News
Free Fruit for Pensioners in the Town Hall
Healthy Living, Healthy Benefits took place at The Old Town Hall, The Broadway, Stratford, on Thursday, September 22, from 10.30am to 3pm.
Television celebrities Anna Wing, who played Lou Beale in EastEnders and Doreen Mantle, who played Mrs Warboys in One Foot In The Grave, appeared at a fun day for older people, organised by Newham Council. The free event called Healthy Living, Healthy Benefits, for people aged 60 and over, was opened by Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales Around 500 people are expected to attend the event that began three years ago to make sure those eligible were claiming the Pension Credit they were entitled to. This year it was combined of bingo, a raffle, and entertainment from singers and dancers from the area, tea dance classes and refreshments with the chance to find out how to claim Pension Credit, information about other services and exercise classes available to older people, among other things.
Newham Food Access Partnership provided free bags of fresh fruit fro the pensioners to take home as well as freshly squeezed Apple and Pear juice.
There was also a number of information stands at the hall manned by organisations such as Newham Carers Network, SubCo - Asian Elders Day Centre and the Primary Care Trust.
NFAP Appoints New Co-ordinator
In July Jonathan Pauling took up the position of co-ordinator
for the Newham Food Access Partnership. He has taken over from
the interim co-ordinator Eric Samuel who has moved on to work
full-time at the Community Food Enterprise: a key member of
the NFAP. Eric, whose hard work and incredible energy has been
responsible for much of the success of the NFAP will remain
a member of the partnership’s management committee. The
partnership extends its thanks to Eric for all the great work
he has done over the years as both a volunteer and as the interim
co-ordinator and wishes him the best of luck in his new venture.
NFAP Opens New Co-op
On Monday the 1st of September NFAP opened a new fruit and
veg co-op at Sure Start Plashet (St Stephens) on Shrewsbury
Road. The co-op is supported by the Manor Park Community Forum
with funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. NFAP opened
its first Manor Park co-op in June at Dersingham infant school
and this has proved successful beyond all expectations.
Lita Webb, of the Newham Food Access Partnership who helped
set up the co-op, has been amazed by the public response. She
said: "The response we had at Dersingham has shown there
is a high demand for quality, fruit and veg at reasonable prices.
"Mothers like buying from us as, being based at a school
it's really convenient for them. Plus, unlike the supermarkets
you don't have to walk the kids past all the sweets and junk
food on display. We just sell healthy food - so it's impossible
to be tempted into buying something unhealthy.
"This second food co-op is an important step forward and
we wish it every
success."
The chair of the Manor Park Community Forum, Councillor Pat
Sheekey, said: "It's great that this project has been so
successful that it is already expanding. People have got involved
as customers and as volunteers and I urge anyone in the area
to make good use of the co-ops to improve their diet and save
money."
The co-op in Shrewsbury Road at the corner of Romford Road
is open every
Monday from 11am to 1pm.
The Dersingham co-op is based at Dersingham Primary School
and is open every
Thursday in term time from 2.00pm to 3.15pm.
5-a-Day Fruit Tuck-Shops
Over the last few years the Government has been developing
a new framework for healthcare in Britain with a stronger emphasis
on the prevention of ill health and tackling health inequalities.
A key part of the new strategy is to improve access to and consumption
of fresh fruit and vegetables. Towards this goal it launched
the pilot initiative Five-a-day scheme. Following the success
of these pilots 66 areas with poor health statistics and health
inequalities were invited to submit proposals to the New Opportunities
Fund. Five-a-Day East London (covering City & Hackney, Tower
Hamlets and Newham) were successful in their bid and will be
developing Five-a-Day projects across East London over the next
two years.
NFAP is involved in the Five-a-Day scheme in Newham by providing
three new fruit tuck-shops in schools. The fruit-tuck shops
will be used to promote the Five-a-Day message as well as encourage
healthy eating. The tuck-shops will improve the access to fruit
for school pupils. Currently all key stage one pupils receive
a portion of fruit a day under the governments fruit in schools
scheme but this ceases when children progress to key stage two.
Research has shown that it is most effective to establish healthy
eating habits at an early age and the fruit tuck shops will
enable the schools to build on the good habits initiated by
the fruit in schools scheme.
The tuck-shops will be part run by the children in the schools
and will link in with other curriculum activities including
Numeracy and PCSE. The tuck-shops will sell pieces of fruit
at playtime and lunchtime at very affordable prices.
Fruit Tuck Shops
Newham Food Access Partnership is currently coordinating the development of new fruit tuck shops in primary schools across the borough. The fruit tuck shops are one of the 5 A DAY East London Local Community Initiatives, funded by the New Opportunities fund. Six schools in the area have so far been contacted and invited to join the initiative. These are Ravenscroft Primary, Keir Hardie, Elmhurst Primary, Carpenters Primary, Hallsville Primary and Scot Wilkie.
