Big Way Of Life

Healthy Together or Iachus Gyda'n Gilydd to give it its true Welsh name is a project based in Ceredigion covering the areas of Penparcau, Llangybi, Llandysul, New Quay and Llanarth. It is a far reaching project that encompasses a wide variety of sub-projects in the area, imparting its healthy living wisdom and encouraging children and families to eat healthily and get exercise, which essentially is what Way of Life is all about.

We recently took a trip down to Ceredigion to visit Healthy Together and see what they're up to and the kind of impact they are having.

However, before we get onto that, it's important you know who a couple of people are who you'll read about in this article, because their names will be mentioned quite a lot. They are Oliver Morris, Tom Bean, and Iona Davies or "Oli, Tom and Iona" as they are often referred to as – the project's Community Development Workers. It is they who deliver the project and it's pretty safe to say they are rather popular with the children, parents and teachers.

So anyway, on we go...

First stop on our visit was Llwyn yr Eos Primary School where we spoke to a couple of the teachers about the kind of stuff the project has been doing with the children.

Healthy Together have been going into the school and spending time with the children, getting them cooking and learning about the food they are making and eating.

Brian Evans, headteacher of the school, has been delighted with how the project has slotted nicely into the school's curriculum and how well it has gone down with both the teachers and children. He said: "We have been involved in healthy schools and global sustainability projects in the past and so this fits in very well with the kind of work we are trying to do. Oliver and his colleagues have been fantastic; they have a real rapport with all children and the staff which is very important."

This area of Aberystwyth is fairly deprived and school statistics show that 42 per cent of children are on free school meals and 45 per cent are on the special needs register.

This can lead to difficulties at school and such children can sometimes benefit from alternative teaching methods. Healthy Together have worked with the school to ensure that all the educational needs are met and have thus developed a very inclusive style of teaching.

"The school curriculum is already very holistic", Brian explained. "It is very vocational and so we were very keen to uphold that. The project's style of working was also very vocational and an extension of what we were already doing. They work well with all the children and some of the children have shown a real interest in what they are doing whereas before it was difficult to get them interested in most things."

One of the most radical ideas the project has introduced to the school was a pizza oven. Now this wasn't just any pizza oven, but a permanent made-from-scratch kiln situated in the school playground that is used for cooking lessons and has now been integrated into the school's annual curriculum.

When we were at the school a cooking session using the ovens was in full swing. The children were making their pizzas and then (with the help of an adult, of course) sliding them into the oven where within about 2 minutes they would be ready.

Everyone was incredibly enthusiastic about using the oven and the kids really seemed to get a kick out of making and cooking something from scratch and then being able to eat it. What's more is the oven is available for the whole community to use at any time and so the project have created something that benefits everyone in the area, not just those at the school.

Pat Griffiths, a special needs mainstream teacher at the school, believes the pizza oven alone has added a huge amount to the children and the school.

She said: "It has been a phenomenal success; the children get so excited when they know they are going to be using it. When you learn in a practical way it is so much better. This has made learning a lot more fun and they have learnt so many other skills that they wouldn't normally have done."

Pat was also very complementary of the Development Workers and believes having people like them involved adds a lot to the children's learning experience.

"The kids really like Oli, Tom and Iona; they get involved with them and are really enthusiastic, and that's what you need with kids. It really means a lot to the children and they have such fun when the project comes in and interacts with them, it's so nice to see. If you have the right people involved it is so much more important than having a lot of money. Children don't respond to how much money is being spent, they respond to people interacting and having fun with them."

The project has also put events on at the school including a Party in the Park event which was a huge success and drew in people from the whole community.

Pat continued: "The Party in the Park was brilliant. It had been tried before but just didn't work, but this time it was such a big success. There were so many people coming down to see what was going on and everybody seemed to enjoy it; hopefully we can do it again in the future."

Following the visit to the primary school we travelled the very short distance (literally a stone's throw away) to a young parents group that Healthy Together is also involved with.

Most of the parents in the group have children between the ages of six months and five years and meet on a Thursday morning to take part in activities such as jewellery making and meet other young parents.

Healthy Together approached the group with the view to introducing healthy food to young children and now run healthy cooking sessions.

Lynwyn James, who runs the group, is impressed with the impact the project has had on the group. She said: "We have definitely seen an increase in young parents since the introduction of the cooking sessions. Some of the families who we work with on a one to one basis have said they are trying to cook more at home and said they will come back to the other sessions in the future."

Working with the young parents group gives the project another string to its bow as it is working with children from birth as well as those in primary school. This can only be of benefit to children and families as hopefully it can educate from a young age and take good, healthy habits through their childhood.

