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Parent and Family Supports

The purpose of this action is to provide opportunities for parents to enhance their own educational experience, and to help to generate a positive approach to education in the home and in the communities.

Actions include:

The Healthy Food Made Easy Initiative

This is a Health Service Executive (HSE) funded initiative run jointly by Southside Partnership DLR and the HSE Health Promotion Unit

The aims of the programme are:
- to encourage healthy eating
- to improve the nutritional knowledge and eating behaviour for participants and their families
- to empower participants to make healthy, nutritious and economical food choices for themselves and their families
- to reduce diet-related illness from preventable diseases

‘Healthy Food Made Easy’ is a healthy eating initiative for all population groups and is not a weight loss programme. Initiated in September 2007, it is delivered by local individuals from communities who have completed a 12 week ‘Training for Trainers’ programme and who then facilitate the courses in community /local settings with a broad range of diverse groups. The course runs once a week for six weeks with each session is 2 - 2.5 hours in length. Each week includes a theory session and a cookery session in which all participants become actively involved.
The emphasis throughout the programme is on group learning rather than formal teaching. Methods used include group discussion, worksheets and handouts, quizzes, problem-solving games, as well as the enjoyment of participating in preparing, cooking and tasting foods.

The programme outline is as follows:
1. a fresh look at food
2. focus on fats
3. the fibre providers
4. family foods
5. sensible shopping
6. bringing it all back home

To date, 36 courses have been delivered with up to 400 participants completing the programme and giving an overwhelmingly positive response.  All that is required from local community groups are premises that have one or more cooking areas and a list of willing and enthusiastic participants from the local community.

Other Actions in this strategy include supporting the 'Parents in Education Initiative’ for Adults and other programmes. In addition, we work closely with the Southside Local Employment Service in the provision of a number of ‘Special Needs Assistants Training’ courses, and other adult education training programmes that support people into education, training and employment. (See link Local Employment Service)

Forum, Networks, Working Groups Parent and Family Support In-school / After-school Supports Out-of-School Supports / Youth Access Programmes Third Level Access Childcare Network