Community Engagement Report 2012-13 For the 2012/2013 Community Engagement Report we are feeding back and reflecting on the 5th year of partnership working with NHS Bolton. The award winning success of the Bolton CVS/NHS partnership is moving into year three (2013/2014) of the current 3 year agreement. The projects we deliver continue to educate and inform local communities with an aim to reduce health inequalities. Our work focuses on areas of Bolton where the health inequality gap is at its most apparent, by offering support, training and information to people who might not normally engage with NHS services we aim to narrow that gap. In doing this we aim to empower and encourage local people to take positive action toward improving healthy lifestyle choices as well as encouraging participants to pass the knowledge on to their children, friends and family. Maintaining positive relationships with people who we have delivered health workshops and brief advice to, allows us to reinforce the information and training we offer over a period of time. The Community Engagement Team are dedicated and passionate, working hard to reach as many people in Bolton as possible; this passion to spread the word on important health priorities has meant we have exceeded our targets in some areas of the agreed program of work. We endeavour to educate the people of Bolton to know more about their health and wellbeing to enable them to make positive choices that will sustain a happier healthier Bolton community. This report will focus on work which has taken place within the 2012 – 2013 financial year, however where projects have been running for a longer period of time, we have included information covering the overall contact figures so we can offer a complete picture of how many people the project has touched throughout its campaign. We have included information about the sex, ethnic origin and age of people we have engaged with. As part of this report we have included a selection of relevant comments, quotes and case studies from partners and participants.
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Graph depicting total number of people engaged with over the lifetime of a project. Only projects relevant to work delivered April 2012 to March 2013 have been included.
Total numbers of people engaged in workshops:
1200
1000
800 Mental Health Awareness Alternative Tobacco 600
Cancer Awareness Alcohol Awareness Self Care Smoke Free Homes
400
200
0
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Chlamydia Bowel Screening
Mental Health Awareness Upsy Downsy – mental health board game Project aims and objectives: • To improve the mental health and well being of participants • To encourage people to develop a personal plan of action • To reach out and engage with as many people within Bolton as possible • To support people to recognise what makes them happy • To encourage people to take positive action to improve their mental health and well being Upsy Downsy is a workshop that encourages participants to develop skills and knowledge that will lead to improved positive mental health and social well being. The board game is an interactive way of allowing people to identify an action plan that is personal to them. The engagement workers then follow the workshop up by reminding participants of their action plan/pledges 6 weeks later. The reasons for this are based on strong evidence based research that identifies, people are far more likely to achieve personal goals if they write their ideas down and even more likely to achieve success if they tell someone else of their intentions. We have developed good working relationships with a number of schools in Bolton. Upsy Downsy supports SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) as part of the national curriculum, as well as backing up the citizenship aspect of their learning programme. To ensure children get the best out of the experience we have compiled child friendly cards to accompany the board game as well as also developing cards that are more in keeping with activities that teenagers and young people would connect with.
This year we have delivered to: • 1113 attendees at workshops • 485 white British • 478 school children • 79% from deprived areas • 2861 attendees at workshops since project started
I found the workshop very detailed and informative on mental health. I also found the workshop very interesting and enjoyable. I enjoyed playing the game while at the same time learning about myself and reflecting about my daily activities. The workshop has given me a boost in my motivation and changing my bad habits and creating new changes to live a better and healthy lifestyle. 3
Upsy Ducksy Brief Advice aims and objectives: • • • •
This year we have delivered: • 213 Upsy Ducksy brief advice
To introduce the idea of the 5 ways to wellbeing To encourage participants to engage with one of the 5 ways To encourage participants to recognise what they could be doing daily to improve wellbeing To encourage participants to commit to a personal ‘pledge’ for our pledger of the month scheme o The ‘Pledger’ of the month scheme allows us to celebrate some of the successful ‘Upsy Ducksy’ pledges that we have developed with participants whilst delivering brief advice. It also allows us to collect and pass on ideas to new participants on how others have gone about improving their wellbeing.
Upsy Ducksy is a new edition to the community engagement brief advice resource tool kit, the game was designed to educate participants around the five ways to wellbeing at community events. ‘Upsy Ducksy’ gives us the opportunity to start a discussion about the five ways in an interactive and fun way. Participants are asked to hook a duck, each duck has one of the five ways to wellbeing written on its undercarriage. We then start a conversation with the participant about ‘that’ particular way to wellbeing, what it implies and what they might do around that way to wellbeing that could improve their mental health and wellbeing. The first time I played Upsy Downsy I said that for one of my good habits I would like to start up a form of exercise. When I received my post card it was suggested where I could start attending an aerobics class. This was great as it was cheap and local. I enjoyed it very much.
Cancer Awareness Hands On Project aims and objectives: • • • • 4
To educate local people on the signs and symptoms of various cancers To encourage people to get to know their own bodies and conduct self checks regularly To encourage people to attend routine screening appointments where appropriate To actively encourage people to present at their GP with early signs and symptoms
The ‘Hands On’ workshop has been redesigned and updated and now includes aspects of all previous ‘Don’t be a cancer chancer’ workshops. We have a wealth of tools we use to engage with people on a range of cancers. The ‘Communicating Risk’ breast cancer awareness game is now included in our cancer workshop figures rather than being assessed as a standalone project. Other resources in our cancer awareness toolkit are ‘What’s in the box’ game which encourages participants to use their kinaesthetic skills to make connections between what they can feel (but can’t see) and different cancers. The game always attracts attention and is a great way to encourage participation.
