We are delighted to have teamed up with TOHETI at Guy’s Hospital for their next fibroids support group session.  This will take place on Monday 15^th May from  6:00pm – 7:30pm at the McNair Centre at Guy’s.

Anyone who has been affected by fibroids is welcome to attend and this session aims to provide women with the opportunity to share their experience, meet other women with fibroids, obtain support and hear from experts in the field.

TOHETI’s support group provides a safe, informal setting for women to ask questions and share concerns, both before and after surgery. The group is run by patients, for patients and a clinical member of staff will be present to help answer questions.

For more information and to let us know you’re coming please email events@thelakefoundation.com

We are so happy to say that our founder, Abi Begho, is featured this month on the Secrets Birds entrepreneurship platform as a Rare Bird.

Secret Birds is an emerging market entrepreneurship community that empowers, encourages and supports women in the pre-start-up and start-up phases of their businesses, and they  teach girls aged 8-13 in disadvantaged communities entrepreneurial skills.

Secret Birds has also developed the concept of Rare Birds who are women who inspire through entrepreneurship. They define a Rare Bird as “an ordinary woman who is achieving extraordinary things as an entrepreneur. Rare Birds have mastered the art of flight!” Every month a woman in business is featured on the Secret Bird platform and March 2017 is the month for our founder Abi Begho.

In her feature, Abi Begho discusses why she set up The Lake Foundation, some of the challenges she has faced along the way, how she has overcome these and provides some advice for others wanting to start their own business. You can read Abi’s interview with Secret Birds here.

Secrete Birds is doing great work to support women in business and they will be launching a new initiative called ‘Connect. Collaborate. Grow.’ this year. This initiative will provide a mixture of activities which will focus on both the technical and non-technical aspects of starting a business.

We would like to say a big thank you to Secrete Birds for featuring Abi Begho this month and wish them every success with all the great work they are doing.

Last week, researchers published the results of their analysis on vitamin D which assessed the overall  effect of vitamin D supplementation on the risk of developing respiratory tract infections such as the cold and flu.

In their analysis, researchers looked at 25 studies and this included 11,321 people aged 0 to 95 years old from 14 different countries.  They found that daily or weekly vitamin D supplementation lowers a person’s risk of developing acute respiratory infections. The effect was most profound in people with the lowest levels of vitamin D with their risk being halved. People with higher levels of vitamin D also benefited, their risk reduced by 10 per cent.

Researchers explained that vitamin D may protect against these infection by helping the body make anti-microbial substances that protect the body from bacteria and viruses.

As a result of their findings, researches stated that this strengthened the case for fortifying more foods with vitamin D, but whilst the researchers were very positive about their findings the UK Government was very cautious saying:

“The evidence on vitamin D and infection is inconsistent, and this study does not provide sufficient evidence to support recommending vitamin D for reducing the risk of respiratory tract infections.”

Vitamin D is very important in protecting our bone and muscle health as well as boosting the immune system.  It i also thought to have additional health benefits such as protecting against diabetes,  asthma, some cancers and heart disease.  To reap the benefits of vitamin D, Public Health England has recommended that people’s average intake of vitamin D should be 10 micrograms.

Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, is made in the skin as a result of exposure to sunlight and this is the main source of vitamin D for many people in the UK during the spring and summer. During the autumn and winter months, to get the recommended amount of vitamin D, Public Health England recommends consuming foods which contain vitamin D naturally or are fortified with it.

It is particularly important that the black community in the UK ensure they are getting enough vitamin D. This is because the melanin in our skin, which protects against UV light, also affects our skin’s ability to make vitamin D. So with the same sun exposure as someone with lighter skin we produce less vitamin D. This means that black community are more at risk of having a vitamin D deficiency and should consider taking vitamin D supplements all year round.

We are delighted to announce our next fibroids Twitter chat will be on  Wednesday 15^th  February 2017 from 7pm-8pm. We will be joined by special guests Dr Sydney Dillard, CEO of Fighting Fibroids, Candice Bryan, CEO and Founder of Noire Wellness and Leah Salmon, Founder of the Naturally You Coach with host, our own Abi Begho, founder of The Lake Foundation.

This Twitter chat has been organised to allow for an in-depth discussion on fibroids, diet and exericse.

We’ll be putting questions to our expert panel and you can put your questions to them too. So if you have a burning question about fibroids or just want to get involved in the discussion then do join us on the day. To take part in the conversation please use the hashtag #FibroidsChat.

We look forward to tweeting with you!

We’re delighted to announce that we have teamed up with Voices for Autism to host our first Autism Health and Wellbeing Conference. This event is aimed at parents, carers and teachers of children with autism and will cover a range to topics to empower attendees with the information they need to successfully care for a child with autism.

On the day we’ll be looking at therapeutic options and the impact of nutrition and physical activity on autism. We’ll also explore autism friendly initiatives and hear personal stories from parents.

Autism is quite common in the UK affecting approximately 700,000 people. It is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person sees the world. It also affects how a person communicates with, and relates to other people. It is a spectrum condition which means people with autism have a range of difficulties in common but it affects everyone differently. It can be hard for those caring for a child with autism to find support and advice on how to manage their child’s condition and so organisations like Voices for Autism have been organising a range of much-needed support services.

Our conference aims to connect parents, experts, teachers and carers to create the perfect environment for shared learning.

This conference will be held on Saturday 15th July at the Bernard Weatherhill Community Space in Croydon. More details will be available from April 2017, but please save the date.

For more information please email events@thelakefoundation.com

The Lake Foundation has teamed up with Diabetes UK to run a 12 month Diabetes Community Champion project in Croydon that is aimed at the African and African-Caribbean community.   Through this project we’re hoping to raise awareness of diabetes and how it can be prevented, and for those with diabetes, provide information on  how best to manage their condition and secure better health outcomes.

