The opportunity

From 2008 to present The London Borough of Ealing commissioned us to deliver one to one parent coaching in refuges across the Borough as mums living with their children or with children in care were identified as individuals who had multiple complex needs.

The opportunity
Following the success of the “I want carrots!” healthy eating course in June/July 2010, we had a review meeting with the Harefield children’s centre managers, Sharon Atherton and Denise Allard, to discuss the possibility of working together again. They decided to commission another ‘I want carrots!’ course in March/April 2011, but we also wanted to understand the other challenges in the village and whether there were any targets that Life’s Canvas could help the Children’s Centre meet.

Our first proposal
We were very keen to start working within the Borough of Hillingdon again, so we proposed our “I want carrots!” healthy eating course to Harefield Children’s centre in early 2010. We knew there would be a good fit as Harefield has one of the highest levels of obesity in the borough and the Children’s Centre has a specific target to help reduce this problem by intervening early with young children before they start primary school. The ethos of the course is to make small, tangible changes forever, thereby making a real difference to the long term health of the whole family.

Why did you choose to work with Life's Canvas?

Parenting services in Ealing had a gap of delivering positive parenting programmes for parents with children under 5 years old.
They were also keen through their strategy to promote healthy eating.