Health chiefs dig in to show their support!

On Thursday, 18th August, senior leaders at the NHS Foundation Trusts, the Land Trust and the Council showed their support for the Health for Life programme at the Countess of Chester Country Park by rolling up their sleeves and joining in one of the popular weekly health sessions.

The park, owned by national land management charity, the Land Trust, now offers weekly health walks and activities to everyone, from residents, hospital staff to patients and visitors, encouraging us all to get fit and healthy in the great outdoors, with sessions taking place on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and lunchtimes.

Alistair Cook, Health for Life Project Officer, said: “The Countess of Chester Country Park, right next to the hospital is a fantastic setting that provides a haven of green space for everybody. Our regular sessions are on Tuesdays and Thursdays but I’ll happily look at other dates and times to suit demand. So don’t sit about – get in touch and come and enjoy the park.

Participants have already said that the sessions are great for their health, meeting new people, having fun and doing some exercise.”

Spending time in nature and doing activities, such as gardening are not only fun and great ways to socialise, they are also really beneficial for physical and mental health, as more and more research is proving.

The Health for Life programme aims to maximise the use of the Country Park, by improving local residents and hospital staff and patients’ health and wellbeing. The project, initiated by the Land Trust, is a partnership with The Conservation Volunteers, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Mersey Forest.

Alan Carter, Director of Portfolio Management at the Land Trust said “This is a great demonstration of a positive partnership working together to help improve people’s health and wellbeing. Being able to offer a wide variety of activities to so many people is fantastic and we’re really pleased that this is being taken seriously by each partner.

We are delighted that so many people are already coming out to enjoy this site, taking part in all sorts of activities which improve their health and wellbeing, but we want more people to join in, have fun and get physically and mentally healthier.”

• Green Gym activities take place every Tuesday and Thursday 10.00am – 12.30pm
• Health walks take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 1.30pm
• All groups meet at the Countess of Chester Country Park car park off Countess Way.

For more information, contact Alistair Cook on 07767 113136 or e-mail cheshire@tcv.org.uk.

The project is part-funded by Nature4Health – a three-year project funded by The Big Lottery’s ‘Reaching Communities’ programme that aims to redress health inequalities and is co-ordinated by The Mersey Forest.

The aim is to support 12 new people each week through their chosen 12-week beginners’ activity programme and throughout the programme, participants will be monitored with results feeding into a study to hopefully demonstrate how being more active and spending time outdoors can help people’s health and wellbeing, such as contributing towards stress reduction, mental illnesses, lower back pain, cardiovascular illnesses and obesity among others.