Project title: Heart Friendly Health Club
Region: Manchester, England
Award amount: £14,984
Date: November 2023 – August 2024
This Healthy Heart Grant project has now finished, read on for the project highlights.
The Problem:
North Trafford is an area of social deprivation and health inequalities, with those in the most deprived areas living 16 years less than those in the least deprived areas. Physical inactivity impacts residents’ health outcomes and highly affects those living in parts of Trafford’s North and West localities. Voice of BME Trafford works with black and ethnic minority communities within the area and held the Heart Friendly Health Club to reduce the risk of heart diseases which are more prevalent within the South Asian and Afro-Caribbean populations.
The Project:
Voice of BME Trafford’s, Heart Friendly Health Club held weekly sessions focussing on healthy eating and physical activity within the community. The physical activity sessions consisted of low-impact movements such as yoga, chair-based exercise and walking/running which were suitable for individuals of different abilities. The healthy eating element of the sessions came from information workshops from nutritionists, teaching the beneficiaries about balanced eating, fats, sugars and fibre. The project also had a cookery element in which the beneficiaries watched healthy cooking demonstrations and then sampled the food afterwards, from this, they have composed a healthy eating recipe book. One-to-one therapy sessions were also available for those who needed additional support.
The Benefits:
This project saw benefits to heart health through improvements in beneficiaries’ blood pressure and BMI levels. Each cohort formed a WhatsApp group which allowed them to motivate one another and share healthy meals they have been cooking at home. A heart-friendly recipe book was created from the recipes cooked during the project sessions and those cooked by participants at home, allowing them to continue cooking healthy meals after the project. Beneficiaries have expressed the want for more groups in the future to continue improving their heart health.
Mr A, a member of the Healthy Hearts Club had hypertension and pre-diabetes. He started coming to the group with his wife who also had hypertension and was also living with COPD. However, his wife contracted pneumonia and sadly passed away whilst the group was running. He received a lot of emotional support from other attendees and coaches during this delicate time. He was encouraged to continue with the group which helped with his mental and emotional wellbeing as well as physical health.
He has managed to lose weight by following the healthy food recipes in his daily meals. Furthermore, by coming to the groups regularly a drastic uplift in his mental and emotional health was noticed in him by everyone in the group. He joined the VBME exercise group to keep himself active along with other group activities where he was signposted. Moreover, his elevated blood pressure came to normal levels by adopting healthy lifestyle changes.
