Healthy Families Support (HCRG Care Group)
We offer free, healthy family support for parents/carers with 0-5 and 5-17 year olds through our programmes Cook It!, Henry and Leap.
The Healthy Families team offers a series of free courses to support children, young people and their families reach and maintain a healthier lifestyle. The service is provided by HCRG Care Group’s BaNES Wellbeing Service, ran within the Community Wellbeing Hub. The courses provided by this service include Cook It!, Leap and HENRY (including Starting Solids and Fussy Eaters) - please see below for more information about each course.
Cook It!
This free cook-a-long style course provides children and their families with the skills and confidence to plan, prepare and cook healthy, budget friendly, family meals.
- 5 week course for children aged 5-17 (1 adult required to attend with them).
- 1-1.5hrs once a week for 5 weeks.
- £30 supermarket voucher given to online courses, otherwise all equipment and ingredients provided.
- Free recipe booklet and certificate upon completion.
- Improve knowledge on healthy eating topics such as 5-A-Day, The Eatwell Plate, portion sizes, healthy snacks, meal planning and avoiding food waste.
- Learn how to cook recipes such as chicken curry, no added sugar banana pancakes and veggie/fish bakes
New Parent and Baby Cook It also available for families to get confident on recipes suitable for weaning age.
Leap
Leap is a free course to support families of children who are above a healthy weight*. Providing 1-1 virtual or face to face support for 5-17 year olds.
Covering topics such as:
- Healthy food and drink swaps
- Physical activity/active play
- The impact of screen time
- Why we make certain food choices
This course is made up of 6 x 30-60 mins weekly educational sessions.
*Eligibility BMI 91st – 99.6th centile are referred straight to LEAP. Note that we are not a specialist service and referrals with a BMI above the 99.6th centile, or with complex health needs or severe learning difficulties (particularly those that have specific food or texture avoidance) should be referred to Dietetics.
HENRY
The HENRY programme is a free, nationwide, evidence based, supportive family course, which brings parents/carers with 0-5s together in order to provide their children with the best start in life.
- 8 week, online or in person group course.
- Supports physical and emotional wellbeing, covering nutrition, physical activity, portion sizes, screen time, looking after yourself, exploring children’s and parent/carer’s feelings, and managing challenging behaviour.
- A relaxed and informal course which gives parents/carers the opportunity to share experiences and ideas with other families.
- Each family receives a free pack of helpful resources.
- For more info please go to the Henry website.