Cancer Brief advice tools: • • • • • • • • •
Whats in the box – BA Whats in the box workshop Communicating risk Jengage Meet the oddballs Cancer quizzes Balls to cancer Biolike models (lungs, breast and testicles) Healthy mouth
Cancer brief advice aims and objectives: • • •
To start a conversation with people about the signs and symptoms of the most common cancers To use participative and fun ways to engage with people making the conversation memorable To encourage people to recognise what is normal for them so as to encourage early symptom recognition It was an enjoyable workshop and very informative. I feel much more confident about checking myself now.
Hands On • 678 attendees at workshops • 1172 brief advice •
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96% who took part in the workshop said they would check themselves regularly
I knew what breast cancer was but not in great detail. I did not know that men can get testicular cancer. I enjoyed the workshop and learnt a lot.
Alternative Tobacco Awareness Open Wide Project aims and objectives: •
To dispel the myths associated with shisha pipe smoking and chewing tobacco
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To raise awareness of the health risks of alternative tobacco products
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To explain the health risks of betel nut
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To raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of mouth cancer
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To encourage people to maintain a healthy mouth
Open Wide • 422 brief advice • 1109 attendees at workshops • 796 people from BME communities • 92% who took part in the workshop said they would pass the information on to family and friends.
This year we have delivered to record numbers of participants and have forged close partnerships with many of the primary and secondary schools in Bolton. We have also adapted the workshop so that it is tailored depending on the age groups that we are working with, this includes a chemical checklist for older secondary school students. We have worked with Trading Standards and NHS Bolton to support the social media campaign promoting the dangers of shisha smoking. This is due to be launched in the next few weeks. We continue to be a key partner in the Bolton Tobacco Alliance Group.
Alternative Tobacco Awareness Brief Advice Aims and objectives: • To attract people’s attention • To raise awareness of the chemicals in the shisha tobacco • To provide a visual means of explaining the harmful chemicals in shisha • To promote the signs and symptoms of mouth and lung cancer • To explain the damaging effects of tobacco smoking Tools Used: • Hubble Bubble Shisha Trouble 6
• • •
Smokers Lungs Smoker’s Mouth Jar of Tar
‘Hubble Bubble Shisha Trouble’ has been adapted from the chemical soup kit developed by Barnardos. We ask participants to put on a lab. coat and goggles and help to prepare the toxic potion using the hands on tools available, including mock up chemicals and a cauldron. This has been received well by young people and those with English as a second language, in particular. It is very eye catching at events and attracts people’s attention. We also use the Smokers Mouth, Lungs and Jar of Tar to explain the signs and symptoms of mouth and lung cancer and the damaging health effects of tobacco use. New for 2013: We now have a new ‘Paan Leaf display’ which demonstrates what goes into the paan using the actual ingredients and explains the affect of these on the body. We also plan to develop a new brief advice tool, ‘Shisha Surprise’ to be used at events. This will be a high impact method of explaining that something which appears glamorous on the outside can be very dangerous for your health when you look into it further. I found it extremely interesting and informative, it was really interesting to learn about the culture and how shisha fits into this. I was really shocked about the content of the betal leaf and how the children are given forms of this, it completely opened my eyes, into something I had very little knowledge about.
Excellent workshop the community needs to be made aware of the facts – parents do not know the dangers that their children are exposed to.
Smoke Free Homes Aims and objectives: • To encourage parents of children under 16 to smoke outside the home • To encourage visitors to the home to smoke outside • To reduce the risk of passive smoking to non smokers in the home • To raise awareness of the dangers of second hand smoke
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Smoke free homes • 136 people completed the smoke free homes promise • 86% from neighbourhood renewal areas
When delivering smoke free homes advice the engagement team felt that it would be more of an incentive to give out the goody bags and certificates at the time of people signing the pledge. NHS Bolton agreed that this will be a more efficient and effective way of engaging with people. This will save time and reduce the cost. This method of delivering the scheme will also be adopted by other services across Bolton.
Alcohol Awareness Project aims and objectives • To raise awareness of the recommended daily/weekly alcohol units •
To explain the health impact of drinking over the recommended units
•
To encourage people to drink within safer limits
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To encourage people to reduce the amount of alcohol that they drink
Sobering Thoughts • 431 attendees at workshops • 362 White British • 808 Brief Advice • 85% participants will pass on to family and friends • 91% have a greater awareness of alcohol units
Thank you once again for another very informed talk it was educational and very well presented.
Thank you for the discussion. My husband drinks every night and he is well over the units that should be consumed. I will show him the unit calculator and hope he cuts down.
