What Would Jamie Oliver Do?

John (far right)

Regular readers will know by now that I'm a bit of a fitness enthusiast. I love running and when I get a bit of free time I run the coast-paths and by-ways of the Wirral. I also have a weekly appointment with three mates for a badminton game, go spinning once or twice most weeks and cycle when I can. I say I'm a fitness fanatic but an honourable mention must go to John Verbickas, one of my board members, who has just finished cycling from Lands End to John O' Groats to raise money for The Christie (donate here) - 953 miles in 10 days.

Inspired by John, later this month I've decided to cycle to work and back. The fact that it's almost 50 miles each way, will almost certainly take place on the day of a downpour and should add a good few hours onto my commute is a minor point - I know I'll love it. That said I'm not one of those people who forces their views on exercise on others (but if anyone wants to join me on their bike coming up from Altrincham to Sale on the morning of 29th July get in touch via Twitter or in the comments), so I shouldn't take the credit for the arrival of the recent MEND programme to encourage healthier attitudes in Trafford.

MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do It!) is a programme dedicated to reducing global obesity levels, which currently costs the NHS £4.2 billion per year and the wider economy £16 billion per year. Earlier this week researchers named weight as a far greater threat to health than issues such as alcohol and cigarettes. Our MEND programme offers a free healthy living programme and runs for 10 weeks at Old Trafford Community School. Interestingly, this isn't just a programme for children - their parents also participate, which makes the whole scheme more robust. After all, unless you can help influence a child's home environment, it's clearly going to make the whole scheme less efficient.

Do-gooder or busybody?

The issue of parental involvement in the programme made me think about Jamie Oliver's crusade to improve the health of the UK's school dinners. It seems crazy that anyone could pick flaws in the approach of someone who wants to make our nation's children healthier, but as we know when he declared war on the Turkey Twizzler a firestorm ensued. The mothers passing burgers and chips through the school gates argued that no one apart from them had the right to say what their children should eat - even, strangely, if this was to make them healthier and live longer.

So where do we stand with regard to our MEND programme? Is this just unwarranted interference? Should THT just stick to property concerns and leave everything else to other agencies and parents? Like most social policy at the moment, the answers aren't straightforward. One thing is clear: services such as public health will recede as government funding runs out and that leaves a gap. In lots of instances, I'm really not keen about the shortfall being made up by organisations like THT. For example, there have been rumblings about social landlords taking on broader community safety roles doing more on anti-social behaviour, but I'm not desperate for us to wear police uniforms, like some housing project staff in the USA. Nor would I want to bring rubbish removal, roads or reservoirs under our purlieu.

However, there are some gaps where we can play an important supporting role, and there are other situations where our role may expand as others' money runs out. How do we decide what to do and what not to do? Every time the answer has to be to look at our mission: we want to create strong neighbourhoods. Everything we do is driving towards achieving that. It's a curious but logical extension of our work to organise and improve housing that we also look to help other partners deliver on their agenda of better health. If that helps to strengthen our communities, then we're one step closer to our goal.