Lead Member for Safer, Stronger and Healthier Communities at Tewkesbury Borough Council said:
“This is fantastic news for Tewkesbury and is a major boost in efforts to make the town a healthier place to live, work and visit.”
“We want to see a real cultural change through stronger partnership, the creation of healthy workplaces, and encouraging more people to participate in physical activity as well as taking an interest in healthy eating and food production.”
Gloucestershire’s Director of Public Health, Dr Shona Arora said:
“We want to make healthy choices a way of life and the Living for the Future project has an ambitious programme covering physical activity, improved diet and nutrition and environmental improvement. We are very excited by the bid’s success and even more excited about what we can deliver working in partnership with the local community.”
County councillor and Tewkesbury Borough Councillor, Ron Allen, who has been involved in the bid, said:
"What a marvellous example of active partnership leading to real benefits for the community. Over the next three years, Gloucestershire County Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council and Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust will commit significant funding towards the cost of making this ambitious project a living reality for people in Tewkesbury. The outcomes should be better health, especially for our children and young people, and a cleaner environment in which to live, work and play."