2012 saw the arrival of a teaser for the ‘Sobering Thoughts’ DVD, a short and sharp summary of the full DVD aimed at grabbing your attention, which is now on Utube, Bolton CVS website and face-book page. We have developed an excellent partnership with the Princes Trust reaching 16 – 25 year olds, discussing 8
risk management when consuming alcohol and have developed a new partnership with the fire service delivering alcohol awareness sessions to fire crews in Bolton. We continue to introduce new games relevant to different age groups, including an alcohol related darts quiz, ‘Whose round is it anyway?’ and the mismatch game which asks participants to match the calories in the sugary treats to different types of alcoholic drinks. Health & Prevention is one of the three main strands in the new alcohol strategy for 2013 – 2015 striving ‘to promote safe drinking and prevent harm and risk occurring.’ Our role is therefore more important than ever. Anecdotal evidence suggests that people are still unaware of what constitutes a unit and are confused about how to access support services. Alcohol Awareness Brief Advice: Aims and objectives: • • •
To raise awareness of what constitutes one unit of alcohol To encourage people to reflect on the number of units they are consuming To explain the maximum recommended units for men and women
2012 saw the arrival of the professionally produced ‘Play Your Drinks Right’ game, which looks fantastic and is being used at events across Bolton to educate people about the number of units in different alcoholic drinks in a fun and eye catching way. As participants shout ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ they begin to consider how many units they are drinking on an average night out. We also have a hand held version of this game which is used as part of the workshop with adult groups. Alongside the game we also offer free mocktail tasters and recipes to encourage people to cut down on their alcohol intake. New for 2013: Booze Buzz. Now that we have a tailored workshop for secondary school students we will be delivering a higher number of workshops within the school environment. We will be developing our new tool ‘Booze Buzz’, based on the game ‘Operation’ which will raise awareness of the affect of alcohol on the different parts of the body in a unique and memorable way.
Self Care Project aims and objectives •
To support individuals to develop the skills to take control of their own health and well being
•
To raise awareness of how to adopt a healthy lifestyle
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To motivate and empower individuals to be an active carer of themselves
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To encourage people to promote self care to others
We continue to receive demand for the self care course and this year it has been delivered to a diverse range of participants speaking different languages and of different ages. As we have delivered this course for several years the staff team have recently undertaken in house refresher training to ensure that their skills and knowledge remain up to date. New for 2013: 9
To ensure that the course remains fresh and interactive we have developed several new games which will be delivered as part of the course in 2013. These include new icebreakers, a celebrity focus on poor health and confidence, ‘What health means to you’ and ‘The Cycle of Change’ game. Once again many participants have taken huge steps to improve their health and well being and we have observed fantastic health benefits.
I have learnt a lot after doing the Self Care course. I have used the tips from the book in my daily life. Since then I have been taking time out for myself. I have also been doing a lot more healthy eating than I used to do. I have realised how important it is to forget and not worry about house work and other things that are not as important as yourself.
Case Study BCOM Men’s group My name is Sef Hamied Alyoorby, i’m 64 year of age and came to UK 6 years ago from Somila as an Asylum seeker. I’m married with one son who is at University. I used to be a fisherman in Somila. I am unemployed and live in Farnworth. I have been suffering from back pains for the past 2-3 years, this is because I was tortured in Somila and suffered lots of injures. I also suffer from depression because of this. I used to take 3-4 pain killers every day, could not do any exercise, I felt lazy and depressed because I was in pain.
Since doing this excellent course I have learnt to do simple exercise like walking, gentle swimming, stretching. By doing these simple exercises it has helped me to control my pain, I now take only 1 pain killer. Even my doctor has seen an improvement in this. I now go swimming 5 times a week.
I have also reduced the intake of fatty food, and eat healthier food. I now eat fish twice a week, if I eat mince I boil it then when cool put it in the freezer so the fat sets which I remove. I eat more fresh fruit and veg.
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The course was well presented in English for me, Gujarti & Urdu for others. Each activity was well explained, I enjoyed the Body Mapping and the group discussion was good because you get to hear other people’s points of view, sharing ideas.
I gained knowledge of healthy eating, what to avoid and not to drink alcohol. I’m more confident in myself now, and not in as much pain. I’m more in control of my body and go to the GP less.
I recommend this course to everyone, as you learn so much, I will encourage other to take up this life changing course. I would now like to do volunteering work, and have given the Volunteer Centre my contact details.
Chlamydia Screening Project aims and objectives: • •
To educate 16 – 24 years olds on the importance of getting screened regularly To offer opportunistic screening to people who may not present at their GP or a sexual health clinic
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To reduce the number of young people in Bolton with Chlamydia
•
To encourage young people to take responsibility for their sexual health
Chlamydia screening brings challenges to us as a team working within the voluntary and community sector, not least because the sector tends to be dominated by people in an older age bracket than the target group set for Chlamydia screening. We were faced with a number of challenges, and came very close with 112 screens to achieving our target of 120. As a team who are not discouraged easily, we looked for new ways of engaging young people in our workshops and screening and often added this onto the alcohol workshop when we delivered to an age appropriate group.
Consultations Public Engagement Projects on Behalf of NHS Bolton: In October 2012, alongside the health and care together team, we delivered a consultation event on the Draft Health and Well Being Strategy in partnership with NHS Bolton, Bolton Council and Bolton Links. The event was held at the town hall with 60 people from a range of voluntary and community groups attending. Participants were informed of the draft strategy but it was also opportunity to celebrate the successes of the voluntary sector and the numerous community assets that exist within Bolton. We asked participants to reflect on partnership working by playing the Jenga game and to join in ‘The Recycling Game’ which examined what worked well within Bolton, what needs to be improved and what didn’t work. Discussions from this event fed into the consultation document on the draft strategy from NHS Bolton. A full report from the day can be found on the Bolton CVS website. 11
Partnership working through the Jenga game Plain Packaging Consultation: Objectives: • To raise awareness of the need for plain packaging • To encourage as many people as possible, over a one month period to pledge their support for the plain packaging campaign.
