Healthy College Week Puts a Spring In Our Step!
Everyone at OSFC had the chance to take a healthy step in to spring during our first Healthy College Week which ran from 1st to 5th March.
Shirley Rainey, who played a major role in organising the week said, “Our aim was to encourage staff and students to set an example to the local community by increasing their own levels of physical activity. We worked with a number of local health and leisure services to provide all kinds of useful information on optimising physical and emotional wellbeing. For example, throughout the week everyone was encouraged to walk to or from College in aid of The Christie Hospital charity appeal.”
Sessions on offer also included: healthy eating, emotional wellbeing, pathways to health (including information about careers in the health service), alcohol and drugs awareness, digging for health, self-care, stress relief yoga, Wii games with Oldham Athletic FC and various physical activity sessions.
Also available were Stress Buster book stops and book reviews, oral health advisors, young people’s stop smoking advisors and sexual health advice, while staff from Lindley House Health Centre came in to College to promote their health services. Only a limited number of students were able to attend each session, but several were ‘streamed’ across the college electronic network to give everyone the opportunity to access the advice given.
With the help of Health & Social Care Students, the Student Association were able to raise £209.00 for Christies, made up from donations of saved bus fare and petrol money (as a result of students and staff walking/cycling to College), sales of ‘beanies’, a name the bear competition won by David Beddows and general donations.
The week finished with a healthy cake day for staff in aid of the Haiti Earthquake Appeal for which £137.39 was raised, and a mass dance event that was a great success and was attended by many staff and students who danced off their lunches (and cakes) side by side!
Some of the partners the College worked with during the week are: Oldham primary care trust/ Community health services; Failsworth primary care centre /Failsworth Health centre; Oldham DAAT; Positive steps (Oldham), Connexions (Oldham), Oldham Athletic; Lindley House Health Centre; Limeside clinic (Oldham); Christie hospital charity appeal.
Nick Brown OBE, College Principal, said “Our responsibility is not only to give our students a first class academic education, but also to offer them advice and guidance wherever necessary. Everyone at the College is committed to promoting improved health in this and the next generation and we believe that education has a major role to play in achieving this aim”.
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