Innovation, Excellence, Strategic Development, Fund, Funding, Department of Health, New Awards

1. Fit Together Project
Rachel Shaw
Healthy Living Network Leeds
Barca Leeds

2. Fit Together programmes
• 3 year funded family health programme, primarily aimed
at reducing childhood obesity in West Leeds
• Focus on changing lifestyle behaviours to impact on long
term lifestyle changes
• Families attend a 2 hour session once a week for 6 weeks
• Sessions are run by Community Health Educators through
a peer education approach

3. HLN Leeds
• Established in 2004
• Based in Armley
• Several contracts with Public Health and NHS
• Part of Barca Leeds

4. Target groups
• New families, starting Primary School starting
secondary school
• These groups are all in stages of transition
• Ideal opportunity to adopt healthy lifestyle
behaviours
• Ties in with National Child Measurement
Programme in schools

5. What are we dealing with?
• 94.8% in Reception and 91.0% in
Year 6 were measured
• 1 in 10 children in Reception is obese
(9.3%, 794 children). This figure is static
for all years the programme has run in
Leeds.
• 1 in 5 children in Year 6 is obese
(19.7%, 1,374 children)
• As in previous years more children
from ‘Deprived Leeds’ are obese than
those from ‘Non-deprived Leeds’ and
this gap has widened over the period of
the NCMP..

6. Outcomes of Fit Together
• Increase positive attitudes towards food and a
healthier lifestyle through gaining knowledge and
supporting each other to make those small changes
to reduce obesity levels
• Increased self esteem and confidence through
involvement in passing health messages to others,
giving and receiving support and volunteering within
the project and their own community

7. Outcomes cont.
• Improved skills and knowledge about how to enjoy
and make the most of their life through learning new
ideas at training sessions and sharing their own skills
within their communities.
• Improved integration between existing services to
provide a holistic family centred approach to support
family health

8. What do we do?

10. Feedback
• “One of the biggest
things we have learnt is
about sensible swaps”
• “I had no idea how much
sugar was in drinks! We
have cut out the Coke!”
• “I am usually shy around
new people but on the
course I was starting to
open up”

11. Challenges
• Finances
• Delivery area
• Mentor families
• Volunteering
• Evaluation
• Dissemination

12. Solutions
• Finances: Meeting at Grants hub and adapting
budgets for realistic delivery
• Delivery area: revisiting Yr 1&2 areas and
working with GATE
• Mentor families: reunion workshops and
wider volunteer opportunities within Barca

13. Solutions cont.
• Volunteering: increased hours to support
volunteering activity and adapting parameters
around volunteer involvement
• Evaluation: support from Leeds Met
• Dissemination: support from Leeds Met, increased
social media activity, wider partnership activities,
influencing future projects

14. Contact details
Rachel Shaw, Project Coordinator
Rachel.hln@barca-leeds.org
0113 2951043
Unit 4 Armley Park Court,
Armley,
Leeds,
LS12 2AE