This national campaign encourages people to pledge their support for the plain standardisation of all cigarette packaging. At the moment tobacco brands can entice young people to begin smoking by offering a range of shiny, trendsetting packaging which young people have agreed is more attractive and appealing to them. The plain packs partnership aims to make it illegal for this packaging to be sold and to replace it with standardised packaging carrying large health warnings and all the same size and shape. In a one month period during June 2012, we assisted 517 residents to sign a pledge supporting this campaign using the team’s IPADs provided by NHS Bolton and postcards. Nationally over 200,000 supported the campaign which has unfortunately currently not been taken forward by the government. However as the plain packaging partnership states, ‘big changes take a long time’ and they will continue to promote this campaign and encourage England to follow Australia where plain tobacco packaging is now law.
Breast feeding Consultation Objectives • To consult with 80 women about their infant feeding experience through individual and group discussion •
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To collate information and present a report to inform the Breastfeeding strategy
Breastfeeding has important health benefits for both mothers and their babies. Improving the breastfeeding rates is one of the key priorities for the Early Years in Bolton. In Bolton, infant feeding has been researched largely amongst the white population. This consultation aimed to explore the experiences of mothers from black and minority ethnic groups. We looked to explore practice and reasons behind decisions being made such as how to feed, when solids were introduced etc. The findings will help inform: •
How we support South Asian women to increase the duration of breastfeeding across all settings and services (primary care, secondary care, midwifery, community & voluntary sector)
•
The JSNA (Joint Strategic Needs Assessment)
•
The Local Breastfeeding Strategy
One of the questions we asked was how did they feel about breastfeeding in front of others or in public places?
Feeding in public places 25 20 15 10 5 0
Feeding in public places
The consultation gave new insight into the feeding experiences and practices within South Asian communities, including the cultural practice of Tahneek. More information about the consultation can be found on the Bolton CVS website.
Brief Advice Total of people engaged with through brief advice : 1200
1000 Alcohol Project 800 600
Alternative Tobacco Cancer Awareness
400 200
13 0
Mental Health Awarness
Facebook and Twitter CVS launched our facebook page and Twitter accounts in October 2012. Many companies, charities and community groups are now using social media to promote their products, services events and activities, and as a result are building stronger relationships with their service users, members and partners. With the growing popularity of social media sites Bolton CVS felt that with the benefit of real-time conversations was an opportunity not to be missed. Real-time conversations can be harnessed, monitored and measured to drive highly relevant conversations across the facebook and twitter accounts. Creating a social media strategy is more than just creating a Facebook page or a Twitter page it’s a channel of communication, its allowing us to promote what we do as a CVS with people who spend hours of their day checking posts, responding, re posting, commenting, liking and really getting involved with local life through social media channels. So far since launching in October we have managed to collect 140 facebook likes and average around 50 people interacting and viewing each post. Social media is a great way to communicate with people on a range of topics, we have used the opportunity to post information on health issues which has proven a real success and allows us to reach people who may never attend a community event or workshop. So far we have covered information about what to look for when performing a self check as well as promoting healthy lifestyle choices such as taking up more exercise and making healthy choices with food. We have managed to encourage people to give up alcohol and junk food for a January health boost as well as giving people healthy recipes to try at home. By getting involved in ‘Movember’ we were able to promote men’s health issues during the month of November. By using facebook to communicate health messages we are able to improve knowledge and understanding of priority health issues.
Testimonials 2012 – 2013 has been another exciting year for developing new partnerships as well as adding strength and value to existing ones.
Community Groups “I asked Bolton CVS to run a series of workshops for the women who attend the women’s group at BCoM. The purpose of the workshops was to raise awareness of health issues amongst the women. They asked for workshops regarding diabetes, self care, cancer and so on. The women enjoyed the workshops. This has led them to improving their diet, becoming more aware of the things that can affect their health and how to look after themselves and their families.