We’re currently looking for volunteers to take on the role of Diabetes Community Champions.

Diabetes Community Champions will raise awareness of diabetes and this may involve giving presentations, hosting information tables at events, distributing leaflets and information, taking part in local radio interviews, writing blogs and exploring creative ways of engaging with the black community.  In addition volunteers, if interested, can work with local GPs to identify pre-diabetics and work with them on a one-to-one basis to reduce their risk through a behaviour change programme.

Community Champions can dedicate as much time as they are able to this project, but ideally we’d like volunteers to commit to at least 1 – 2 days a month to ensure we can make the most impact possible.

Full training will be provided to all volunteers.

If you’re interested in being a Diabetes Community Champion, please complete an online registration form here or email info@thelakefoundation.com for more information.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Health is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers in the UK Parliament of Westminster. They have launched an inquiry into whether women are given an informed choice about the treatment options available for particular conditions. Fibroids and endometriosis are among the conditions the group would like to shine a spotlight on.

The group will produce a report which will assess if women are given an informed choice about treatment options and outline what improvements  need to be made.

As part of this inquiry the group is inviting interested parties to submit written evidence. Evidence can be submitted via the following links (endometriosis) (fibroids) or emailed directly to appgwh@mailpbconsulting.com using the pro forma below. Patient experience, anecdotal evidence as well as any sort of data would be gratefully received.

The group would like to hear about current practice as well as potential barriers and issues in order to understand what key recommendations the group can take forward. The group will be accepting written evidence until the end of February 2017.

If you’ve been affected by fibroids we strongly encourage you to submit written evidence on your experience when you were offered treatment. This will make a significant difference and help identify any issues that exist can be identified so that these can be addressed to ensure that the diagnosis and treatment pathway for all women is improved.

If you would like any further information about the inquiry or the group’s work more generally, please contact the group secretariat at appgwh@mailpbconsulting.com or call 020 7735 6963.

This week Prostate Cancer UK launched their ‘Stronger Knowing More’ campaign which is aimed at black men and puts the spotlight on the fact that black men have a significantly higher risk of developing prostate cancer. Black men have a 1 in 4 chance of developing prostate cancer, which is double the risk faced by all men who have a 1 in 8 chance of developing prostate cancer.

In addition to this increased risk of developing this devastating disease black mean are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer.  Black men have a 1 in 12 lifetime risk of dying from prostate cancer whilst all men have a 1 in 24 lifetime risk of developing prostate.

As a result of these alarming statistics Prostate Cancer UK recognised the importance of ensuring that all black men are aware of their risk so they can take steps to do something about it.

Prostate Cancer UK’s Stronger Knowing More campaign uses positive and empowering portraits of black men from the worlds of sport, politics and the arts as a show of strength against prostate cancer. Former WBA World Heavyweight champion David Haye, Olympic gold medallist, Linford Christie and Labour MP, Chuka Umunna are among the well-known faces supporting this campaign.

Stronger Knowing More is calling on the black community to confront the increased risk of prostate cancer and break down longstanding taboos that have prevented black men from speaking about the disease.

It is not known why black men have an increased risk of developing prostate cancer but genetics is thought to play a role. We can all do something about this by being aware of the symptoms and men acting quickly and visiting their doctor, without delay, if they have symptoms they are concerned about.

For more information about black men’s risk of developing prostate cancer visit Prostate Cancer UK’s website here, view the video below or if you have any concerns you can call their helpline 0800 074 8383.

The Lake Foundation is delighted to announce that we have received a grant from Croydon Council to work in collaboration with Diabetes UK to run a Diabetes Community Champion project in Croydon

This grant will support the cost of running this project for a year which aims to raise awareness of diabetes amongst the African and African-Caribbean community in Croydon who are three times more likely to develop the condition. The project’s focus will be on encouraging people to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of developing diabetes and this will involve raising awareness throughout Croydon and also working closely with pre-diabetics.

We’ll be recruiting Diabetes Community Champions who will be fully trained and will become the lifeblood of the project by getting out in the community to reach as many people as possible.

We are very grateful to Croydon Council for supporting us to tackle this very important health issue in the black community and we look forward to working with Diabetes UK.

If you’re interested in becoming a Diabetes Community Champion, please email info@thelakefoundation.com for more information.

Public Health England this week revealed that results from a recent survey suggest that children are consuming half of their daily recommended sugar intake before the morning school bell rings.

Their research shows that children consume more than 11g of sugar (almost 3 cubes) at breakfast alone. The government recommends that 4 to 6 year olds consume no more than 5 cubes a day and 7 to 10 year olds consume no more than 6 cubes a day. The main sources of these high levels of  sugar are cereals, drinks and spreads.

The research was conducted in November 2016 and involved 200 parents of children aged 4 to 10 years old completing an online survey about their child’s breakfast. The survey also revealed that, as well as children’s consuming too much sugar, 84% of parents whose children were consuming more that 11g of sugar at breakfast thought that they were giving their child a healthy breakfast. This means there needs to be some clarity around the content of breakfast foods to ensure parents are making informed choices about the food they buy.

To address this issue Public Health England’s Change4Life programme have launched the ‘Be Food Smart’ campaign which is encouraging parents to be more aware of the sugar, saturated fat and salt content of the food they buy. It also aims to educate parents of the harm caused by eating unhealthy food.

To support this campaign, Change4Life have developed an app that allows parents to scan the barcodes of products and get a breakdown of their sugar, saturated fat and salt content.  It also provides hints and tips on how to cut down on unhealthy foods and the app also has fun features like food detective activities and missions for the whole family.

The app free and is available on the iTune Store or Google Play.

For more information visit Change4Life’s website.