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Open event celebrates obesity programme’s success
An open event celebrating the success of a health scheme designed to help combat childhood obesity is to be held in Sheffield this weekend.
The Sheffield International Venues (SIV) Mend Programme Open Morning graduate and recruitment event will take place at iceSheffield on Saturday 12 January, from 10am until 1pm.
Families who have taken part in the MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition…Do it!) programme will have the opportunity to discuss their experiences with other parents and children and also enjoy a family skate at the state-of-the-art venue.
Representatives from MEND and SIV will be on hand to advise and encourage other families who may have concerns about their child’s wellbeing to take part in the scheme. Sainsbury’s will have a food tasting table at iceSheffield to provide healthy eating information.
SIV has received Big Lottery Fund funding to deliver 21 MEND programmes over the next two years at three of its venues - Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Ponds Forge International Sports Centre and Concord Sports Centre.
The 10 week programmes have been designed by health experts for families with obese or overweight children aged seven to 13 years old. MEND involves the whole family unit working together with two workshops a week on nutrition and behaviour change, followed by physical activity sessions.
Three successful MEND programmes have already taken place at Hillsborough Leisure Centre and Ponds Forge and SIV recently won a MEND ‘Graduate Development’ Award at the Best Practice Awards for helping families to keep up the good work at the end of the 10 week programme.
Niki Connolly, SIV Children’s Brand Manager, said: “The open event is a thank you to the families for their commitment throughout the 10-week programmes held in Sheffield so far, but particularly for the graduate families who stayed on at the end of the programme to take part in extra activity sessions like trampolining and badminton.
“The open morning coincides with iceSheffield’s Family Fun Skate session so families who sign up to a MEND programme on the day will receive an incentive to get active straight away!”
For more information about the next MEND programmes in Sheffield visit www.mendprogramme.org, email mend@sivltd.com or call Niki Connolly on 0114 2233828.
