HEALTHY living is top of the menu at Heart of England Mencap, thanks to funding to support a new project.
The charity, which supports local people with learning disabilities, has received more than £3,000 in funding to be part of ‘A Healthier Me’ – a project spearheaded by Mencap nationally.
It’s all about promoting healthier ways of living and developing different ways to get this message to reach people with a learning disability.
Heart of England Mencap is using its £3,015 in funding to:
· Upskill the charity’s Health & Wellbeing Champions – appointed from within its team of care staff – so that they complete nutritional learning courses.
· Further developing a fruit and vegetable garden at one of its residential settings, at Eastwell House in Stratford. Here, people supported by Heart of England Mencap are being taught how to grow and nurture their own healthy food – and use their produce in the kitchen.
· Create a healthy recipe book, developed by local people with learning disabilities and using their own meal ideas. The books will then be edited and illustrated by the health and wellbeing champions ready to be published and sold.
‘A Healthier Me’ packs will also be distributed across the charity to the people it supports.
Programme coordinator Kate Buttrick said: “The pack will have lots of useful information, including which food helps us to be healthy, how much we should eat and how to keep making healthy choices.
“There will be plenty of activities to try – from learning how to plan weekly meals to keeping a food diary – and many delicious, healthy meals to cook up too.
“The project is going from strength to strength with many of our customers and staff learning a sustainable, nutritional and tasty way to enjoy life.”
Heart of England Mencap supports around 200 people with a learning disability across south Warwickshire and north Worcestershire, with services in Stratford, Warwick, Studley, Shipston, Leamington, Southam, Evesham and Malvern.
