healthy lifestyles
Community Food and Health (Scotland) Development Funding Programme
The Community Food and Health (Scotland) development funding programme is open to groups who would like to develop new or existing activities that will improve access to, or take up of, a healthy balanced diet in low-income communities in Scotland. 
Three funding schemes were launched on 12 June 2015:
1. The Capacity Building Fund offers grants up to £500 for groups and agencies running food and health activities in low-income areas working to strengthen their organisations.
2. The one-year Development Fund offers grants from £500 to £2,000 that can develop, recruit for, and complete food and health activities by the end of September 2016.
3. The two-year Development Fund offers grants from £500 to £5,000 for groups and agencies planning food activities requiring more time to become established or to reach those most in need.
Applications can be submitted for more than one of these funding schemes as long as the criteria for that fund is met. Applications for the Capacity Building Fund can be made at any time until all the funding for this year has been allocated. The deadline for applications for the one-year and two year Development Funds is 7 August 2015.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HELPING YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY TO BECOME MORE ACTIVE?
A Volunteer Walk Leaders Training Courses is being held in Portlethen on Thursday 2 July 2015. The course is designed to establish a group of local people (aged over 18 years) who are trained to promote and lead Health Walks on an ongoing basis. 
Only one day of training is necessary but information will be provided to support development of local walks in Kincardine and Mearns for walk leaders attending the training through Paths for All and through local contacts.
A Health Walk is a short, local, low level walk which seeks to encourage and support people to become more active. A typical health walk usually lasts between 10 minutes and 1 hour.
| Date: | Thursday 2 July 2015 |
| Time: | 9.30am to 3.45pmRegistration from 9.15am onwards |
| Venue: | Jubilee HallCookston RoadPortlethen
AB12 4PT |
| Cost: | FREE including resource materials(Lunch provided) |
For booking and more information please contact:
Shiona Watson, Administrator, NHS Grampian
Tel: 01569 792053
Email: shiona.watson@nhs.net
The Big Fit Walk
Be active, get healthy, have fun!
The big fit walk is free, easy and lots of fun – especially when you bring a friend. Young, old, fast, slow – it doesn’t matter.
It’s not a race, it’s about having fun and staying healthy. Fresh air, a walk, and a chat. Hey, it could become a regular thing.
And the best bit? Everyone – absolutely everyone – is welcome.
See you there! 
Our Big Fit Walk will be led by Laurie Fallon and it’s free for everyone.
We’ll start from Portlethen Medical Centre at 10am on Wednesday 17th June 2015, Stonehaven Town Hall at 10am on Thursday 18th June 2015 and Laurencekirk Medical Centre at 10am on Friday 19th June. The walk should last for 30 minutes.
Volunteer this Summer
Now the long summer holidays are approaching you may be looking for something to do or something for the kids to do. Have you ever considered volunteering?
Maybe you’re just looking for something to do for a few hours a week or possibly you have more time to spare and are looking for something to do with the family and kids over the school holidays. Then perhaps volunteering is something to consider.
Whether it’s helping out at the local youth club over the summer holidays, or at the local animal shelter or just helping the old lady next door with her shopping, the benefits of volunteering are many.
Volunteering is something a person does in their own time, without pay or compulsion, and which is for the benefit of the community, the environment or other people outside their immediate family. Read the rest of this entry »
Raising the bar on safety and security in Aberdeenshire
Entries are now being sought for the 2015 Aberdeenshire Best Bar None awards, a Scottish initiative aimed at combating alcohol related crime.
All licensed premises in the area are encouraged to take part in the scheme to help Aberdeenshire’s night-time economy flourish and keep the public safe whilst enjoying the area’s pubs, bars and clubs.
Administered nationally by the Scottish Business Resilience Centre but run locally, Best Bar None Aberdeenshire is a joint partnership between Aberdeenshire Council, the Scottish Government, Police Scotland, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Belhaven Pubs and the Scottish Licensing Trade Association.
The scheme is helping to create a safer drinking environment across Scotland for everyone involved – the wider community, customers, owners, licensees and bar staff, as well as police, fire and other partner agencies.
It focuses on safety and customer care and gives each licensed venue the opportunity to prove it meets the standard of safety and service set by the government and alcohol industry.
Jenny Wylie, Community Safety Officer, said: “Aberdeenshire has been involved in the Best Bar None scheme since 2007 and we are delighted that it is going ahead again this year.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for premises to demonstrate their dedication in running establishments in a professional, safe and caring manner and for those premises to receive accolade for this.
“The invitations for this year’s scheme have just been distributed and I would urge all premises to get involved so we can continue to make Aberdeenshire a safe place for all.”
Music and Mental Health Benefits
Listening to music is a relatively inexpensive, effective activity which can be used in everyday life to improve our mental wellbeing. Lively up beat music can lift the spirits and improve mood and sometimes encourage us to get moving! Similarly calm and soothing music can help us to relax and ease fear and anxiety. Studies suggest, listening to music releases a chemical in the brain that has a key role in affecting our mood.