The aims of the fruit tuck shops are to promote and encourage healthy eating and the 5 A DAY message, to improve access to fruit at schools for children, to establish healthy eating habits from an early age and to link in with other curriculum subjects. The tuck shops will serve all children in the school, but they are hoped to provide a particularly important service for Key Stage 2 children, who currently do not receive a free piece of fruit in school each day.
Newham Food Access Partnership will facilitate the setting up and initial running of the tuck shops, but it will be the children themselves who will be encouraged to take ownership of the projects with the help of a school supervisor once they are established. The children will place a fruit order each week and this will be purchased and delivered to the school by the partnership. The money which the children spend on fruit will be collected by the school and used to purchase more fruit for the following week. By doing this the projects will remain sustainable and there will be no financial outlay for the schools involved. The partnership will also provide teachers with resources to link the running of the tuck shops into the school curriculum. This may involve linking the tuck shops to numeracy work, science projects around nutrition and plant growth, running tasting sessions, planning geography lessons based on country of origin or perhaps even arranging trips to organic farms close to London.
It is hoped that curriculum based work will begin in early February and that the tuck shops will be launched during March. If you would like more information about this initiative, please contact Monica Frost on Tel: 0207 476 1505 ext 117 on Wednesday afternoons.
Food on the move
From January residents of Newham will no longer have to travel to the nearest shop to purchase health enhancing produce thanks to the arrival of a mobile food shop. The mobile shop will sell a wide range of fresh fruit and vegetables and canned food in areas which are classified as ‘food deserts’ (areas with limited access to shops.)
The vehicle has been specially constructed to enable shoppers to come on board and select their own goods, steps and railings have also been fitted to ensure that shoppers who are disabled will have ease of access. The vehicle will also be fitted with an ice cream van-style musical tone playing ‘oranges and lemons’ and will stop at selective points throughout Newham including Drew Primary School in North Woolwich.
The project is being delivered by Community Food Enterprise Limited, a not for profit enterprise set-up with funding from West Ham and Plaistow New Deal for Communities (NDC) and Newham 2010 Local Strategic Partnership. Other partners involved in the project include the East London 5 A DAY Initiative. A home delivery and on-line service will also be provided for residents who are housebound and mothers who are heavily pregnant or with newly born babies. For further information contact: Lita Webb, Community Food Enterprise Limited, tel 020 8227 4348, email:cfe@fsmail.net, website www.community-food-enterprise.org.uk
What's a portion?
We all hear about eating 5 portions of fruit and veg a day – but what is a portion?
An adult-sized portion is roughly 80g (3oz) of fruit or vegetables. That's roughly the amount you can hold in your hand as shown on the right. Portion sizes for children may be smaller – a handful is a good guide. They should still aim for 5 a day!
Remember juices can only count as 1 portion a day, however much you drink. This is because juice doesn't contain much fibre. Pulses, such as baked beans, dahls and chick peas also only count as 1 portion a day. They contain fibre, but not the other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that other fruit and vegetables contain. Use the above checklist to count how many portions of fruit and veg you have a day. Fresh, frozen, dried, tinned and juices all count!
- 1 medium sized fruit such as apple, orange or banana
- 2 small fruits such as tangerines, plums or kiwi
- 1 tablespoons of dried fruit such as raisins, apricots or sultanas
- 1 cup of grapes, strawberries or fruit salad
- 1 slice of melon or pineapple
- 3 tablespoons of fresh or frozen veg such as peas and sweet corn
- 1 bowl of salad
- 1 small can of tinned fruit, veg or pulses such as tomatoes or baked beans
- 1 medium sized glass of fruit juice
New Venue for Shrewsbury Co-op
The Shrewsbury Road Co-op at Sure Start Plashet (St Stephens) has moved to a new location at William Davies Primary School on Stafford Road (E7 8NL). The co-op has also changed days and will now run on Thursdays from 3-3.45pm. The project has so far been a great success and many thanks and much gratitude must go to Perryn Jasper and the team at Sure Start Plashet (St Stephens). Without their help and patience the project would not have been as successful as it has been. Many thanks must also go to Jane Wooley and the team at the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund who have also supported the project and to Gill Gordon – the head teacher of William Davies Primary School for agreeing to accommodate the co-op in her busy school.
Bags For Life are on Their Way!
With help from Newham's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and Sure Start Newham, NFAP is currently in the process of producing a batch of “Bags for Life” which will be distributed at NFAP projects. The bags will be made from extra strong plastic with loop handles and designed to last many years of continuous use. It is hoped that the residents of Newham can be encouraged to re-use these bags at the co-ops thus cutting down the amount of plastic that NFAP generates each week and doing a good job for the planet at the same time.
