Wellbeing event helps inspire community to live healthier lifestyle

Educational talks, cookery workshops and free fitness sessions have been helping to inspire people in Swansea to live an even healthier lifestyle.

The Penderi Local Cluster Collaborative (LCC) hosted a free health and wellbeing event with a wide range of fitness classes, workshops and talks on offer.

Its main aim was to support and motivate people to improve their health and wellbeing by making them aware of different resources and organisations available to them.

Pictured above: Caroline Lane, planning and partnership support manager for primary and community services Dawn Burford, Penderi LCC business development and implementation manager Anna Tippett and Penderi LCC lead Dr Sowndarya Shivaraj.

Held at Penlan Leisure Centre, it was the first event of its kind to be hosted by the LCC.

Members of the public learned how to prepare healthy meals, tried out free Pilates sessions and chatted to a number of different community groups and organisations throughout the day.

Dr Sowndarya Shivaraj, Penderi LCC lead, said: “We want to be doing more to support people to understand more about health and wellbeing and how they can support their own health.

“We also want to support them to understand the importance of health topics such as bowel screening, flu vaccinations and smoking cessation.

“We thought an event in the community would be a really great way of bringing together lots of different organisations and groups in a friendly and approachable way for people.

“It also provided an opportunity for us to speak to people about what they want from us too.

“We wanted to be able to speak to people so we could understand what their barriers are that are preventing them from accessing screening tests, vaccinations and living a healthier lifestyle."

A number of interactive stalls from organisations including Age Cymru, Bowel Screening Wales, Swansea Carers Centre and Guide Dogs Cymru were able to provide advice and answer any questions.

Pictured: Members of the public took part in a cookery workshop.

A number of health board staff members also attended the event to provide information about a number of services.

Members of the public were taught how to perform CPR and how to cook healthy meals, among other skills.

Ron Jenkins, from Swansea, said: “It was interesting to speak to a lot of the organisations to find out what they do.

“I’ve learned how to do CPR which is one of those things where you don’t want to be attempting it for the first time when it’s actually needed.

“The cookery workshop was also really helpful. I’ve found the event excellent."

Caroline Lane said: “I found it really good. I learned about different volunteering opportunities and got lots of information about screenings and different services which are helpful for me, as well as my family and friends.”

Pictured: Swansea Bay dietetic support workers Luke Tucker, Shelley Owen and Natasha Long.

It is hoped that the LCC can host similar events regularly throughout the year to continue building momentum.

Anna Tippett, Penderi LCC’s business development and implementation manager, said: “It was great to have such a large number of local community organisations attend our event.

“Feedback from both the organisations and members of the public has been really positive.

“We look forward to organising similar events in the future.”

Sowndarya added: “We know it can be difficult to make changes, so that is why we brought together a range of organisations, groups and services who are experts in supporting people to improve their lives.

“Our aim is to educate people and raise awareness of various screenings tests, vaccination updates and healthy lifestyles – including healthy eating and exercise.

“We want to increase people’s awareness and change their mindset towards making healthy lifestyle changes.”