Type 2 diabetes is three times more common in the black community and as this type of diabetes can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle we can make a huge difference in our community by raising awareness. With this in mind The Lake Foundation has teamed up with Diabetes UK with funding from Croydon Council to run a diabetes community champion project. The aim of this project is to empower the black community with the information that is needed to fully understand diabetes, its symptoms, risk factors and prevention so action can be taken.
We’ve recruited 17 community champions who have received in-depth training from Diabetes UK. The training has equipped them to get out in the community and effectively raise awareness and encourage behaviour change. They will get out and about targeting black churches, businesses and other organisations and we hope that this will make a significant difference in reducing the negative impact of diabetes on the black community in Croydon. We’ll be getting across the message that we can all reduce our risk of developing diabetes by eating a healthier diet, doing more exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.
On 14th June, our champions hosted their first awareness event at Croydon College where they raised awareness amongst staff and students giving out leaflets and encouraging people to take Diabetes UK’s useful ‘know your risk’ test. In addition to this they also helped out on 10th June at Diabetes UK and the Thinking Forward Initiative’s diabetes workshop in Crystal Palace.
Through both of these event our champions were able to reach our community, raise awareness and get people to think about lifestyle changes they can make to improve their health and reduce their risk of developing diabetes.
We’re so happy with the great work our champions have done so far and we’ll be back out in Croydon soon raising awareness. We’ll see you all on our travels!
In today’s blog we hear from Natasha Rego, the founder of Chateez who discusses the inspiration behind her organisation and what they hope to achieve.
Before I discuss Chateez in detail, I’d like to explain the inspiration behind it and the problem it hopes to solve.
The problem
Social media sites like Facebook, Snapchat and WhatsApp tend to dominate the way a lot of us communicate these days – and these sites are particularly popular among teenagers.
Now, social media can have several benefits. For instance, research shows that younger people are more at ease talking to their peers on their smart phones via social media than they are in a face-to-face setting, and it can help build stronger relationships, too.
However, social media can also pose a major problem: it is a further barrier to the way we communicate, especially among younger people.
The solution?
As a youth worker, I couldn’t fail to notice the growing trend for young people to be practically glued to their phones checking their social media accounts, which made communicating with them effectively a real challenge.
It became apparent to me that I needed to find a fresh way to spark conversation and engage with the young people I worked with. And It occurred to me that there’s one language teenagers are familiar with from their extensive use of social media: the emoji. With plenty of input of the young people I worked with, the concept of Chateez cards was born
What is Chateez?
Chateez cards are a modern twist on the flashcard. Every card features an emoji, which is designed to spark conversation and to encourage people to open up about their feelings. They have been designed to be visually appealing, and they are also versatile and flexible, which gives them a broad range of uses.
Best of all, Chateez cards achieve what I intended: they make talking so much easier, and they’ve certainly proved to be a conversation starter among many of those who have used them.
As I’ve previously explained, young people were the primary inspiration behind the cards, but they are just as suitable for use with children and adults. And I’ve received awesome feedback from a diverse range of users, including child psychologists, mental health charities, parents and fellow youth workers.
The key benefits of Chateez cards
They spark conversation, providing young people with the opportunity to talk about how they are really feeling.
They break down barriers, while using a common ‘language’ that is well-known to most of us – emojis.
They can be used to diffuse conflict/situations peacefully by encouraging conversation.
They are engaging and help to create a comfortable setting, which makes talking easier.
Thanks for reading my blog if you’d like to find out more about us please visit our website or link up with us on Social Media (Twitter and Facebook)
This week is Diabetes Awareness Week and our guest blogger, StaceyMensah discusses a diabetes diet as well as our current Diabetes Community Champion project.
Welcome back to the Lake Foundation’s blog! Today I’ll be talking about diabetes, but more specifically the idea of a diabetes diet. Now before I continue I have to say that there is no such thing. This is in in fact a myth. Different diets correspond to the different needs of those that have diabetes. In this post I would like to tell you about the two main types of diabetes and the diets that correspond with them. Before I go on however it’s important to note that you should seek medical advice before following any type of diet program. As I don’t want to misinform you all I’ll be mentioning the two most common types of diabetes – Type 1 and Type 2.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is the most common form of the disease that is found in children. Insulin dependent diabetes is a term that is also used to describe type 1 diabetes. This causes the loss of insulin production which means that you would be required to regularly administer levels by injection or by insulin pump. When you have this type of diabetes you need to consider how different foods are going to impact your blood glucose levels and how to balance the quantity of carbohydrate with the right amount of insulin.
