1. health and fitness

6
Summer 2015
Healthier Carmarthenshire
You are what you eat
They say ‘you are what you eat’,
and whether you’re a pupil at
school or a patient in hospital
in Carmarthenshire you can be
assured
of
a
healthy,
nutritional meal.
The council’s award-winning
catering services team dishes up
19,000 school meals every day, and
using a sophisticated software
system, each one is assessed for
nutritional quality. A new threeweek rolling menu for the summer
term has just been released, with
traditional favourites and modern
cuisine including chicken wraps
with jacket wedges followed by
dessert, for £2.30.
In hospitals, patient recovery is
being supported with new menus
that meet Welsh Government
hospital catering and nutrition
standards. Soups are now made
from scratch instead of from
dehydrated packets, for example,
meaning patients are far closer to
meeting their nutritional needs
than previously.
Free school meals are available to children whose parents or
guardian receives certain benefits.
They include Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance and Universal
Credit; Child Tax Credit, providing the parent does not receive Working
Tax Credit, and the annual income does not exceed £16,190; support
under part V1 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999; the guaranteed
element of State Pension Credit; or income related Employment and
Support Allowance.
Apply on-line at ilocal.carmarthenshire.gov.uk
For further information email
freeschoolmeals@carmarthenshire.gov.uk or call 01267 246521.
Health advice from...
Sam Collins: BSc Honours Sports Coaching
and Performance, Coleg Sir Gâr
Whatever your health and fitness
goals are it’s extremely important
you include structural exercises like
squats into your exercise program.
You can add weights to heighten
intensity.
Key Benefits
• A multi-joint lower body
exercise that promotes the
training of movement rather
than muscle.
• Makes every day activities easier
through improved flexibility,
mobility and balance.
• Enhances and builds core
muscular strength, stability,
endurance and lean muscle
growth (lean muscle burns fat)
ilocal.carmarthenshire.gov.uk/apply-request
Key Coaching Points
• Chest up and shoulders back.
• Spine in a neutral position
throughout the movement.
• Knees in line with the hips
and feet.
• Inhale, sit back on your heels
in a smooth controlled
movement, bending at the
knees.
• Knees should be below
parallel to the ground at the
bottom of the movement.
• Exhale, stand up, driving up
from your heels.
• The upwards movement
should be more dynamic. It’s
not important how much you
lift but how well you lift.
Healthier Carmarthenshire
Choose well
Critical care team
Summer 2015
7
What’s on: healthy activities
6 June
Wildlife Walking Group
Carmel Nature Reserve
Meet in the car park at 10am
Trixie 01554 751950 or 07503 675569
9 June
How to get started growing organically
National Botanic Garden of Wales, Llanarthne.
www.growingthefuture.co.uk
01558 667100
Did you know there are many
community groups providing
education and support for
people living with health
conditions?
Hywel Dda UHB uses the national
Choose Well campaign to help
people choose the best healthcare
advice, support or treatment
service for their need.
Lawrence Thomas, from Brechfa is
a volunteer tutor with the
Education Programme for Patients;
supporting people to self manage
their condition. Lawrence, who
lives with Chronic Obstructive
Pulmonary Disease (COPD),
shares his skills with other patients
living with a chronic condition.
"Since going on the course and
becoming a tutor, my life has
completely changed. Before I
plodded along, but now I am
confident, thoroughly enjoying my
life. I cannot believe the difference
the course made to me and my life.”
For information on
education programme
for patients call 01554
899035. To find your
local services, visit
www.hywelddahb.wales.
nhs.uk/choosewell
If you are unsure about
what health service you
need, contact NHS Direct
Wales on 0845 46 47
14 June
Llandovery Sprint Triathlon
A new “flying doctors” service has been launched in Wales, the first
service of its kind in the UK.
Launched in April, the new Welsh Government-backed critical care team
will treat, stabilise and transfer the most seriously-ill and injured patients
to hospital.
The service is being run in partnership with the Wales Air Ambulance,
and will use helicopters and a fleet of state-of-the art cars to reach 95% of
the population by air and 46% by road within 30 minutes.
Llandovery
A pool based event with a 22km ride up the
valley towards the village of Rhandirmwyn with
a 5km run to finish.
healthylifeactivities.co.uk
14 June
Race for Life 5k or 10k
Festival Fields, Millennium Coastal Park
10k at 9.30am, 5k at 11am.
raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org
16 June
How to get started with fruit
National Botanic Garden of Wales, Llanarthne
www.growingthefuture.co.uk
01558 667100
New organ donation legislation
will come into force in Wales on
1 December 2015.
Under the new system you can be a
donor by either registering to opt in
or by doing nothing at all. If you
don’t want to be a donor you will be
able to register to opt-out.
Jane Jeffs, from Whitland, lost her
husband suddenly from a brain
haemorrhage 30 years ago. “We
had talked about organ donation so
I knew what he wanted, and I
desperately wanted something
good to come out of our tragedy,”
she said.
“Sadly his organs were unable to be
used, so we were deprived of the
comfort that someone else's life
may have been saved. The
experience I have gained since then
by talking to families of donors and
recipients has confirmed that
families rarely regret allowing
donation to happen after a loved
one's death, and that recipients
never stop being incredibly grateful
for the wonderful second chance
that they are given.”
For more information visit
www.organdonationwales.org
or call 0300 123 2323
28 June
Llanelli 10K Fun Run & Juniors
A very popular 10k event with a run along the
Millennium Coastal Path with a great series of
Junior events
healthylifeactivities.co.uk
16 & 30 July
Walking Well Whitland
Meet in the Station House public house at 10.15am
Sue Adams 01994 240556
19 July
Pendine Standard Distance Triathlon
The Pendine Outdoor Sprint Triathlon has been a
part of the Triathlon circuit in Wales since 2012.
healthylifeactivities.co.uk
**All information correct at time of print