Using the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Winning Ways to Wellbeing’ could mean the difference between blowing your stack, and remaining serene and spreading goodwill this year.

Based on a UK project, the Winning Ways include building five actions into your day-to-day lives for wellbeing:  Connect, Keep Learning, Be Active, Give, and Take Notice.

These five simple concepts are designed to maintain your emotional wellbeing, and are illustrated in a blog by Steve Carter from the Mental Health Foundation at www.mentalhealth.org.nz/blog.

Practice these simple tools every day, any time, any place.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas, connecting with family and friends, having fun, activity and laughter – don’t forget to take notice of your surroundings and keep learning!

Hand in hand with the end of every year comes that crazy time when we tend to stay up too late, overspend, over-indulge, and under-exercise…. some of us more than others!

So, what’s on your menu for Christmas Day this year?  Are you going the traditional Christmas route with ham or turkey, and traditional trimmings; or are you going for more summer fare with maybe a barbecue, salads and new potatoes?  Perhaps you’ve even decided to ditch the kitchen and head for the beach or river with a picnic?  Whatever you decide, enjoy it all in moderation and try to keep up your exercise… even if it’s just a walk after lunch or a game of beach cricket.

Don’t forget to also moderate your alcohol consumption… be it egg-nog, bubbly, sherry or something a little stronger – take it easy.  Christmas  is often stressful enough for worn out adults and fractious kids, without adding drunken behaviour to the equation! 

Thank you for your continued support throughout 2012 and we look forward to bringing you more good news stories, notice of exciting things to come and delicious recipes in 2012.

Have a great Christmas and keep up the exercise and healthy nutrition over the summer holidays.

The Marlborough Clued-Up Kids programme is a hands-on safety programme which involves children woking in small groups and responding to real-life scenarios (or safety sets) on personal safety skills.  For instance, how to approach a dog, what to do if a house is on fire and what happens if they need to call 111.

This interactive and experiential approach aims to teach them to react to potentially dangerous situations with confidence.  These are further reinforced by key safety messages like: ‘Keep a metre from the heater’, ‘Be safe , Be seen’, and ‘Get down, Get low, Get out’.

A spokesperson for Maata Waka said it’s the first year they have been involved in the programme and it’s proved to be a great idea – especially getting the dog safety message out into the community in a real way.

Wonderful local support from safety organisations and volunteers means the children also get to see groups working together for the good of everyone and learn to appreciate their community as a safe place.

The programme has been quietly operating for six years and recently won the NMDHB Quality Health and Innovation Award 2012.  Continued positive feedback from teachers, students and organisations bodes well for the safe and clued-up kids of the future!

The students were out in force at this year’s Growables Festival selling vegetable pizzas cooked in the Founders Pizza Over, and bags of horse poo – luckily they were at different stalls!

The teacher in charge of Enviroschools at NIS, Becks Hide said it was an ‘awesome day.’ “It was great to be part of the festival, “she said.  “We all had a ball.”

The money the students raised will be used to bring their new garden beds to life next year.  “We want to get off the mark with edible gardens in the school in 2012,” said Principal, Hugh Gully.  “The students are very keen on the project.”

Nelson Intermediate School stall at Growables

Nelson Intermediate garden beds

The community breakfast was held as part of the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) project.

Four skillets, four burners, three cooks and a Farmers Market mobile kitchen made a glorious sight while 180 eggs were cooked and flipped into omelettes for the celebratory breakfast.

Although outside the tent it was raining, inside the table looked like a rainbow of healthy and nutritional fare – all gobbled up by the kids, many of whom went back for seconds.

Senior Constable Russ Smith of Blenheim said there was an atmosphere of neighbourhood whanau coming together to share breakfast and engage with one another.  “The project is about people taking pride in their community, ” he said.  “I’ve seen neighbours meeting each other for the first time and neighbours doing things for others.”

Mums and dads, uncles and aunties, and whole extended families took part in the week-long intensive project, where residents worked alongside agencies to clean up their street with the aim of reducing crime rates and improving community relations.