Here at the Lake Foundation we are constantly promoting healthy eating but when you have type 1 diabetes this should really be stressed as it can play a part in helping to prevent the development of complications. This goes without saying but limiting the amount of processed foods you eat should be at the top of your agenda. Some may wish to adopt a reduced carbohydrate diet as they can be helpful for people who are struggling to keep control on a carb centred diet.
Type 2 Diabetes
The confusion between these two types of diabetes is quite common as they are both characterised by higher than normal blood sugar levels. The key difference is that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle. There are also no episodes of hypoglycaemia, unless the person is taking insulin or certain diabetes medicines. It is also important to note that you may not have symptoms before the diagnosis. Usually types 2 diabetes is discovered in adulthood.
Having type 2 diabetes does not mean that you can’t have fun with your foods. Instead, it means that you just have to pay extra attention to choosing the right combination of foods that will keep your blood sugar level in your target range. On the whole it’s important to eat healthy regardless of your health situation.
Our Diabetes Community Champion Project
Type 2 diabetes is three times more common in the black community and as I mentioned above this type of diabetes can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle. With this in mind The Lake Foundation has teamed up with Diabetes UK with funding from Croydon Council to run a diabetes community champion project. The aim of this project is to empower the black community with the information that is needed to fully understand diabetes, its symptoms, risk factors and prevention so action can be taken.
We’re delighted to have recruited 17 community champions who have received in-depth training from Diabetes UK. The training has equipped them to get out in the community and effectively raise awareness and encourage behaviour change. They will get out and about targeting black churches, businesses and other organisations to raise awareness and we hope that this will make a significant difference in reducing the negative impact of diabetes on the black community in Croydon. We’ll be getting across the message that we can all reduce our risk of developing diabetes by eating a healthier diet, doing more exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.
This week, on 14th June, our champions will be at Croydon College raising awareness amongst staff and students giving out leaflets and encouraging people to take Diabetes UK’s useful ‘know your risk’ test. If you’re in the area over lunch time why not drop by, pick up some information and speak to our champions.
On Wednesday 10th May, we attended the second annual Elevate conference, an event that aimed to tackle the issue of inactivity in the UK and provide a forum for cross-sector debate on physical activity, health and wellbeing.
This conference included seminars, a tech lab, a stage area showcasing interesting projects and products, and there was also an exhibition area.
The seminar programme was divided into four streams: Physical Activity for Health and Wellbeing; Inclusivity – Creating an Active Nation; Future Performance; and The Business of Physical Activity.
Inclusivity
We attended the sessions in the inclusivity stream which started with a keynote debate ‘Tackling Inactivity: What are the priorities? On the panel of this debate was: Steve Gray, the Chief Executive of Nuffield Health, Steven Ward, Executive Director of UK Active, Professor Robert Copeland, from Sheffield Hallam University and Paul Tuohy, Chief Executive of Cycling UK.
This was a very interesting discussion with the panellists giving their view on where we need to focus our attention if we are to ensure that exercise is more inclusive.
Steve Gray from Nuffield Health provided some good background stating that 1 in 3 people in the UK are inactive, 1 out of every 10 deaths in the UK is linked to an inactive lifestyle and inactivity costs the NHS £1Billion. He also explained that we have more people living in urban areas and most people are very much dependent on technology which has led to a more sedentary lifestyle.
He explained that there is no single solution to address this issue but felt that firstly everyone needs to take accountability and that includes the government, businesses and individuals. He also explored the fact that exercise needs to be more accessible practically (made more affordable, easy to fit into a person’s day) and emotionally (everyone needs to feel that they can do it). Finally he also discussed the fact that we need to look at new approaches that are bespoke, suit the individual and are holistic, so they go beyond just the physical.
It was also interesting to hear from Steve Ward from UK Active who explained that their work focuses on communicating the message that it doesn’t matter how long you move for just as long as you move. This is a simple message that makes exercise less daunting.
One of their main priorities is getting more children and young people active as we currently have the most inactive children compared to previous generations.
One area they are working on is making sure that children keep active during the summer holidays. He explained that during term time children tend to be very active but once they go on holiday all physical activity ceases.
Another focus area for them is targeting workplaces and ensuring that businesses have a health and wellbeing offer for their staff.
Paul Tuohy also provided some useful insight explaining that 90% of people in the UK own a bike but only 2% of people commute to work or school regularly. The challenge is how to get people from good intentions to action. He also explained that exercise needs to be made simple and people need to get away from the artificial idea that to be fit they need to be a member of the gym. With regards to cycling, he felt that there was a need to normalise cycling rather than feeding the idea that it is an elite sport. People need to see cycling as fun and something they can do everyday.
