Asda is launching a health initiative designed to get local communities more active and involved in sport as part of its partnership with the Government’s anti-obesity initiative Change4Life.
The supermarket has partnered with the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) in a bid to take advantage of the increased interest in sport around this summer’s Olympic Games.
Asda will host 20 large-scale community-sporting events in playing fields or green spaces close to Asda stores around the UK, where its shoppers can try out new sports.
It hopes to help families find cheap activities they can do in their local communities that fit into their busy lives.
The supermarket will work with local charities, County Sports Partnerships and FIA members to showcase sports events including Kwik Cricket, football, martial arts, volleyball and Zumba classes.
Asda Active: Getting Britain Moving will be funded by Sport England’s Sportsmatch which awarded funds to the FIA. It will also be supported by Change4life’s sub-brand Games4Life and will leverage the Department of Health’s Chage4Life programme.
The initiative will be promoted by an online marketing campaign led by Asda, plus a digital and social media drive. It will also be promoted through local marketing channels and local stores.
Asda and the FIA will also use the events, which they hope will attract 50,000 people, as a data capture opportunity to build up a consumer panel. The organisations hope to use the data gleaned from the panel to gain insight onto the barriers and motivations to getting more people, more active, more often.
The events will run this summer, starting during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
Asda previously worked with the FIA as part of Change4Life’s ‘Great Swapathon” initiative which saw the supermarket distribute vouchers for discounted swimming and gym sessions.
Source: www.marketingweek.co.uk
Baby P social workers lose appeal - The Guardian
Gillie Christou and Maria Ward claimed they were unjustly fired by Haringey Council in north London in response to a public outcry about the little boy's horrific death.
A Watford employment tribunal panel previously concluded that the local authority acted reasonably in dismissing them because of serious failings in their care of the toddler. At a brief hearing at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in central London, at which neither woman appeared, Mr Justice Wilkie announced the pair's appeal was dismissed.
Speaking after the short hearing, solicitor Riz Majid, representing the women, said they plan to appeal. He said: "Maria Ward and Gillie Christou are disappointed by the result. We will be studying the judgment carefully with a view to going to the Court of Appeal."
The women's lawyers previously argued that their case had been bolstered by a landmark Court of Appeal ruling in May last year that Haringey's children's services director Sharon Shoesmith was unfairly sacked over the Baby P tragedy.
Senior judges found the council and former children's secretary Ed Balls acted in a way that was "procedurally unfair" when Ms Shoesmith was first removed from her post and then fired without compensation in December 2008.
Mrs Christou and Ms Ward's legal teams claim they suffered "double jeopardy" because they faced two Haringey misconduct panels looking at the same allegations against them.
The first disciplinary proceedings, overseen by Ms Shoesmith, concluded that they only needed to receive written warnings, but the second resulted in them being fired. Their lawyers also argued that the original employment tribunal should have taken into account the fact that Haringey social services were "under-resourced and under-supported" at the time.
Hilton Dawson, chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, said: "This is a case that should strike fear into the heart of every social worker. Social workers are trained professionals attempting to do their best for children under very stressful circumstances, but when things go wrong their mistakes are magnified and the results more tragic than in most areas of work.
"When social workers make serious mistakes, they should face the appropriate sanctions, but no-one should lose sight of the fact they are working in an extremely pressurised system, expected to predict every harmful situation, while meeting the ever-growing demands of a target-led profession."
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2012, All Rights Reserved.
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Free Watford health checks to battle dog obesity epidemic - Watford Observer
Free Watford health checks to battle dog obesity epidemic
11:30am Friday 25th May 2012 in News By Mike Wright
Dogwalkers in Watford will be able to get free health checks for their pets as part of a new scheme to combat the obesity epidemic afflicting the nation’s canine population.
PetCheck units will be in parks in Watford and Garston over the next few weeks to give dog owners advise on what weight and shape their dog should be.
The veterinary charity PDSA said a recent study showed that 58 per cent of dogs in the South East are fed junk food and fatty treats by their owners on a daily basis, leading to ballooning collar lines.
As with humans, obesity in dogs can lead to potentially fatal illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.
Sean Wensley, a PDSA senior veterinary surgeon, said: “These figures highlight the importance of our Petcheck tour in helping owners to have a deeper understanding of their pet’s health and welfare needs and how to meet them.”
The scheme, which is being run by Watford Borough Council and PDSA, will start in Garston Park on Wednesday 6 June, Callowlands Park on Thursday 7 June and Cassiobury Park on Friday 8 June.
All sessions will run from 10am to 5pm.
Source: www.watfordobserver.co.uk
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