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The women preferred working in an interactive manner with the trainer. It helped that some trainers spoke community languages which made it easier for the women to understand the workshop and to be able to fully participate in the discussions that took place. The women would like to have information on any other workshops that are offered by Bolton CVS, in particular about the menopause. The workshops that you delivered to the women have helped us to provide the women with a variety of activities that they are interested in.” Hava Yakub – Bolton Council of Mosques “The Bolton West Stroke Group really enjoyed the workshops, we tried all except the Shisha Pipes. The workshops were well presented and explanatory, by people who knew what they were talking about and made everyone aware of dangers. The feedback from the Group as a whole was good they especially liked the Health and Well Being and the Sobering Thoughts, this one brought about much merriment aimed mainly at Joyce and myself as it turned out we were Binge Drinkers. The workshops brought on much laughter and fun, because we are all on the same wave length in the way we view life, we are all for Life After Stroke. If these workshops are continuing we would definitely book them again as our members are changing all the time and they are very informative in a fun way.” Brenda Nixon - Bolton West Stroke Group The CVS Community Engagement team have been a tremendous asset to the Asda Astley Bridge store. Customers have been educated on a wide range of topics from Shisha Health Risks to Breast Cancer risks and Alcohol Awareness days. The feedback from customers and colleagues is very positive, many acknowledging that their knowledge of the subject matter was limited. Having trainers who are friendly and knowledgeable allowed everyone to participate in some of the interactive tasks, therefore eliminating any barriers that may exist. Thank you for your continued support. Christine Baldwin - ASDA “Thank you so much for coming along and presenting Upsy Downsy to our group of carers. They thoroughly enjoyed the session and participated well. All the carers afterwards said what a good session it had been and that they had learnt a lot. I have seen the CVS deliver training sessions quite a few times now, and on each occasion the carers have greatly benefitted from the subjects discussed. The cancer awareness encouraged our ladies to check themselves for breast cancer, and opened up topics of discussion, that encouraged other checks too i.e. smear tests. The way the sessions are presented are very professional and easy to follow and enjoyable. I value our relationship with yourselves and hope in the future to book many more sessions, as our carers benefit greatly from them.” Suzanne Brown – Carers Group Memory Assessment Clinic We would like to thank you for bringing in various activities into Lewis House creating awareness about mental health issues, alcohol issues and other health matters for our residents. Your activities are always user friendly and interesting ensuring that everyone can join in and there are no exclusions. 15
The residents enjoy your visits and feel the activities are a fun and enjoyable way of getting serious messages across to people. This helps us to provide a package of support and to keep residents informed of these matters. Tracey and Yasmin are approachable and friendly and always willing to listen to the views of participants. We look forward to your next visit. Many thanks.” Sue Griffiths – Fortalice Last term Bolton CVS came into our youth club, Zac’s Youth Bar, and delivered sessions as part of a ‘Be Healthy’ programme for our lad’s group and girl’s group sessions, where the participants were aged between 12 – 17 years. These involved cancer awareness, smoking, drinking and mental health, and helped enrich our course immensely. The workshops were very informative, and interactive and engaging, including quizzes and games. They were visual and tactile too, for example in a session about smoking; a life sized replica of a lung damaged by smoking was passed round the group. This engaged the young people, as well as encouraging discussion and educating them about the effects of smoking. The presentation of all the workshops was interactive, clear, confident, non-threatening and friendly. The course was also suitable for those with special needs/ learning disabilities. One girl in our group is partially sighted and autistic, however the workshops included her in all activities and discussions, and she engaged really well with Tracey, Yasmin and the other young people and staff through the activities. In the words of our young people: Rayner – ‘I learnt something new about my health,’ Rachael – ‘Cool’ Hannah – ‘Helpful.’ The young people also commented on how the ‘Upsy Downsy’ was their favourite session, and how it challenged them to use their time better and think more positively. Without Bolton CVS our course would not have been as successful as it was, and we look forward to inviting them back in the future to work with a different group of young people. Sarah Saxon – The Sycamore Project
Partners The Community Engagement Team provide an invaluable contribution to the delivery of Public Health Programmes by engaging with a wide range of communities and groups in Bolton in creative and imaginative ways to raise awareness of health issues, increase uptake of services and gather community views and insight to inform project design. The team are passionate about what they do and the results speak for themselves. Lesley Jones- Deputy Director Public Health “Having CVS work alongside the Wellbeing project has been invaluable as the staff have been able to engage not only with people attending the course but also with the general public who’re shopping in the 16
market. I feel the Bolton Market has provided an ideal venue for health promotion opportunities as we get people coming along from all cultures and ages in the market. The staff from CVS are very professional and approachable which is essential when entering into any conversation with the public. They always bring along with them colourful and interesting interactive resources which help break down barriers. They’re able to raise awareness of the latest health initiatives and are able to signpost people to relevant services. Being able to do this has been an added bonus to the project as people are very often not aware what is available locally.” Joan Farnworth – Community Nutrition Worker “The sessions which CVS have introduced have included shisha smoking and cancer awareness, which shares a relevance when equipping our families in life skills. Our partnership with CVS started in July 2012 and since then we had sessions delivered by this service every four weeks. We have had brilliant feedback from our parents telling us that the information they received during these sessions made them look at such things as smoking and tobacco consumption from new perspectives. How it could especially be referred to the Asian families among whom chewing paan and betel leaves considered to be acceptable and harmless. Feedback from every session has been positive as parents have informed us that they would not do it anymore and would