Engaging with the least active
We also really found the seminar session on addressing the least active very interesting. This focused on projects that have explored the motivations, attitudes and lifestyles of the most inactive people.
We first heard from Barry Horn from the English Federation of Disability Sport. He spoke about their project Get Out Get Active which is a sport and active recreation project for people with a disability. He explained the need for the project – people with a disability are the single most inactive people in the nation. He stated that their project looked at reaching inactive groups through outreach, engagement and effective marketing and a major priority for them was ensuring sustainability – making disabled people active for life.
As part of their project they explored what disabled people wanted from an exercise program and 64% wanted to take part in physical activity and sport with non-disabled people, they didn’t want to be excluded.
They have also developed some key principles for getting people active – drive awareness, engage the audience and offer support and reassurance.
In this session we also heard from Age UK about how they are getting the elderly more active and the Women’s Sport Trust on the work they’re doing with girls and women. We were particularly interested in the presentation by Anun King from Sporting Equals about exercise and ethnicity. He showed data that looked a physical activity and participation in different ethnic groups and this suggested that black and Asian women were the least active. He explained that some of the barriers to participation were cultural, attitudes to exercise, socio-economic and organisational. To address this Sporting Equals have implemented a number of project including a faith centre model. This focused on people from an Asian background. Anun explained there were a number of benefits of working with faith based organisations, these include their large footfall and they have indoor and outdoor facilities. He discussed other projects which included their cultural events model, community sport zones and ethnic minority media work.
Great day out
This was a really busy day that we thoroughly enjoyed it. We attended so many presentations but just wanted to highlight a few interesting ones in this blog. Other projects that you may find interesting that we learnt about at Elevate were:
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Lake Foundation’s blog! It’s Stacey Mensah here, The Lake Foundation’s guest blogger. As many of you may know I embarked on a 31-day challenge at the start of May. I invited all of you lovely people on this journey along with me as I was documenting this journey over on Instagram.
What is the 31-day challenge?
If you know nothing of this you need not worry because a month ago I knew nothing of this either. The 31 days saw me take on the challenge of staying away from processed foods and artificial ingredients. I was only able to eat natural things. This basically meant that I was paleo for the month which was an interesting experience for me.
What have I learned during the 31 days?
At the start of the challenge I was feeling incredibly optimistic. It was the beginning of the new month and I felt ready to take on anything and everything. Honestly I thought this challenge was going to be a walk in the park – oh how easily deceived I was! Below are some of the key things I learned during my journey:
Don’t get comfortable
The first four days were amazing. I stuck to the paleo diet of vegetables and meat and I was all about prepping my meals. It was only until the fourth day did I get a bit comfortable. I remember someone asking me about how it was going and I simply said, ‘oh yes, it’s going well’ in such a blasé manner. I hadn’t recognised how well I was doing and therefore passed it off as if I was just taking it in my stride. And because of that, I momentarily went back to my old eating habits at the end of day five. Terrible, right? But the one thing I decided before the journey began was that regardless of whether I stumble, fall or jump off this bandwagon I would always get back on.
If you don’t meal prep, you better be mentally prepared
If you don’t meal prep one or more of the following things will happen:
You’re going to have to be mentally prepared for the other options that are available
You will most likely have to spend an arm and a leg to get food that is tailored to your diet
You will end up compromising. Eating food that you normally would not consider.
Depending on how busy your lifestyle is, meal prep can be incredibly tedious but you have to weigh up the alternatives. Would you rather spend an hour now making your meals for the next two days, or spending two hours during your lunch time on Monday running around London trying to find a healthy alternative? I know which one I would rather do but of course I ended up doing the latter. Of course there are many stores serving incredibly healthy options but you need to figure out what works for you. Many healthy breakfasts in London’s various trendy cafes include oats, eggs, nuts or apples and of course I am allergic to all of these things, so if you are going to skip out on your meal prep for the day please just be prepared.
Have someone to keep you accountable
Getting towards the second half of the month I enlisted the help of a friend to keep me accountable. Naively, I gave him permission to confiscate any unhealthy food that was in my possession. Now of course I didn’t think he would do it but boy, was I wrong. During this time, I was working towards a deadline. I was having an incredibly stressful day and so I thought this was reason enough to indulge in a chocolate bar.
So on this particular day, I walked into the newsroom with a Kinder Bueno, feeling somewhat settled, I approached my friend. Thinking that he would have compassion for me I began telling him how stressed I was and I realised half way through our conversation that his eyes had been fixated on this chocolate bar. He suddenly shouted, ‘No’, snatched the bar of chocolate from me and threw it in the bin. He then began an unexpected monologue on why I shouldn’t be eating this but of course I was two steps ahead. The analytical skills I spent building up during my years of undergrad were suddenly awakened. I quickly left and ran around the corner, remembering that I had one more bar left. Unfortunately, he found me, tackled me, snatched the second bar from me and stepped on it vigorously. That was the end of that!
