Cook it! Fun, fast food for less: community nutrition education programme

This training manual was produced to support the Cook it! programme, which was specially developed for use in Northern Ireland. The Cook it! programme is delivered in the community by trained facilitators and can be used with a wide range of groups, including young/single parents, young people leaving residential care, offenders during rehabilitation programmes, older people in sheltered accomodation etc.The manual contains all the information needed to deliver Cook it! programmes in the community, including background information on healthy eating, information about dealing with special dietary requirements, sessions outlines, photocopiable resources and 75 recipes for snacks and meals.This updated version replaces the March 2007 edition.For information on training as a Cook it! facilitator, contact the health promotion service in your local Health and Social Care Trust.

Public Health England Obesity

The Public Health England Obesity website provides a single point of contact for wide-ranging authoritative information on data, evaluation, evidence and research related to weight status and its determinants. They work closely with a wide range of organisations and provide support to policy makers and practitioners involved in obesity and related issues.

Addressing High Level ICT Skills Recruitment Needs

Ireland is a successful major centre for ICT operations with ten of the top ICT companies in the world having substantial operations here. The large talent pool of ICT professionals that exists here is valuable both for foreign-owned and Irish companies. The cluster of internationally renowned firms and Irish companies offer a range of attractive career opportunities for professionals. A range of skills recruitment difficulties have been raised through the work of the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), specifically the immediate issue of high-level ICT skills within both the ICT sector and from other sectors such as international financial services, banking and business services. Forfs, with the support of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, engaged in discussions with a selected range of foreign–owned and Irish companies employing approximately 30,000 employees to establish the nature of positions involved, the reasons for recruitment difficulties and to identify measures to help address them. Consultations were also held with key stakeholders including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, ICT Ireland, Software Ireland, IT@Cork, Engineers Ireland and Dublin Chambers of Commerce. Discussions were held with the heads of the computing departments of all Universities and Institutes of Technology at a meeting chaired by the Higher Education Authority. An in-depth analysis of third-level ICT supply statistics and trends was undertaken to inform the research.

Substance Misuse Among People Over 55 - Perspectives from the Community and Voluntary sector in Belfast

The Belfast Health Development Unit (BHDU) was established as a Ministerial priority in March 2010, co-locating staff from The Public Health Agency (PHA), Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) and Belfast City Council (BCC). One of the strategic priorities for the BHDU is: an integrated approach to planning and delivery of services for older people in the city.The PHA and the BHDU had identified a need to examine the extent of substance misuse issues within the older population of the city of Belfast and to explore early intervention programmes targeting this population. It is envisioned that this piece of work will inform and support the Belfast Healthy Ageing Strategic Partnership on older people and its multi-sectoral action plan and will influence the work and priorities of the Belfast Strategic Partnership and its constituent stakeholders in taking drug and alcohol work forward in Belfast.The aim of this research was to review knowledge, awareness and evidence of the impact of substance misuse on the older population (aged 55+) and to review good practice in reducing substance related harm within this population which has been done by undertaking a review of available research, data and information sources. However, the main focus of the research involved consulting with a broad range of community and voluntary sector organisations working in the Belfast area to assess their views and perceptions of the prevalence and extent of substance misuse within the older population and the services currently in place to address this issue.