It’s been pretty busy over the past few months so you may have noticed we’ve been very quiet on the social media, newsletter and blog front. We had to take a break from these three activities and focus on some new projects.

We’re a tiny team and during busy periods we have to pull back from the lighter work to ensure that we can get things done.

So, what have we been up to?

Over the past few months our  Public Health support service has taken off and we have had the pleasure of working with clients, all NGOs, on research and grant writing contracts.

Our clients are working on a range of wellbeing projects across four African countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and South Africa.  What a fantastic learning experience this has been. The wonders of technology have meant that we can cross borders and cultures right from the comfort of our office and have a significant impact on organisations that require support to achieve their aims and objects.  It has been fulfilling assisting small organisations in developing their project ideas and acquiring the funds they require to conduct much-needed work in the areas of FGM, poverty alleviation, education, healthcare and more.  And, because we’re a non-profit we can offer these services at an affordable price to organisations that wouldn’t normally be able to access these services, and the money we have made from these contracts is funding our own work – our fibroids programme, our childhood obesity prevention projects and covering our operational costs.  This has been a win-win.

As well as the growth of this new service, over the past few months, we’ve received two grants and are working on a physical activity bid for the Ministry of Education. It’s fun times ahead.

The first grant we received was from the Taiwanese International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) for a new fun pilot project we’re in the process of planning called My Healthy Heroes. We’re developing engaging resources which can be used in schools and at home to educate children about healthy eating and to encourage children to make healthy choices. We’re delighted to be piloting our approach with the Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Basseterre, St Kitts, starting in 2020. At the moment we’re working hard to develop a collection of resources, ensure they fit into the school curriculum and gain useful insights from teachers, children and the Ministry of Education to help inform the direction of this pilot project.

The second grant we received was from Soca Girls Rock! to support our new research study exploring the needs of women living with fibroids. This work aims to provide an in-depth exploration of women’s experiences and help us identify any psychosocial, personal, institutional and physical challenges that women with fibroids may experience that may impact their health and wellbeing. By exploring these issues, we can develop an understanding of how fibroids may affect a woman’s quality of life and this will enable us to begin to focus on strategies to support women who have been affected by fibroids. We’ve recently applied for ethics approval and once granted, our project will begin – yay!

Finally, we’re excited to have received approval from the Ministry of Education for a bid to conduct some work to increase the amount and quality of physical activity that children participate in using an innovative approach. This approach fuses 3-D animation with physical activity. It’s still a very early stage in the bid process so we won’t say much more, but once things progress, we’ll provide an update.

So, yes, work-wise it has been a great few months and we are very grateful for all the opportunities that have come our way. A big thank you the ICDF, Soca Girls Rock! and The Ministry of Education for their support and a big thank you to our new clients, it has been wonderful working with you.