Partners

Heart of Mersey is recognised as a leader in advising on food policy to increase healthier eating and reduce obesity.

We have contributed at national and international level to identify the most effective ways to help local populations improve diets. At a local level, we are working with local authorities on key issues which impact on health including pre-school nutrition, takeaway food and public sector food procurement.

Current and recent work includes:

• Lobbying at local, national and international levels to protect the health and wellbeing of communities, by encouraging supportive environments that have a positive effect on healthy food and drink consumption
• Managing the Knowsley Pre-School Nutrition Project which developed, piloted and evaluated a nutrition training course and programme of support for early years’ caterers and staff
• Devising and delivering the Cheshire and Merseyside Food Charter; a standard that recognising local restaurants and eating establishments for making healthy menu options available
• Working in partnership with local businesses, local authorities and leading nutritionists to improve the nutritional quality of takeaway food and to improve the eating out environment and support for small businesses in this field
• Sub-regional coordination of a Strategic Food Group – for sharing expertise and strategic plans to bring about improvements to food and nutrition for the population

Supporting Sports Stadia and Governing Bodies of Sport in Health Policy and Practice

The European Healthy Stadia Network supports sports stadia and governing bodies of sport across Europe in the development of stadia policies and initiatives promoting healthier lifestyles, such as improved diet, increased physical activity, smoking cessation and lowered alcohol consumption, to the overall benefit of fans, stadia workforces and local communities.

The Network builds upon over 7 years work in the UK and a highly successful 30 month pilot project supported by the European Commission and is now funded by the World Heart Federation through its partnerhsip with UEFA. The Network works in 14 European countries with a membership of over 240 sports stadia and supporting organisations and has the following broad aims and objectives:

•      Promoting healthier lifestyle initiatives, social inclusion and environmental practices to stadia and increasing the recognition of corporate and social responsibilities to fans, staff, and local communities

•      Supporting stadia and national governing bodies/leagues to form successful partnerships with key stakeholders (e.g. health agencies, local authorities, transport providers and the third sector)

•      Development of specialist guidance documents for stadia to help the planning, roll out and evaluation of initiatives, e.g. healthier food options, tobacco free stadia and active travel plans

•      Advocacy and support for national governing bodies of sport and large scale sports events to develop effective health policies and legacies (currently working on health legacy programme for UEFA EURO 2012 – Respect Your Health)

•      Dissemination of good practice and new developments across the Network

In addition, the Network can now offer sports stadia and governing bodies of sport the ability to benchmark current health policies and interventions through an online tool offered by public health partners, HM Partnerships. This tool offers a comprehensive report on current stadia health policies and activities in relation to local health needs, and recommendations for future actions, including partnerships, likely investment, key deliverables and evaluation criteria.

For more information on our work to date, guidance for stadia and case studies, please visit: www.healthystadia.eu

Our Life are highly motivated community engagement and empowerment specialists.

Carrying out end-to-end public participation processes, research, social value analysis and training designed to involve people in decisions and issues that directly affect them and the areas in which they live.

With expertise in creating a dialogue between people and decision-makers, empowering them to work together and giving them the skills and confidence to influence and deliver change.

Organisation Development Services Ltd (ODS) is a vibrant, successful, innovative and energetic consultancy based in Manchester City Centre.

The focus of our energy is primarily to work with organisations specialising in leadership, organisational development, workforce planning and change management, where we genuinely believe we add value. We bring clarity and focus to the complex public policy agenda – enabling our clients to translate national policy into workable actions, whether at multiagency, organisational, management, team or individual level.

People are at the heart of what we do: by focusing our clients on the human element within organisations, they are better able to improve service delivery and manage change. ODS provides consultancy, training and personal development services which focus on building leadership, talent, confidence, skills and long term capability.

Some examples of this are as follows:

• Leadership development (board development, leadership programmes, coaching, psychometrics, assessment centres)
• Organisation development and team development (organisational diagnostics, organisation and team interventions e.g. team building, culture change and change management, business planning)
• Workforce planning (strategic workforce planning, workforce planning skills development, whole system workforce planning, workforce modelling)
• Consultancy (supporting whole system interventions e.g. engagement events, framework development, multi-agency working)
• Products – tools and resources (360 Leadership tool, organisation development and facilitation tools, workforce planning tools)
• Research and evaluation (conduct qualitative evaluations, offer research expertise – design, delivery and governance)
• Training and skills development (range of 1 or 2 day training programmes e.g. facilitator training, coaching skills)