30 representatives from across the voluntary and community sector (VCS) in Ipswich are now trained to have conversations with members of the public, to help everyone lead a healthier lifestyle.
This is the first time that the “Making Every Contact Count Level 1” (MECC) training has been open to VCS organisations and many CAS members took up the opportunity at Castle Hill Community Centre on 1 December 2015, including employees from ActivLives, Papworth Trust, YMCA Suffolk and Sue Ryder.
The free training was delivered at Community Action Suffolk’s locality network event and facilitated by LiveWell Suffolk’s Service Development Manager, Fiona Sutton.
MECC encourages conversations based on behaviour change methodologies, empowering healthier lifestyle choices and exploring the wider social determinants that influence all of our health. Everyone who comes into contact with members of the public and has the opportunity to have a conversation to improve health, and those working or volunteering in the VCS are key partners with the statutory services for this training. Due to the popularity of this training, LiveWell Suffolk and CAS would like to make it available again in 2016, so if your organisation is considering implementing MECC, please get in touch with Kate (contact details below).
Gillian Montague, Redesign Project Manager for Connect East Ipswich, also gave attendees an overview of the progress in the early adopter site of IP3 and IP4, which goes from strength to strength. Click here for more information on Connect East Ipswich.
Attendees found the MECC training “very informative” with a “very knowledgeable speaker and very useful resources shared”. Another attendee felt that they could now “incorporate some of what has been said to the people I train as there can be a lot of lifestyle issues within the groups of people I see on a daily basis”.
Kate Struthers, Community Field Officer – Ipswich
[email protected]
01473 321013 / 07884 653 377
Book now for the first regular Ipswich locality network event of 2016 on Thursday 25 February 2016: