18 January 2022

Get involved - Healthy Eating and Living on the menu for Aberdeenshire's communities

Staying healthy and well has been at the top of most people's agendas for the last 22 months and a new project aims to make Aberdeenshire a healthier place to live, with a particular focus on healthy eating and keeping active.

The Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) project is working with communities to make a difference here. Aberdeenshire Council Community Learning and Development Worker, Ed Garrett, said community involvement is key to the project’s success.

“The views, ideas and involvement of local communities are crucial to building on what’s already in place to help keep us well,” he said.

“We want to work with people to learn what keeps you well, what challenges you have and what needs to change, building on that information to help create healthier communities.

“We will be working with communities to produce an action plan around healthy eating and keeping active. The more we know about barriers or gaps which affect people’s ability to eat and live healthily the better we can work together to improve the situation for everyone.”

Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Communities Committee, Councillor Anne Stirling, said: “I’m delighted to support this initiative, with the involvement of communities at its heart. Local participation will be key to the development of the action plan to improve opportunities for healthy eating and keeping active.

“Everyone has something valuable to say about what keeps them well, so I would encourage as many people as possible to participate to ensure the outcomes have the greatest impact. It is particularly important that we understand the barriers to healthy eating and affordable food for families.”

In particular, the project is seeking to find out:

•             What keeping well means to you?
•             How easy is it to eat healthily and keep active where you live?
•             What activities and places in your community keep you well?
•             What barriers are there to keeping well?
•             What should be our priorities? What changes are needed?
•             How can you be involved?

You can take part in an online survey on the Council's Engage HQ portal.

A series of online and, where possible, face-to-face engagement events will also be rolled out across Aberdeenshire.

You can subscribe to be kept informed and involved as the project progresses over the next few months.

Alternatively, contact Ed Garrett for further details, call (01467) 539758 or 07342 057699. You can also email: ed.garrett2@aberdeenshire.gov.uk