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PRESS RELEASE
21 July 2010

CORNWALL HEALTHY LIVING CENTRE CAN HELP

The fast pace of life in the 21st century can cause stress and sickness – but Cornwall Healthy Living Centre is here to help.

That was the message of Dilys Down, CHLC’s head of health and wellbeing, at a special event staged at Truro College to celebrate the success of the organisation’s work in West Cornwall over the last 10 years – work which is now being rolled out countywide.

Dilys Down, CHLC’ s head of health and wellbeing, with Ray Ashmore, CHLC’s project manager, and PC Paul Higgs, at the celebration event at Truro College on 8 July

CHLC is a multi-agency partnership led by Penwith Community Development Trust, and health, council and police representatives were among the partners attending the conference.

Dilys said the event was a celebration not just of CHLC, but of partnership working. “We are all living in a modern world with a very stressful lifestyle, which leads to huge health problems. There isn’t one solution to solve everyone’s problems, but we’d like to invite you to come and talk to us. If we all work together, we are much stronger.”      

The conference saw the launch of a database and website created by CHLC project manager Ray Ashmore, which provides comprehensive information about a huge range of health and wellbeing activities and services throughout Cornwall.

Guest speakers included retired primary school teacher Rosalind Jones from Canonstown, near Hayle, a Wellbeing Volunteer with Penwith Pals, which befriends elderly people who are lonely or housebound, and Bernie Edge, the man she now visits at his home in St Erth. The two have become firm friends.

Bernie, who contacted Penwith Pals following the death of his wife, told the conference: “Help was given to me at a time when I really did need that help. I would like to say thank-you to Ros, and to Penwith Pals for something which works so successfully.”

Rosalind Jones and Bernie Edge address the conference

Rosalind said: “Volunteering makes me happy, and through happiness, comes health. You feel you are giving something back to the community.”

The Wellbeing Volunteer service recruits people like Rosalind to assist with a variety of health-related community projects.

CHLC also works with GPs to signpost patients to activities to benefit their health, and has now successfully piloted a wellbeing project at Stennack Surgery, St Ives, which gives active support to patients to try everything from sailing to singing. The scheme is due to be extended to Bodriggy Surgery in Hayle shortly, and it is hoped to expand it further.

Stennack GP Dr Rupert Manley said that the project was a natural progression from his interest in ecotherapy, which he described as “a green agenda for health”. He told the conference: “There is strong evidence that walking in the countryside and connecting with nature can reduce depression”.

Stennack Surgery wellbeing facilitator Darren Hall (left) with GP Dr Rupert Manley (centre) and Dr Richard Kimberlee of the University of the West of England, another guest speaker at the event at Truro College on 8 July

Another scheme which CHLC is keen to roll out is its free counselling service, which currently operates in Penzance, Camborne and Helston.

Maddi Scott, a counsellor working with the service, said feedback from clients showed that the service was meeting a real need in the community. “Brilliant”, “wonderful” and “invaluable” were among the words they used. One client wrote: “What I have gained from the sessions has changed my life”.

Other key speakers at the event included Professor Julie Stone of the Peninsula Medical School; Lynda Quee, head of the Health Promotion Service at the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust; and PC Paul Higgs of Devon and Cornwall Police.

PC Higgs is working with CHLC on the Migrant Workers Action Group database and website, which aims to reach and help migrant workers in Cornwall. He told the conference that their problems often remain hidden from the wider community.  “In one case, 40 migrant workers were so hungry that they were just living off cabbage,” he said.   

For further information about Cornwall Healthy Living Centre, contact Dilys Down on 01736 330198

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