The CPTED initiative, developed by Police and Safer Communities Marlborough had input from the residents and a number of community agencies over the week.  Support for the breakfast came from:  Cancer Society, Kimi Hauora Wairau PHO, Maataa Waka ki Te Tau Ihu Trust, Marlborough Farmers’ Market, Mayfield School, Nutrition and Physical Activity Programme and the Public Health Service.

Chef Chris Fortune and friends at the Henderson and Gardiner Streets CPTED Breakfast

This traditional Maori ball game is the latest craze making its way onto the school sports fields and is based on the games played across Aotearoa in pre-colonial times.

Nelson’s first Ki-o-Rahi tournament in modern times was held at Neale Park last month with around 250 students from ten schools across the region, taking part.

Tournament organiser Jamein Bristowe, Whakatu Marae Kaihakinakina (sports advisor) says it was a great day: “There was some awesome competition, and some real talent out there.”

Nelson College won the senior competition, Nelson Intermediate won the the junior prize, and the mixed-team contest went to Golden Bay High School.

Marlborough plans to hold a Ki-o-Rahi tournament in March 2012.

Whakatu Marae's Huriana Lawrence & Jamein Bristowe

It also gave cyclists an opportunity to do some cycling in Nelson.  “Like a lot of towns, Nelson has some great – and not so great cycling infrastructure” said Graeme Lindup, CAN’s national chairperson.  “What really did strike me though, is how many people are out and about on their bikes.”

Topics covered at the CAN  ‘do’  included cycle instructor training, share the road campaigns and report backs from cycling advocate groups from around the country.  One new initiative is ‘Stop at Red’ – a campaign to encourage cyclists to stop at red traffic lights.  The rationale behind the campaign is that if cyclists want respect from other road users, they need to respect the road rules like everyone else. 

To find out more, go to: www.stopatred.org.nz

Members of the national Cycle Advocates Network in Nelson recently

“Each year we have more people attend the festival so Growables is here to stay.”

Highlights of this year’s event included demonstrations on how to turn homegrown food into a delicious meal by National Farmers Market Chair, Chris Fortune, and a presentation by award-winning landscape architect James Wheatley.

“Growables is a great opportunity to inspire people to experiment with a wider range of gardening” said Gill.  “It was great to see so many schools with fundraising stalls at Growables.”

Leading up to the event was a week of trips and tours.  These ranged from cycle tours of open orchards to visits of productive home gardens.

www.growables.org.nz

Growables 2011 - Founders Heritage Park

One of the many stalls at Growables 2011

A perfect day at Founders Heritage Park

A Growables workshop - one of the many on offer

The Victory Square Fish and Chip Shop has been named the Best Chip Shop for 2011 between Timaru and Collingwood by the Heart Foundation.

“It’s something we have been working towards for a few years” said the shop’s co-owner Maureen Machin.  “We were a regional finalist in 2009.”

The Heart Foundation competition covers chip size, oil temperature, cooking/deep-frying, basket drainage, filtering and cleaning, salt, and portion size.  These factors have a huge bearing on quality of chips.  While poorly cooked shoestring fries can have a fat content of over 20%, best shop chips have a fat content of less than 10%.

Maureen and partner Mark started living in Victory three and a half years ago in their housebus parked behind the shop.  “We love living here” said Maureen.  “We want to thank the community for their support.”

Mark Staddon & Maureen Machin, Victory Square Fish & Chip Shop

“The trainee chefs modify recipes to make them healthier for the heart,” said Averil West, Nelson’s Heart Health Advocate.

The trainee chefs on NMIT’s cookery courses start with a standard menu then modify it using the Food and Nutrition Guidelines.  The recipes are reviewed by nutritionists, and the result is a healthy delight.

“It’s a great exercise,” said Averil.  “It shows the chefs and the customers that food does not need to be laden with fat, salt or sugar to taste great.”