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Empowering Communities for Healthier Futures

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board Healthy Weights Team Update 

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board's Healthy Weight team is proud to report on its continued grant funding by the Welsh Government until March 2025. As champions of health and well-being, we are working with Local Authorities, community groups, and key public services to lead collaborative efforts in our regional ambition to cultivate healthier communities and seamlessly interconnect neighbourhoods. 

Our mission? Making the healthy choice the easy choice while providing support for individuals striving to lead healthy, happy, and prosperous lives. At the heart of our strategy lies a whole-system approach, focusing on the enduring, underlying factors driving obesity rather than merely addressing individual behaviours in isolation. 

Over the past year, we've engaged with a diverse array of stakeholders—more than 150 power holding individuals—across Cwm Taf Morgannwg. Through various events and one-on-one interactions, we’ve listened to their insights on the root causes of obesity within our communities. Their voices have highlighted three critical areas for our focus: 

  • Babies' First 1000 Days: Ensuring access to high-quality nutrition, including breastmilk, during this crucial developmental period 
  • Access to Good Quality Food: Facilitating access to nutritious food options for all residents. 
  • The Use and Design of Community Spaces: Enhancing the availability and accessibility of community spaces within CTM including active travel, leisure activities and maximising the use of outdoor spaces. 

Staff Update 

We would like to introduce our new consultant in our Healthy Weights Team Dr Rob Green. 

We warmly welcome Rob who joins us from Hywel Dda University Health Board where he was the interim director leading on Children & Young People, Regional Partnerships and Health Inequalities and Wider Determinants. 

Healthy Travel 

Circular icons of person walking, bike, bus, train and electric car

Our commitment to action has already borne fruit through collaborative initiatives across Cwm Taf Morgannwg. Notable among these is the development of a Healthy Travel Charter in partnership with the Public Services Board. 

Declining levels of physical activity, increasing levels of obesity and diabetes, widespread air pollution, social isolation, and worsening health inequalities are all pressing public health issues. Climate change is a severe threat which is already being felt in the UK and across the world. Changing patterns in the way we travel and how we design our environments for travel have played a significant role in these issues. Bold action is required if we are to reverse these trends in population and global health, and create a healthier more sustainable future for our residents. 

Here in Cwm Taf Morgannwg we are making positive strides towards change through the implementation of a healthy travel charter. A Healthy Travel Charter contains a series of actions that organisations publicly sign up to, to demonstrate their commitment to supporting walking, cycling, public transport, and ultra-low emission vehicle use. 

The upcoming launch of the Healthy Travel Charter in Cwm Taf Morgannwg (CTM) marks a significant milestone in our commitment to building sustainable and connected communities. Developed collaboratively by stakeholders across CTM over two events in the past 6 months, the charter reflects our shared vision for promoting active transportation options and improving public health outcomes. 

Through initiatives such as improved cycling infrastructure, pedestrian-friendly urban planning, and enhanced public transportation services, we aim to create environments that encourage and facilitate physical activity in everyday life. This charter not only underscores our dedication to reducing carbon emissions and mitigating traffic congestion but also underscores our belief in the profound connection between physical activity and overall well-being. As we embark on this journey, we are confident that the Healthy Active Travel Charter will serve as a guiding framework for building a healthier, more sustainable future for all residents of Cwm Taf Morgannwg. 

This charter, initially proposed by the University Health Board, has actively involved both PSB member organisations and the broader public sector community of Cwm Taf Morgannwg to ensure its alignment with the needs of our population. It serves as a cornerstone in supporting our Whole System Approach to Healthy Weight, offering a tangible goal for collective action. Our aim is to catalyse genuine transformation within our community, driving tangible improvements in public health outcomes. 

Listening to our Communities 

Driven by a passion for listening to our community, we recently partnered with Merthyr Valleys Housing Association, engaging with over 30 residents to glean first-hand insights into their experiences and needs. Already, residents have begun implementing positive changes to their environment based on our discussions. 

Our work doesn't end there. We're currently in the process of engaging with families throughout our community to further understand their experiences with infant feeding, access to community spaces, and the overall quality of life within Cwm Taf Morgannwg. Guided by a human learning systems approach, we're uncovering invaluable insights that will inform collaborative efforts to influence meaningful, lasting change—making it easier for residents to lead healthier, happier lives. 

Additionally, in collaboration with clinical colleagues, we are supporting the infant feeding strategy aimed at boosting breastfeeding initiation and continuation rates across the region. 

HENRY Farewell 

We are sadly no longer taking referrals for the delivery of HENRY Programmes and workshops. Working to support our children and families with issues around healthy weight is a priority, however we have faced ongoing challenges with staffing and delivery and are now reviewing our long term approaches to how we support families with healthy weight moving forward. 

The Healthy Weight Team are working on a Whole System Approach to Healthy Weight across Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. We aim to lead and enable system change to ensure babies, children and young people have access to family support across the life course to support health, activity and wellbeing. 

We will be looking in detail at long-term, sustainable options to support children and families. We are working with our communities to listen to their needs and look at how best to support families going forward in line with the Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales Strategy and the CTM 2030 Our Health Our Future Strategy. 

Further support is in place within Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board area through the Public Health Dietetic programmes for adults and children aged 3-7 years in Merthyr, Rhondda and Taff Ely and we will keep updating our webpages with family support and information. 

Our final HENRY workshops for 2024 are outlined below for our families who have recently signed up: 

11th June Understanding the Childs Behaviour (Bridgend Area) 

20th June Fussy Eating (Virtual) 

25th June Eating Well For Less (Virtual) 

8th July Starting Solids (Merthyr Area) 

16th July Fussy Eating (Bridgend area) 

For further information and advice please visit the Healthy Weights Information and Support pages which can be found here: Information and Support - Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (nhs.wales). 

If you have any queries you can still contact the HENRY Team here: HENRY_CTM_PHW@wales.nhs.uk 

We’d like to thank you all for your continued support throughout the HENRY Journey for families in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. 

Healthy Weight Annual Health Summit 

On the 23rd May the Whole System Approach to Healthy Weight Annual Health Summit took place in Pontypridd. Over fifty stakeholders from across the region came together to celebrate their collective achievements, provide valuable feedback on work accomplished over the last 12 months and to look forward to working together on our agreed priorities for the year ahead. 

Delegates were offered a choice of workshops and seminars which focused on the three main work streams within the approach in CTM; Food Environment and Culture, Use and Design of Community Spaces and Babies First 100 Days access to good quality food. The whole day focused on providing insights on collaborative efforts to drive tangible change for our local population. 

The event showcased our stakeholders work, who have collaborated with us this year to celebrate remarkable achievements and contributions to our shared goals.The event provided many opportunities for networking which allowed stakeholders to connect, exchange ideas, and explore potential collaborations. 

Further Information 

For those interested in learning more, our initiatives are aligned with the Healthy Weight Healthy Wales Strategy and the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board Our Health Our Future 2030 vision. Join us in our mission to create healthier, happier futures for all. To find out more, visit Healthy Weight - Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board. 

To contact the Healthy Weights team, please email contact: CTM.HealthyWeight@wales.nhs.uk 

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