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.

The Children’s Centre’s initial feedback
Sharon and Denise, the managers at the centre, loved the course and the fact it was facilitated in a really interactive way with the parents/carers. They were also particularly pleased that the course is always run by qualified coaches, who ensure that parents set their own goals and take away specific actions each week to keep moving forward.

Sharon did, however, challenge us with a new idea…. Something we hadn’t tried before. She wanted to see more interaction between the parents and children – tasting and making food - rather than just keeping the children separate in the crèche for the duration of the course.

The solution
At Life’s Canvas we pride ourselves on being able to tailor courses to meet our client’s needs. So we agreed to incorporate 3 new sections into the workshops:
1. A cooking demonstration of couscous and a picnic table set up with new and healthy ideas for lunchtime (e.g. bean salad, houmous with breadsticks etc) so parents could try new foods – and also feel what it’s like to be presented with things they haven’t tried before!
2. Fruit faces – an interactive session for the parents and children to make funny faces with fruit to encourage the children to explore and try new foods
3. Pizza making session using pitta bread and lots of vegetarian toppings and mozzarella cheese.

The end result
The 6 week course was a huge success! 8 Mums completed the whole course and they enjoyed both the adult learning time as well as the interactive sessions with the children.  All of the course participants made tangible changes to way they shopped, cooked and involved their children in food selection and preparation. Many of the children tried new fruits and vegetables as a direct result of the interactive sessions built into the course. Overall 9 children benefited from the course.

Testimonial from Denise Allard, Deputy Manager & Parent Support Worker,
Harefield Children’s Centre

“We would like to say how much we have enjoyed working with Life's canvas to develop and run the 'I want carrots!' course for our families in Harefield.

It has been extremely helpful to have Fiona to help market the course within the community and to be available at our enrolment sessions so that she can respond to any questions parents may have about the course - giving them an informed choice of whether it's right for them.

Parents attending the course reported on how good it was not to be 'lectured at' and how they were encouraged to learn from each other. ' I want carrots!' has really helped the attendees make positive changes in their lives to eat healthier, have a better understanding of nutrition and be more active.”

Testimonials from the Mums who completed the course:

“The provision of factual information about what fat, salt and sugar intake my child should have. I know where I am now and what to look out for. It also provided inspiration for tackling common problems such as meal planning… Thank you!”

“I have learnt to plan ahead and prepare meals, how to read labels and understand what is healthy and not healthy”

“Little changes can make a big difference”

“I have learnt that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on food to eat healthily”