Next on the agenda was a trip to another primary school, this time Llandysul Primary School, and upon our arrival we were met by a group of children hard at work in the new school garden that had been produced with the help of Healthy Together.

The school got involved with the project via the adult learning centre and wanted to develop a school garden as something to bring the community together.

Oli and Tom met with the school to discuss their needs and see how best to go forward with the development of the garden and then set up a competition for children to come up with potential designs for it. Then once the designs were finalised there was the small matter of creating it.

An intensive series of sessions ensued but following some hard toil by Oli, Tom, Iona (who is the newest addition to the development team) the children and their parents they had themselves their very own garden ready for growing fruit and vegetables.

Nia Lloyd-Evans is the eco-coordinator at the school and she is thrilled with what the project have helped the children achieve at the school.

She said: "Everyone's enthusiasm has been brilliant and they can't wait to get into the garden. Their enjoyment for learning and growing their own food has gone up a huge amount. The children now have a sense of ownership and have a sense of pride in what they have done."

However, their work was not done when the garden was completed. All the children continued to work hard producing vegetables which were then used in the school canteen in the school dinners. On top of that, some of the produce was sold to local businesses with the money going back into the school.

Nia said that all of this has given the children some important life skills that they can take with them through to adult life.

"We want the children to be able to leave school and know how to keep themselves healthy. It is important that children know what happens with food from how it's grown to where it goes once it is picked and even when it is sold. For them to be able to grow their own food and then eat it or sell it on is such a great learning experience."

Healthy Together seem to have made a massive difference at Llandysul Primary and one of the most impressive things is the level of inclusion and how involved the children are with what the project is doing. The children at the school are involved in virtually every step of development, from the design of the garden to the selling of the produce and that is a brilliant example to set.

Moving on we were whisked off to Pen Dinas in Aberystwyth to visit an outdoor shelter the project had helped to build.

After a short trek over the hills and far away we arrived at a brilliantly constructed circular wooden shelter. It is situated in an area that is now the local nature reserve and has some amazing views out over the sea.

Rachel Mills and Stuart Green from Ceredigion County Council worked with Healthy Together to involve some of the local children in its creation with the idea behind the shelter being to have a place for a summer play scheme to be held and also for local schools to bring their children out for the day.

Oli then went into local schools and spoke to the children about what designs they would like to see, again involving the children as much as possible in the steps along the way. Obviously, it wouldn't have really been feasible to involve the younger children in the construction of the shelter as it may have proved a little dangerous but they did enlist help from the Prince's Trust with a group of 18 to 24 year olds who grafted away in order to put the shelter together.

Rachel was very complementary of the project and believes their work was invaluable to the creation of the shelter.

She said: "Everything the project has done has exceeded our expectations. They went into the schools and consulted with the children about designs and really helped bring the shelter to life. A lot of what they did we simply would not have had the time to do and so they have been a huge help.

"And the final product is amazing. The children have a real sense of ownership now and they have a great place to come and play. Oli ran a very successful play scheme here and hopefully it will continue to be used by the local children."

Our final stop of the day was at a Family Centre in Llandysul to speak to some mums about what Healthy Together has done there.

The set up is pretty similar to the Young Parents Group in that parents bring their young children and take part in activities and meet other like-minded parents. The project have come in and run cooking lessons, teaching the children and the parents about healthy living.

It is the very fact that the parents are involved and learning too that is at the very foundation of the Family Centre's appreciation of the project's work.

Family Centre Coordinator Christine Adams said: "The children have really enjoyed the cooking sessions but the parents have too and everyone has been learning new things and that's important. It's the parents who feed their children so they need to learn what is good and bad to eat. Some of the parents didn't really have much of a clue when it came to cooking but they have really developed some skills and improved now, it's been really worthwhile for everyone."

The centre have also been out on a fishing trip and brought their catches back to cook up a healthy meal and it is this kind of activity that has instilled a sense of community in the area with all the family getting involved.

Playworker Rachel Thompson said: "The project really has given the place a sense of community. We have had the whole family getting involved. Quite often it is just mums that come down but we have had dads getting involved as well; it has been a real family project."

So just like everyone else we spoke to they were more than complimentary about the project and everyone involved. Christine continued: "Having them on board was the best thing that could have happened. Their background is excellent and we have had a brilliant relationship with them."

Well that seems to be the general consensus of opinion about the project and, to be honest, it doesn't get much better than that.

Having witnessed what the project are doing first hand Tom, Oli and Iona aren't doing it for plaudits, but because they love doing it and clearly get a lot out of it. The impact of the project is far reaching and seems to be incredibly positive. The children are excited about what they have achieved and what they're doing in the future and that's important. It definitely appears as if the project is to leave a lasting legacy in Ceredigion.