07 Sep Healthy Goals, Better Lives: Success with Everton in the Community
Over 160 Young People Participate in Healthy Lifetyles Programme
2016 has been another exciting year for our Healthy Goals, Better Lives programme at Everton in the Community (EITC) with nearly three times as many 15 – 18 year olds enrolled on EITC’s social inclusion programmes taking part in Healthy Goals than first anticipated. The programme has kindly been funded for three years by Liverpool CCG’s Healthy Liverpool Community Grant programme.
Over 160 young people from across Merseyside were involved in eight learning and activity modules delivered over the summer months by community coaches from EITC, allowing young people to make informed decisions about healthy lifestyles and how to set realistic short and long-term goals regarding wider life decisions. Harnessing the power of sport and the Everton badge, young people were engaged in discussions and activities about the importance of diet and physical activity, sensible drinking and the dangers of tobacco use and illegal substances.
During the often difficult transition to adulthood, young people are faced with a number of challenges including exams and social expectations, the prospect of further or higher education, vocational training and finding their first job – unfortunately this means that their health is not of the upmost concern.
The Healthy Goals, Better Lives programme has been developed to address this issue. Designed specifically for 15 – 18 year olds by senior public health and behaviour change practitioners, Healthy Goals complements Everton’s existing social inclusion programmes, including National Citizenship Service, taking advantage of the community spirit and sociable atmosphere to engage young people about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and provide them with the tools to make healthier decisions.
In addition to healthy lifestyle education, the young people also benefited from an introduction to goal-setting, a theme that runs throughout Healthy Goals, providing a framework for young people to make positive choices that can have a significant impact on both their health, self-esteem and future prospects.
This year’s programme has yielded an exceptional set of results which include:
- 69% of young people increased the amount of physical activity they do per week through playing more team sports such as football and through leisure activities such as cycling or swimming
- 83% of young people improved their diet by consuming more fruit and vegetables and / or decreasing the number of unhealthy snacks, sugary drinks or fast food meals they eat or drink per week
- 40% of young people felt Healthy Goals improved their knowledge and awareness of their own health and wellbeing and provided them with the skills to manage their health more effectively.
The programme culminated with a special graduation event at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral on Thursday 1stSeptember for both participants and their families, celebrating the achievements of young people involved in both Healthy Goals and National Citizenship Service.
The success of Healthy Goals at EITC will see the programme be delivered to an even greater number of young people next year. Matthew Philpott, Executive Director of Healthy Stadia commented:
“Congratulations to EITC for delivering Healthy Goals to such a large group of young people. The programme presented us with the perfect opportunity to engage your people about their lifestyle and some of the challenging situations they find themselves in at this age. Completing Healthy Goals has already had an impact in the short-term but has also prepared them well for the future.”
Using a ‘train the trainer’ approach, Healthy Goals is available to other community departments at UK sports clubs to deliver a healthy lifestyle programme through their community coaches. We can offer:
- A bespoke staff training course covering healthy lifestyles and goal setting
- An 8 module healthy lifestyle programme that can be completed in 4 to 8 weeks
- Ability to develop bespoke web portal for your own NCS programme with localised information and branding, healthy lifestyle teaching modules, practical exercises, course materials and slideshow presentations
- A monitoring and evaluation framework, which enables you to evidence participant learning and delivery of NCS key performance indicators.
To find out more about the Healthy Goals programme please contact Michael Viggars.
Healthy Goals: Better Lives is kindly funded by Liverpool CCG’s Healthy Liverpool Community Grant Programme over 2014-17.
Some of EITC’s 2016 Healthy Goals Participants Recieve Certificates