tell their friends and families the implications of this practice. Due to the fact that the shisha smoking session covers all the health impacts of any type of smoking on the health we have successful stories from a big range of families including African families where shisha smoking is widely spread and Central European communities where tobacco smoking is at a high rate both among males and females. We believe that the biggest part in achieving successful results from shisha smoking sessions was the fact that all the information was supported by visual aids. There was a jar of tar showing how much tar the human lungs contain when smoking 10 cigarettes a day for a year and also a reproduction of a human lung of a person who has been smoking for many years. These visuals were “popular” in our sessions and every time many parents took pictures of them to show to their friends and families to warn them of the danger of smoking. The breast and prostate cancer sessions were also a great success as many families we work with have difficulties addressing such aspects due to their gender, culture, employment commitments, stereotypes around these health issues. For some families this was their first introduction to learn about cancer and what steps can be made to prevent health difficulties as some previously did not have a doctor to share their health concerns. The sessions also raised awareness of this information for the families who come from the countries where cancer awareness is also high as in the UK. The simple but at the same time thorough structure of the session was key to presenting a full picture of all the aspects related to this disease. By making it understandable and stimulating for parents of all our target groups, overcoming language barriers by using forethought and creativity to promote clear messages whatever the cultural or educational background. At the end I just would like to add that it was pleasure to work with CVS workers and it significantly contributed to our great sense of achievement in helping new and emerging communities in Bolton. We are looking forward to our next sessions and thanks for your support to ACIS and the families we seek to support.” Olga Baba - Achievement, Cohesion and Integration Services During the course of the last year, Bolton CVS have delivered several health based courses to a number of Caritas projects in Bolton. Caritas currently facilitated a women’s art group in Farnworth that supports 17
socially isolated women and helps to build confidence and self esteem. Bolton CVS delivered a 6 week self care course, which covered themes such as healthy eating and exercise. This course was well received by the group, who were amazed at how much they took for granted and how small changes can make a difference to overall well being. Bolton CVS also delivered an Alcohol Awareness workshop and Mental Health session for this group. These sessions were presented in an accessible way, taking into account the needs of the service users whilst providing the right type of information with easy to understand examples and activities. The Alcohol Awareness session was particularly enjoyable and memorable as it raised awareness of drinking levels but with a non judgmental approach. The feedback provided from this group was very positive, with many participants saying that the courses simply made them think about everyday activities such as eating too much fried food or trying to incorporate even simple exercise into their daily lives. Many participants commented that they felt empowered knowing that they are not alone with lifestyle concerns and knowing others experience similar difficulties and that there are simple steps to help overcome these which lead to improved confidence in lifestyle choices. Bolton CVS has also delivered workshops to in our Bolton Charity shop including the Mental Heath workshop, Alcohol Awareness and Cancer Awareness sessions. As the attendees at the shop sessions are not a set audience is often very difficult to gauge the numbers who will attend. However, the aim of our Friday drop in sessions is to improve awareness of health related topics and we work on the basis that even those who do not actively participate or ask questions, may gain better awareness and knowledge and this may promote seeking advice if needed. I would like to thank all the Bolton CVS engagement team workers as they have always delivered sessions with a professional manner, up to date knowledge and a friendly and understanding approach. I often have requests from customers in the shop about particular workshops delivered and in the majority of cases it is often the sessions delivered by Bolton CVS. I am very grateful for the work of the Bolton CVS Community Engagement team, which helps to promote the support offered by Caritas either in Bolton communities or through the Charity shop work. I am very proud of this partnership with Bolton CVS and hope it will continue. Anna Loughrey - Community Development - Caritas “We have been working with CVS now for a few years and they have delivered a variety of Health Workshops in different areas of Bolton in different settings, Community Drop In's, Coffee Mornings in schools and at community venues and at college classes. The workshops have been delivered in flexible varied ways depending on what was appropriate for that particular group of people, either through group delivery or one to one advice. The workshops were delivered in a sensitive, user friendly way and have been well received by all of the participants. Generally people have benefitted from the advice and have been given the opportunity to make more informed choices about their health. Their work has enhanced the work that we do, by enabling us to offer a more varied programme of activities that are appealing and capture the interest of new learners and learners that would not normally come to college centres to get involved with learning and to raise awareness of their health. This in turn will have a knock on effect for their families and friends. Because we offer a varied programme of activities people may not necessarily come for the health workshops, but may come because they are interested in something else our programme is offering, but will then end up getting involved in the health workshops as well. 18
In addition by delivering these workshops out in the community they are able to reach people that may not readily seek advice on these particular health issues in traditional health settings i.e. a local health centre. Overall I feel that this work is invaluable in addressing health related issues within the community.” Jeannette Fowler – Bolton College
