Major new drive to get Leeds people living longer, healthier lives

Have you spotted the '˜Leeds, how are you?' graffiti across Leeds and have been wondering who wants to know how we are?

It is all down to One You Leeds, which is a free service that has launched this week in Leeds to help the residents of Leeds make positive changes to their lifestyle and behaviour to improve their health.

It is provided by Reed Momenta and has been commissioned by Leeds City Council following a comprehensive health needs assessment of the city.

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Leeds is the first city in the North of England to adopt and localise the national programme with the aim of helping local people live longer, healthier lives.

As part of the service, residents will have access to a range of free services to make changes to their eating habits, get back into exercise and quit smoking.

Making positive changes to your lifestyle is more important than ever to help prevent diseases and improve your overall health.

One way to do this is to manage your weight and if you need support in finding out more about how to make healthier choices, you can join a free 12-hour weight management course.

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The course takes place over 12 weeks, and is designed by experts to help you lose weight in a safe and sustainable way as well as finding out more about nutrition and eating habits.

If you are feeling sluggish and want to move more, you can join free physical exercise classes available across Leeds.

Other services have been designed to help people make better eating choices and learn how to cook to help save money and look after the family’s health too.

Through the Eat Well programme, you can join free support sessions to discover advice and tips on eating well and making positive food choices through being savvy about portion sizes.

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The Cook Well programme with Jamie’s Ministry of Food Leeds offers cookery courses at a discounted rate where you can learn how to cook tasty, affordable and nutritious meals from scratch and learn new skills for the kitchen.

If you have been thinking of joining Stoptober and quitting smoking for good, you can also join free be smoke free sessions where you will work with a Health Coach to stop smoking.

Speaking about the service, Cath Roff, Director for Adults and Health at Leeds City Council, said: “The One You service will provide Leeds residents with the support they need to make the very simple lifestyle changes that can make a big difference to their health.

“We know lots of lifestyle issues impact on people’s health so having a range of provision through One You Leeds gives a great opportunity to offer well-co-ordinated help, making it easier and quicker for people to access health information and support.

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“Our aim is to encourage as many people in Leeds to make healthier lifestyle choices. This service will provide the assistance they need in doing that and as a result, enjoy a better quality of life.”

One You is a national programme developed by Public Health England (PHE) that encourages and supports adults in England make small changes to their lifestyles that could have big improvements for their health.

Leeds is the first city in the North of England to adopt and localise the national programme with the aim of helping local people live longer, healthier lives.

Donna Murrell, Operations Director at Reed Momenta, said: “The service provides a range of options for the public to help make a real impact on their health. These include support for self-help, targeted face-to-face healthy living interventions in a range of community venues and one-to-one personal support for those most in need to develop the confidence and motivation to change.”

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To mark the launch of One You there is a series of activities taking place over the next weeks including the Drop-In Centre which will appear in the Merrion Centre from the 1st to the 3rd November. At the Drop-In Centre there will be experts on hand to provide more information on the service and help the residents of Leeds sign up to the programmes and complete the How Are You quiz to receive a personalised health score.

From Monday, you will also be able to let us know how you are by completing our survey on your health. Grab Monday’s paper or check online to find out how you join the conversation.

To access the One You Leeds service and find out more about the programmes available, visit oneyouleeds.co.uk or call 0800 169 4219. And if you have spotted the graffiti join the conversation on Twitter using the #HowAreYouLeeds hashtag.

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