Have you heard of the council’s Kirklees Food Initiative and Nutrition Education (FINE) Project?

 

We run free training courses to council staff or volunteers working with; families with young children, women of child-bearing age, vulnerable adults such as older people, young people (16-21) black and minority ethnic groups.…as long as you live or work in Kirklees and commit to take the learning back into communities and work areas.

 

Currently, Kirklees has a number of health challenges, for example more people here suffer from heart disease than the national average, more than 50% of adults are overweight or obese and we have a higher rate of infant deaths compared to that of the national average. Our aim is to educate Kirklees communities on the benefits of healthy eating in attempt to reduce these statistics, for a happier, healthier future.

 

Our training sessions include:

 

  • ‘Key Messages in Healthy Eating’ - a one-day, interactive session looking at the eat-well plate, 5 A-day, fats, salts and sugars.

 

  • ‘Healthy Menu Planning and Shopping on a Tight Budget’ - an interactive half-day session based around sharing information and strategies with frontline staff, community workers and volunteers on how to support individuals and families to eat healthy on a low income.

 

  • ‘Plan and Cook for a Healthy Lifestyle’ - a 4-day equivalent Open College Network (OCN) nationally accredited course spread over 6-8 weeks. The course covers the key healthy eating messages, the nutritional needs of certain population groups as well as tips and tools on running community cook and eat sessions (including food hygiene). On completion of the training, learners achieve a level 2 qualification.

 

  • ‘Introduction to Solid Foods and Toddler Nutrition’ - this training would be beneficial to nursery staff and those working with toddlers. We cover when to introduce solid foods and why, the different stages of weaning and general healthy eating for toddlers (including fussy eaters etc).

 

We also offer bespoke training, tailored the needs of your group or organisation, for example, we have focussed on under 5’s nutrition for children centre staff as well as older peoples nutrition for residential home staff. We can deliver at your venue at a date and time to suit you.

 

To find out more email fine.project@kirklees.gov.uk or visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/fineproject