Alcohol Testimonials “Following our meeting I just wanted to commend you on the work you and your team are doing and the contribution you are making in raising awareness of alcohol related harm in communities in Bolton. Persuading people who drink above the recommended limits to think about their drinking and cut down is probably the most important thing we can do to stem what in recent years has been a relentless rise in ill health caused by excess alcohol consumption. As I mentioned there is good evidence that brief advice accompanied with a leaflet is effective in helping people to reduce the amount of alcohol they consume and I understand that you have surpassed your targets in delivering this work. I am particularly impressed with the innovation and creative energy your team have put into devising new ways of engaging with people. The video work you did and the ‘Play Your Drinks Right’ game are both great examples of quality work and a style of work that aims at all times to grab and hold people’s attention. The need to continue to develop this area of work is unlikely to lessen in the future. The task of changing Britain’s drinking culture requires sustained effort and investment in time and resources and the Community Engagement Team make a valuable contribution to the delivery of this work in Bolton.” Phil Ramsell – Bolton Council “I echo Phil’s thoughts and he is absolutely right there is increasing interest in alcohol awareness from the general public, businesses and voluntary/community groups. I am sure Karen will feedback on yesterday’s Forum meeting. I delivered a brief presentation in the emerging Alcohol Strategy for Bolton and there was a lot of interest. One of the key messages for me was that people do not understand units, are unsure how to pass accurate information on to others and do not know how to refer people into treatment. Therefore currently your programme is invaluable and I expect it will be for many years to come. Debra Malone – Bolton Council “The last workshop went very well, and afterwards the participants were discussing issues with each other for some time. The workshop held today was very interactive with good questions being asked, and Chris thanked everyone at the end for being good participants. It does feel like there was a real sense of partnership.” Sheila Standard - Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service “The service Chris and Bolton CVS provide is brilliant. A friendly and relaxed environment suits our learners down to the ground. The different mediums through which the workshops are delivered appeal to all learners on our course. We have learners covering an age group between 16 and 25 and all learn something from the workshops provided. All learners in our Groundwork Prince's Trust Team get involved 19
including the quietest members of our team. Each team we put on we invite Chris down to New Bury Community Centre to put a workshop on and will continue to do so if the availability is there.” Thomas Booth – Groundwork
Cancer Awareness As Chair of BoltonCare4, a group of parents and carers of adults with learning disabilities, I invited Yasmin and Chris from CVS to present their Cancer Awareness workshop at our monthly meeting last December. Chris placed small numbered boxes on the coffee tables before the meeting and asked members of the group to choose a box but not to open it. He said that cancer was a serious illness but, today, with the advance of medicines, surgery and various other treatments, recovery rates were good but, as always, prevention and early detection were of paramount importance. Yasmin told us that each of us who had a box were to open them, in turn, when asked. Box number 1 had a toy mole in it which we guessed represented skin cancer. She talked about prevention such as sun protection creams and wearing suitable clothing. A spot or blemish which didn't go away after a short time should be checked out with your GP. Know what is normal to you i.e. if you have a lot of moles, regularly check them and look for changing shapes or bleeding. The other 11 boxes all had 'clues' in them giving us the chance to guess which cancer they represented. It was a very humorous way of putting over the point of detecting cancer; the meeting had had quite a few laughs during the talk on a serious subject. Chris and Yasmin also had leaflets on all the cancers they had talked about and these were available to us to bring home. They were knowledgeable and professional but at the same time able to put across their message A fun evening on a serious topic, but well conducted. We look forward to inviting them to bring their other workshops to the group. Sue McNeill – BoltonCare4 I have worked with the CVS Community Engagement Workers on numerous occasions during the last 12 months. They have up to date knowledge on a number of health related issues, and whenever one of our health events come up I invite them along to share their knowledge and expertise. One of the Workshops was tailored for a Women’s Group, on breast cancer. There was a quiz that had pictures of people that had previously been affected by breast cancer. The group enjoyed this activity, it got them communicating, and although the subject was serious, there was a fun element to the activity too in the way that everyone was trying to guess the celebrities. It was a very sensitive session as one of the ladies was still going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, but even she said that the session was very good and she had enjoyed it. Tracey then brought up other cancers with props that people had to guess which one related to which cancer, and brief advice on each. Feedback from one of our ladies from the group – she checked her breast as Tracey had explained, and she found a lump. She went to her GP as advised in the session, and was sent for tests. Fortunately, it was not breast cancer, but she said that the session gave her the knowledge, skill and confidence to check her breasts and to go to see her GP with her concerns! 20
All of the sessions have been well received by the public. Tracey now sits on our Health Partnership in Tonge, in which everyone feeds back what they offer as a service, giving updates and letting us know if the numbers are as expected or not. This gives us all the opportunity to work together to increase numbers, that in turn will increase the services that are on offer in the Tonge area which affect health and wellbeing. Tracey has been invited to the Women’s Group event as a thank you for getting involved with them this year, as it is an end of year event for them entitled ‘Wonder Women’ – the name of the group. I look forward to working with CVS in the future Auvienne Kingston – Tonge Moor Ucan Centre
Alternative Tobacco Awareness As tobacco control lead, working with Bolton CVS and the community engagement workers has greatly enhanced my work. They were particularly good to work with when I was co-ordinating the Plain packaging campaign where the engagement workers took a lead role in collecting support from the local Bolton population in getting the postcards filled in and managed to meet their target. They have also been working on the Smoke Free Homes project where recently, led by one the engagement workers, we have introduced a new system for the delivery of the packs which has made the system more economical and streamlined. The ‘Open Wide’ project has continued to be delivered by the engagement team, raising awareness of the dangers of shisha pipe smoking, chewing tobacco and the signs and symptoms of mouth cancer. Bolton CVS have also been involved in the development of the new shisha awareness media campaign, developed jointly between NHS Bolton and the environmental health department of Bolton Council. Louise McDade also attends the Bolton Tobacco Alliance and is a valued partner of that group. Liz Wigg - Health Improvement