Living Well Sefton has new dates for its free Making Every Contact Count training which has already proved popular with hundreds of people in the borough.
Staff and volunteers across health, local authority and voluntary sectors, have thousands of contacts every day with individuals and are ideally placed to promote healthy lifestyles.
The training sessions last for two hours and are an interactive way to increase confidence to have healthy chats with people you come across as part of everyday life.
Already the training has made a difference to volunteers within the Pain Clinic Plus support group (PCP), based in Ainsdale Centre for Health and Wellbeing, and is for people with long-term pain conditions. It is run by volunteers in partnership with Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust and recently celebrated its 10-year birthday.
Kev Howard, a volunteer at the PCP group and who recently received the Volunteer of the Year 2018 award at the Annual Volunteer Celebration Event, has completed Level 1 and Level 2 MECC training. “Anne-Marie Morrison from Living Well Sefton, who taught us, was really good because it wasn’t like training, more of a good conversation in a relaxed atmosphere,” said Kev.
Val Savage is also a volunteer with the group and commented: “If we can link in with other organisations then there is more information we can pass on to people. I have used the training to support someone hoping to make a lifestyle change. It is about having the skill set and being taught the right way to offer support and advice.”
Another group volunteer, Frederica Moretti, also runs Fibro & CFS / ME Information Southport group, and said: “It is good to see what is in the community and we have started to support people as a signposting service.”
If you are interested in booking on to the free Making Every Contact Count training, then go to the Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/living-well-sefton-12746166948
For more information, contact the Living Well Sefton team on 0300 323 0181.
Caption:
Volunteers Frederica, Kev and Val are using MECC within the Pain Clinic Plus Group