Introduction to the 'Healthy Towns' programme
The Healthy Community Challenge Fund (HCCF) provides funding to a nine local areas to test and evaluate their ideas on
how to make activity and healthier food choices easier for local communities in a programme that ends in 20111.
The nine ‘Healthy Towns’ are: Dudley, Halifax, Manchester, Middlesborough, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Tewkesbury, Thetford
and Tower Hamlets.
The towns form part of the Change4Life coalition, which is backed by Government, food retailers, charities and community groups.
A further 13 towns have also had seed funding for smaller scale Healthy Town initiaves: Peterborough, Corby, Sandwell, Preston, North Tyneside, Leicester, Merton, Coventry, High Wycombe, Stockport, Wandsworth, Weymouth & Portland, Wakefield.
Aims of the local programmes
The local programmes seek to encourage healthy lifestyles through increasing the opportunities for their population to be
more physically active and make healthy food choices.
Examples of opportunities include:
- a “Let’s Go Outside” project in Dudley which will transform parks and play areas into family health hubs,
- a ‘Cycle Recycle’ project in Thetford which helps people to cycle more and maintain their bikes,
- a new ‘urban garden’ in Tewkesbury which will help residents keep fit and rebuild green spaces in the wake of
last year’s floods,
- a new award scheme for healthy food in fast food outlets, cafes, restaurants and shops, targeting those on
‘High Street 2012’ – the route that leads to the Olympic Park – in Tower Hamlets,
- as part of the Active Travel in the Community project in Tower Hamlets, Bangladeshi women have been
encouraged to take up cycling,
- urban farms and junior health trainer programmes in Middlesbrough,
- a grow your own fruit and veg scheme for social housing tenants in Halifax (Calderdale),
- making Sheffield a breastfeeding friendly city,
- new signage to help walkers, runners or cyclists time themselves when exercising in Portsmouth.
If you are a Healthy Towns member, you can access your closed network for discussion.
Reference
1 Published in January 2008 by the Cross-Government Obesity Unit, Department of Health and Department of Children,
Schools and Families.