specialist - Tobacco Control The course was very informative and well pitched to the age group. The children and the staff learnt an awful lot from the session and we would very much like to organise a parent workshop as we feel they also need the information. All staff were very accommodating and helped to get the important message across. Vicki Singleton – Pikes Lane Primary School With regards to the workshop led by Samim and her team, as a school we were delighted at the content and presentation of a potentially sensitive subject matter. The team were aware of the children and took great care in their approach through questioning to ensure that no child felt uncomfortable. The visual aids used during the session certainly added stimulus and the pupils engaged well with the resources - in particular the lungs and the jar of tar!! The length of the workshop was right and the group activities matched the needs of the pupils. Feedback from the children - Year 5 and Year 6 was very positive overall. On behalf of the other 3 class teachers, please pass on our thanks to Samim and her team. A very useful and valuable workshop which certainly made our pupils think more carefully about life choices they will face in the future. Liz Peacock – SS Simon & Jude CE Primary School 21
I just wanted to say a really big thank you for coming to the nurse meeting last week. I certainly learned a lot, and the feedback from the nurses was really positive and I know they really appreciated the time you took to come and see us. I spoke to the Manchester team about continuing the working relationship you have with them, and Jess was keen to look at possible opportunities during their local engagement time Dec 2012-Mar 2013. Gill Kilgour - Cancer Research UK I found it extremely interesting and informative, it was really interesting to learn about the culture and how shisha fits into this. I was really shocked about the content of the betal leaf and how the children are given forms of this. It completely opened my eyes into something I had very little knowledge about. Overall a very interesting great learning session delivered. Well done to all involved. Joanne – Cancer Research UK I certainly found the training very interesting. I had previously seen a short film on Shisha at a Smoking Conference in Glasgow and that was the extent of my knowledge. I found the information and presentation from the trainers gave me the confidence at the Mela Festival in Glasgow to challenge two groups I was speaking to regarding the health risks, which they were unaware of. Training well presented and interactive sessions help retain information. Mary – Cancer Research UK
Mental Health Awareness The Community Engagement Team are dedicated to the promotion of positive mental health. The team are now into their 5th successive year of developing the skills of the public in Bolton to manage their own mental wellbeing and to look out for others. After such a huge amount of work focussed in this area the team have massively developed their expertise in this field and have a dedicated lead attached to the subject of emotional health and wellbeing. The success of the partnership projects has far exceeded our best expectations. We know that in excess of 5000 people have engaged with the ‘Upsy Downsy’ board game and a further 2000 people took part in the equally distinctively named ‘Noodle Doodle’ creative workshop both of which were focussed on building knowledge and skills in relation to keeping mentally fit and supporting others. The evaluation of these projects demonstrates significant improvement in knowledge and understanding of mental health and wellbeing, as well as confidence in taking care of self and others. On the horizon for the next year of partnership with the Public Health Department is a project looking at aging well and focussed on outcomes associated with the prevention and early detection of Dementia. The mental and physical health of older people is a major priority for health planners in Bolton, and it will be very exciting to see what creative approaches the Community Engagement Network and Public Health can come up with to support this important agenda. Jayne Wood – Public Health, Bolton Council
Breastfeeding Consultation with BME women The Community Engagement team is committed to the promotion of breastfeeding and helped the Public Health department in Bolton to understand the infant feeding experience of South Asian mothers. Although this important Public Health issue had been looked into previously in Bolton, this was mainly among the White population. By using their experience in working with the South Asian community, the 22
Community Engagement team was able to identify mothers who would be able to participate in the consultation. They delivered: one to one & group sessions. Having attended some of the consultations I observed how well they interacted with mothers and enabled them to share their personal experiences of infant feeding. They captured the thoughts of 81 mothers and delivered 3 successful group sessions. The team worked in partnership with Public Health in the development of the guides used to facilitate the consultations. Following the success of the consultation, Public Health is working with the Community Engagement team to support the Breastfeeding Friendly Bolton initiative (aimed at helping local businesses such as cafes to support mothers wishing to breastfeed by providing a supportive environment) Dr Anjana Sahu - Department of Public Health
Final Word The new work program being undertaking in 2013 - 2014 includes promoting the benefits of breastfeeding and identifying suitable breastfeeding friendly venues where staff have received training will be an exciting opportunity to develop new working relationships with colleagues in the Private sector. We are also tasked identifying parents with children under the age of 5 and raising awareness of the most common accidents that occur in the home resulting in an A&E visit. We will continue to deliver priority health messages to the people of Bolton with an aim to reduce the health inequality gap that exists between the most affluent and most deprived areas. Bolton CVS Community Engagement Team together with partners is working to make Bolton a happier healthier place to live, work and play in.
Contact us Sarah Lever
Louise McDade
Diane Craddock
Farzana Patel
Community Engagement Co-ordinator sarah@boltoncvs.org.uk 01204 546045 Community Engagement Development Worker louise@boltoncvs.org.uk 01204 546047 Systems and Information Development Worker diane@boltoncvs.org.uk 01204 546040 Admin Support Worker farzana@boltoncvs.org.uk 01204 546040
Community Engagement Workers: Chris Hayden chris@boltoncvs.org.uk Tracey McCue tracey@boltoncvs.org.uk Yasmin Rahbar yasmin@boltoncvs.org.uk Yasmin Holgeth yasminh@boltoncvs.org.uk 23
Relief Community Engagement Workers Samim Vali samim@boltoncvs.org.uk Hema Chevli hema@boltoncvs.org.uk Monica Ballani monica@boltoncvs.org.uk Rehana Makkan rehana@boltoncvs.org.uk Zahida Abbas zahida@boltoncvs.org.uk Team Telephone: 01204 546040
Fax: 01204 546011
Email: engagement@boltoncvs.org.uk Visit our website: www.boltoncvs.org.uk facebook.com/CVSBolton TWITTER:@boltoncvs
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