As you can imagine I was not pleased but he was simply just doing what I had asked him to do. It’s great to have people around you that are going to keep you accountable but ultimately this is your journey.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink
Whether you recruit a single individual or a group of individuals to keep you accountable the responsibility of completing a programme or living your life a certain way rests on your shoulders. It’s important to have a reality check in times like this. The only obstacle in your way is yourself and so you can’t place the blame on others. It’s up to you to have enough self-discipline to stick to your convictions.
You’re not a dog, so don’t reward yourself with food
This is a habit that I am incredibly guilty of. I don’t know what it is but food has been something that I have always gravitated towards. I think it’s important to establish your relationship with food because starting a lifestyle change because then you are able to anticipate how you will react in certain situations. For some food is a source of comfort, a security blanket or for the lucky few it could be simply a source of nutrition. Either way you have to be prepared and know what your vices are.
As I’m now at the end of the 31-day period, I can say that my relationship with food has changed. Although everyday isn’t filled with glowing green smoothies and nutritious meals I have learned to listen to my body. I plan to continue this lifestyle change going forward and I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to challenge themselves, both mentally and physically.
The Griot Institute is organising a consultation event for Black women on the treatment and support for chronic fibroids.
The Fibroids Fraternitee meeting will examine questions about the kind of health care Black women want in relation to chronic fibroids.
What would a Black women-friendly service look like? What support do women want to deal with the disabling aspects of suffering from chronic fibroids? What medical and clinical interventions have we had and how have these affected us? What lifestyle and natural approaches have we used to good effect?
For many years, Griot has run peer support forums for Black women with chronic fibroids with presentations from expert patients, clinicians and naturopaths. They are consulting to find out what women want in their new series of monthly forums. They also want to know how younger women want to be supported and how they can access the vast knowledge of older Black women who have accumulated a vast range of knowledge on how fibroids were dealt with ‘back home’ in order to explore potential wider options for women with chronic fibroids
The event will take place at Deptford X, 9 Brookmill Road, London SE8 4HL, on Saturday 10th June 2017 from 1pm to 5pm
Shea Island will be exhibiting at our upcoming Autism Health and Wellbeing conference in July. In today’s blog they answer the question ‘Why are we so crazy about Shea Butter?’ by discussing some of its benefits.
Why are we so crazy about Shea Butter???????
Ok so let me explain why…..
Shea Butter is provided by the nut of the Shea Tree otherwise known as ButyrospermumParkii (don’t worry we can’t pronounce it either), which is native to Western Africa.
The Shea Tree is considered as a sacred tree which is understandable as it grows up to 60ft tall and does not flower before it is 20 years old.
Shea Butter has been used for centuries by African people to take care of their skin, heal aliments and is also found in food products.
These guys knew what they were talking about!!
With its high Vitamin E, D and A content Shea Butter not only keeps your skin in tip-top condition but also protects against UV rays and pollution damage. Essential fatty acids help improve the skins elasticity, whilst Vitamin E helps to prevent fine lines and wrinkles. The anti inflammatory and healing components, aids the healing of skin condiditons such as eczema, psoriasis and skin allergies.
Shea Islands Raw Organic Grade A Unrefined Shea Butter takes care of all of your skin needs.
To conclude………What’s not to be crazy about?!
Shea Island would also like to say a big Thank You to the wonderful ladies in Ghana who have worked hard to produce our lovely Shea Butter. Without you Shea Island would still only be a dream.
Last weekend, we attended the Black Women’s Conference. This is an annual event organised by The Black Women’s Forum that aims to provide a safe space to share, empower and engage with women of African, Asian, Arab and Caribbean descent living in the UK. It provides a forum for open, honest discussion on issues affecting black women.
This year’s conference was the fifth anniversary of the event and the theme of the conference was ‘Celebrating the Achievements of Women of Colour.’ The program included panel discussions in the morning followed by workshops in the afternoon.
The panel discussions consisted of speakers from a variety of fields with the first panel focusing on black women in the creative and education industry and the second panel focused on black women in sports and business. You can find out about all the speakers here
We were really inspired by all the speakers who took part in the panel discussions and it was interesting to note that the message of the importance of our health and wellbeing was a theme that recurred in almost every presentation.
