‘Big society’ projects to help tackle child obesity in Warwick district

Warwick District Council has agreed to add another £10,000 to a £10,000 fund provided by NHS Warwickshire aimed at improving the health of people in the district.

Special initiatives led by voluntary organisations will focus on encouraging smokers to quit, reducing the number of obese children in the Crown, Brunswick and West Warwick wards and preventing falls in the elderly. A portion of the money will also be spent on addressing alcohol-related problems.

Cllr Michael Coker (Con, Kenilworth Abbey), responsible for issues relating to community protection, said: “These initiatives are one-offs, but if they are successful, we will be able to continue with them next year.

“A lot of these things are about getting people started.

“With things like stopping smoking, getting started is the hardest part. Then hopefully people can take it upon themselves to improve their health.”

While it as yet unclear what form the projects will take, the council is hoping to gather together suggestions put forward by groups such as Brunswick Healthy Living Centre and other community centres and youth groups and begin the initiatives in the autumn.

Cllr Coker said: “We are really looking to see what the third sector can offer us. We will then make a judgement as to what we think will be the most effective and value-for-money way forward.

“We are also hoping to incorporate health initiatives into other aspects of the council, for example if a housing officer is dealing with arrears and the resident is a smoker, the officer might suggest that quitting might be a good way for them to save up to pay their bills.”

He added: “There are already a lot of projects of this nature going on in the district - these will be additional to and supplement those.

“There are obviously big problems with health in our district. We would love to be able to say that these initiatives will be successful, but we won’t know until we try. The main thing is we are going to try.”

The district council is to set up a panel made up of representatives from both the council and NHS Warwickshire, who will decide how the initiatives will run. The council’s executive committee is expected to make an announcement on the matter in September.