Here are some of the psychological benefits of listening to music:
- Helps improve mood and increase positive emotions
- Encourages self-expression
- Improves level of interest
- Improves social interaction
- Increases relaxation and reduces tension and anxiety
- Improves self esteem
Studies also show that music promotes positive overall health and those that listen to music demonstrate:
- A better night’s sleep
- Diminished pain
- Improved memory and recall
- Increased ability to concentrate
- Increased mobility and co-ordination
As mentioned above music is something that can be incorporated into your everyday life and is very versatile. Music can be enjoyed:
- On your own or in a crowd
- While doing housework or in the shower
- While out for a walk or in the car
- At work or relaxing at home in the evening
- Going to sleep or awakening
- While moving/dancing or lying still
- At home or outdoors
The possibilities for incorporating music into our everyday routines are endless and with the use of modern technology e.g. iPod, iPad, playlists, i tunes, Spotify etc. a wide variety of music and genres have become extremely easy to access. 
Eating Well and Mental Wellbeing
All this week, Pillar Kincardine have been telling us about issues important to them. Over the next couple of days, we look at how your diet and what you listen to can effect your mental health…
What does eating well mean? Broadly speaking it means eating in a way that:
- Keeps our weight stable
- Provides all the necessary food groups and vitamins
- Is an enjoyable experience
Why is eating well important?
It helps to prevent many diseases which are linked with being overweight. Diseases include high blood sugar, high blood pressure, heart problems, stroke, cancer, joint problems and sleep difficulties. Eating well also nourishes our brain so we feel better emotionally.
Eating is essential for sustaining our lives, keeping healthy and preventing disease but most of us struggle to eat what we need and battle with eating what we want and what makes us feel better emotionally. We tend to eat if we are sad, lonely or hurt but equally if we want to celebrate success or as a reward. Attempting to change our eating habits is much more than just learning the facts it’s about making good choices every day which is easier said than done. Understanding why healthy eating is so important and looking at the benefits of certain foods helps on this journey. Read the rest of this entry »
The Benefits of Arts and Crafts
“Some of us feel bad about [taking] time for creative expression. One would think that we’d view creativity as ‘more productive’ and hence less guilt- producing than leisure, yet we still seem to believe that self-expression is less of a priority than satisfying the needs of others.” Alice Domar, Ph.D.
Unfortunately, many of us push crafting and creativity to the bottom of our To Do List. Maybe we feel guilty for doing something for ourselves—women, of course, are taught that everyone else’s needs should come first—or maybe we feel that even when we’re relaxing, we should be doing something productive. All we need is permission from ourselves to spend time creating and the courage to push beyond our comfort zone so our projects truly express what’s inside and help us to unblock, purge, and transform our feelings. Read the rest of this entry »
Mindfulness Meditation
Continuing our focus on mental health, find out how Pillar are using mindfulness with great results.. 
Another way in which we have been practising mindfulness at Pillar is via meditation. We have discussed how meditation need not be associated with specific religious beliefs or entail difficult body postures. It need not take longer than five minutes and does not involve an ‘emptying’ of the mind, but rather an effort to take some control of our thoughts. Meditation has been shown to increase the grey matter associated with wellbeing and compassion, and decrease areas associated with stress. On a physical level, it has been shown to lower high blood pressure and lessen chronic pain. Read the rest of this entry »
Mindful Colouring
Read on to discover how Pillar have used colouring in to enhance the lives of many…
“Mindfulness” is a bit of a buzzword in mental health nowadays, but is in fact rooted in the ancient traditions of Buddhism. Tried and tested for centuries, the art of mindfulness encourages us to slow down and focus on the present moment. It urges us not to worry about a past that cannot be changed and a future that will not be improved by present anxiety. Experiencing all that the present moment has to offer is, from this point of view, truly living, and will have numerous benefits for both our physical and our mental health. ReachOut.com lists these benefits as including less anxiety, better problem solving and sleep and greater happiness overall. Read the rest of this entry »
Pillar Kincardine
Yesterday we got to know Sara Kamrath, Service Manager Pillar Kincardine. Today, we look at what Pillar does.
Pillar Kincardine was founded in 1989 as a result of the success of “Stepping Stones” and Pillar Aberdeen’s provision of social and leisure activities for people within Aberdeen City (Pillar Aberdeen has since closed on 29th August 2010).
Pillar Kincardine’s objectives then, as now, were to provide support services for people who have experienced or continue to experience challenges in relation to their mental health and to promote mental wellbeing.
We have been providing day services continuously for 25 years. These services were developed in response to service user’s needs and have evolved over the years. New projects and initiatives have grown out of earlier ones. Read the rest of this entry »
Mental Health Awareness Week, 11th – 17th May 2015.
Since the first Mental Health Awareness Week in 2000, mental health groups have pushed topics like loneliness, anger, fear, exercise, alcohol and friendship into the public sphere.
All week, K & M Communities will be focusing on the great work done by in Kincardine & Mearns by Pillar Kincardine, founded in 1989 as a result of the success of “Stepping Stones” and Pillar Aberdeen’s provision of social and leisure activities for people within Aberdeen City (Pillar Aberdeen has since closed on 29th August 2010).
Pillar Kincardine’s objectives then, as now, were to provide support services for people who have experienced or continue to experience challenges in relation to their mental health and to promote mental wellbeing.
We thought it would be good to speak to Sara Kamrath, the smiley face who greets you at Pillar, Kincardine. We persuaded her to tell us and you a little about herself… but not in the conventional way. We wanted to dig deeper… Read the rest of this entry »
K&M Communities 