Black women in the business world face a lot of barriers and challenges which were clearly illustrated by the speakers as they shared their stories of racism and sexism. This core barrier of racism has led to loss of opportunity, difficulties in securing investment, daily battles with “the system”, lack of career progression and so much more. Fighting these inequalities every single day is tough, affects our wellbeing and can thus impact both our physical and mental health.
We applaud the honesty of Imriel Morgan, the Chief Executive of the Shout Out Network and co-host of Melanin Millennials who spoke with passion about the pioneering work that she’s doing in the podcasting world and the challenges she has faced. This has included difficulties getting her podcast onto well-known platforms which lack diversity and seem not to embrace black podcasts and organising the first ever black podcasting festival. Imriel spoke of the frustrations of not being able to access investment despite being an award-winning podcast and then very movingly tried to fight back tears as she told us that being a black female Chief Executive is really tough. Imriel opened up and was very honest about her experience with depression saying “the struggle is real” and spoke about being on anti-depressants.
We have to do something about this. We have to make sure that black business women have all the support that they need to fight these battles and get through them with their physical and mental health intact. One solution that was discussed throughout the day was the need for black women to come together to form supportive networks so that women have a support system and don’t feel alone in the corporate world.
We feel there is much to do in this area and will explore what we can do as a charity to support black business women.
With more than 20 million people in the UK reported to be physically inactive and thus not getting enough exercise, there is a need to find fun innovative ways to get people moving. With that in mind, last month we attended the Fitness Blastoff BASH, an event that we were really excited about as we loved the idea of a fitness party.
The Fitness Blastoff is an urban fitness dance party experience for men and women based in the UK. They work with a variety of aerobics instructors to create unique, fresh and lively workouts but with a party-like feel to it.
So on the 1st April, with a sense of excitement, we ventured to their BASH, we arrived late and as we walked through the door of the venue we were met with a huge number of people dancing to music blaring through the speakers as the DJ on the stage created a fantastic party atmosphere. It really did feel like a club, it was dark with a great vibe and some club lights too. What struck me as I walked around was the diversity in the room (young, old, black, white and all shapes and sizes) and the smiles – everybody was having a good time in their trainers, gym wear and with water bottles in hand.
As we tried to find a bit of space in the hall we suddenly heard the DJ say: “Are you ready for your 5 hour workout!??” Fear then set in as we all looked at each other and thought: “ I don’t think we’ll last 5 hours!”
After a few minutes of throwing our hands in the air and singing along with the rest of the crowd we were introduced to the first instructor, Alicja Blachut, for a 30 minute Jamaican Dancehall session called Mash It Up, this was a fast- paced, fun session where we learnt a routine to Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You. The time flew by and before we knew it, the 30 minutes was over and it was time for a 5 minute water break. This was followed by the sessions below, each with a 5 minute break afterwards:
Believe it or not, we were having so much fun that the 5 hours flew by so quickly and at the end of the event we didn’t want to leave!
It was a very tiring day, but because it was so much fun, we didn’t actually feel it in the same way we have done when we’ve taken part in other fitness events where we’d be counting down the time to the end of the session.
The sessions we enjoyed the most were the Afrobeat, Jungle, Hip Hop and House sessions. The instructors were very engaging and had put a lot of thought into their sessions, making them easy to follow but very energetic.
The event was a massive success for so many reasons. Firstly, the variety of workouts, each session being so different made for an interesting and fun day; Secondly, the DJ. He was very good, he set the tone of the day creating a fun atmosphere, getting the crowd going and in between sessions got us dancing, waving our hands and doing various dances (loved it!); the organisation of the event. The event was really well organised, there was plenty of water on hand and lots of attention paid to the safety of attendees.
We applaud the team behind the Fitness Blastoff for their approach to getting people active. This was a creative and fun way to encourage people to take part in exercise and, from the variety of people in the room, we think it attracted a lot of people that running, cycling and traditional exercise wouldn’t appeal to, giving them an option that suits them. Plus I don’t think you could get a lot of people to exercise for 5 hours and still be smiling at the end of it, like this event did. The fact that people had so much fun meant they were motivated to keep going.
We’re so glad we attended the Fitness Blastoff Bash, we didn’t know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised, we had a wonderful time and most importantly we got a fantastic workout.
The Fitness Blastoff team’s next event, the Afrobeats vs Dancehall Fitness Pop-up Party, is on Saturday 27th May at 1pm and you can book your tickets here
On Wednesday, we were so excited to host our third fibroids Twitter chat. We were joined by special guest Dr Sydney Dillard, CEO of Fighting Fibroids to discuss the symptoms and diagnosis of fibroids. If you missed it you can check out our conversation below.
