Ian Wright and His Unfit Kids

Ian Wright ran an interesting experiment with Unfit Kids on Channel 4. Last night was interesting because Ian Wright was looking to extend his programme throughout the local education borough and then throughout the UK. He had written to 100 businesses for support. He wanted £170,000 to be able to offer programmes for 20 schools for one year. The best offer that he received was money for 3 schools for 1 term: he decided to match that money from his own funds so that he could extend that to 2 terms.

Now, part of me thinks that there are grant-making bodies that would fall over themselves to award Ian Wright funding for such an excellent project. Including some of the one's mentioned in a Guardian piece about the topic of children's health and the hope that this series would be as influential about exercise as Jamie's School Dinners series. On the other hand, I'm surprised that UK businesses were not more forthcoming. Is it just that business doesn't want to be associated with overweight children who are on the verge of being excluded? Given some of the adverse coverage that Cadbury's had for running the schools sports equipment scheme, are other businesses gun-shy of being hypocritical when it is their computer technology that the children find more attractive than exercise, or their junk food products that children consume more than the healthier options?

The Toll of Being a Caregiver

AADT has a good discussion of a recent story about the stress of caring and its impact on physical and mental health.

[C]aregivers, a group whose health is typically much poorer than contemporaries not caring for a loved one, endure stress and health deterioration in relation to the amount and intensity of the care they give. This burden, usually above and beyond work duties and nuclear family obligations, leads to high levels of depression, anxiety and stress. In describing her own experiences, one caregiver highlights how health can decline so rapidly:

Sometimes you didn't have time to take a shower. You didn't eat properly because you're so busy preparing their food and tending to them. You miss doctor's appointments because you can't get somebody to stay with him or you can't (bring) him," [Barbara Redmond, 68, said of caring for her husband for 2 1/2 years before his death.]

They give a very good summary of the statistics.

Carers need practical support for what they do and they need support for themselves. Yet again, this problem is only going to increase as our population ages. Fewer people will have the physical resources to allow them to carry out heavy-duty caring. There will be a time when we realise the cost of doing nothing.

Making a small difference

I've just had a lovely note from one of the carers who joined in with a Laughter session I ran in Ealing a few weeks ago. Along with the playful laughter exercises, we talked about some simple things to try to help lift our mood every day. One of them is simply to write down 3 blessings (things that went well) during the day. They can be small things (a stranger smiling "hello!" walking down the street, the smell of a rose, etc.). The trick is just to actively recall a blessing, without denying the stress and strain of the day. Over time this becomes a habit and you naturally realise that life isn't all bad.

Yes, this does sound Pollyanna-ish but for a number of people, including this carer, it can be surprising helpful. She now finds herself walking down the street actively looking out for a blessing. In line with the findings reported by Richard Wiseman in The Luck Factor, more often than not she finds them. She said she is surprised at how much of a difference this is making to her day. She feels happier and less stressed than before.

Of course, this note is a lovely blessing for me to include in my list today. Along with the beautiful Campanulas Sainsbury's were almost giving away this afternoon and the fun of watching a Spaniel trying to jump about 6 feet up a tree as it chased a squirrel in the park (well, fun at least for me, if not the squirrel).

An EMT Asks, "Will No One Care?"

Magwitch asks, Will No One Care? He tells the story of young people with mental health problems and the lack of support for those who care for them. The family and friends who care for them are overwhelmed by the scale and complexity of needs that confront them

I hear too many stories like this when I run workshops. EMTs, paramedics and medical staff come across them everyday but there just seems to be a complete dearth of appropriate provision for carers. I've asked this question before, what is the cost of doing nothing?

Copyright 2006, Tony Plant Happystance Project

As featured in Cosmo

Earlier this week, at 6:30 a.m. I had a call from an australian journalist who wanted to talk to me about choice agoraphobia. Yesterday, I turned up for a Happystance session that I was running for a carers' group in Ealing. I was taken aback when the organiser introduced me by saying, "Tony Plant, as featured in Cosmopolitan".

Now, I've long since given up any thought that I might be featured in Cosmo as aspirational beefcake. But I was definitely in there, quoted alongside Robert Holden and Ilona Boniwell, in Can you make over your mood?

One of my quick fix suggestions was that people with MP3 players should put together a mood lifting playlist - pieces that always make your feet tap or get you moving. With the growing sophistication of mobile phones and MP3 players, I advise people to put together a slideshow of images that make them smile, give them a fond memory etc. When I ran a session for young carers recently, the photo of the young cottontail rabbit was very popular with the girls. There are lots of photographs available for download from Flickr and it can be mood-lifting just to look through them.

It's given my mum bragging rights. Getting a paper accepted to a good academic journal? Big yawn. Having a son who is mentioned in Cosmo? Definitely a big deal.