Agenda item

C Lynch, Community Partnerships Team Leader presented her report to the Committee. She highlighted to Members a few points within the report;

·        The 5 main areas in which the team are looking at; Health inequalities, Child Poverty, Obesity, Rural Exclusion, Access Issues for people with disabilities and Access issues and cultural barriers ethnic minority groups.

·        The Community Partnerships Team will be working with a range of partners.

·        Over 20 activities will be running across Dacorum

·        It is estimated that by the end of year reporting the project will have hit their target of 90-95% at the end of September.

·        The Cycle your family into fitness project will be carried into year 2 of the project. With a KPI of 60 people 1000 attendances. 

·        Projects which have been successful in year one are currently having their Service Level Agreement meetings and will be continued into year 2. A variety of new projects are in the pipeline for Jan 2016.

Questions and answers

The Vice –Chair referred to year 2/3 of the project and asked if there will be a monitoring system in place which might link back to the GP surgeries to see whether it’s having a real effect at reducing obesity amongst individuals visiting GP Surgeries. 

C Lynch explained that Get set, go Dacorum is a preventative project, therefore it offers low cost and entry level activities in neighbourhoods where we know there are high levels of obesity to encourage people to stay active. These is not a weight management programme, however there are weight management programmes commissioned by County Council. There are 2,500 people taking part In this three year project which, by itself would not have a statistically significant change in obesity levels across Dacorum however supporting peope to become more active and lead a leathy lifestyle is part of a longer term preventative approach to reduce obesity levels in future.  The CP team have been attending training sessions commissioned by Public Health at GP surgeries about physical activity to raise awareness among GPs about the activities on offer so they can signpost their patients.

Councillor W Wyatt-Lowe commented that the patient group at Fernville Surgery were now looking to lead a physical activity session and commended the officer for the role that the Get set, go Dacorum project has made in instigated this.

M Moore, Health and Wellbeing Partnership, mentioned that Herts Active Together which is funded by Herts County Council, encouraged the over 65’s in sports such as spinning. He said that he was concerned at how well these activities are being promoted and if there is room for improvement.

C Lynch confirmed that these activities were part of a project funded separately and delivered by the local Sports Trust which would need to ensure greater outreach work is carried out when delivering sessions. The Get set, go Dacorum team have helped to publicise these session at the recent events attended and GP training session but ultimately the responsibility sits with the provider.

Councillor Timmis asked a question with regards to advertising the projects.

C Lynch explained that they haven’t paid for any advertisements because the project is targeted in specific area at specific groups of people but they have had free articles in the Gazette and Digest and are using social media. They are also involving volunteers to be part of the project. C Lynch welcomed any suggestions that Members may have.

The Vice Chair added that more communication is required to have a balance within the project.

Councillor Harden mentioned that the team have been attending community engagement events such as “Love your neighbour” and mentioned that they are working on their target areas. He said that people are interested in doing exercise but they are looking at different ways to engage and encourage more people who would not usually take part to get into fitness.

Resolved

The report is noted.