2025
New toolkit to designed for planners to support healthier food environments
A new digital toolkit was recently launched to support local policy makers and planners consider how the local plan making process and additional planning policy tools can create healthier food environments for communities across Cheshire & Merseyside.
Celebrating 20 years of Health Equalities Group
Following two decades of championing prevention, Health Equalities Group celebrated our 20th anniversary since the charity was first incorporated as Heart of Mersey. The milestone offered a chance to share what we've learned and how we continue to help turn ambition into action.
2024
Launch of the School’s Pledge in Cheshire and Merseyside
Funded by Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, the School's Pledge programme introduced a framework of nine core commitments aimed at promoting nutritious eating habits and fostering healthier environment in primary school settings.
New pilot project trialling Prevention Pledge with Primary Care Networks
A new Primary Care Prevention Pledge pilot is adapting the successful trust-based model to PCNs, aiming to embed prevention, tackle inequalities, and strengthen collaboration across Cheshire and Merseyside.
2023
Bystander interventions to address violence against women and girls in sport
Launched in 2023, the “Are you Onside?” programme empowered community sports organisations across Merseyside to challenge sexism and violence against women and girls through bystander intervention training, laying the foundations for cultural change and advancing gender equity in grassroots sport.
Reflecting on whole systems working across Lancashire
Since 2019, HEG has been working across Lancashire, taking a whole systems approach to tackling obesity, CVD and health inequalities across the county. Building on the Healthy Hearts Strategy, Pennine Lancashire trailblazer project, and culminating in the Lancashire Healthier Places project, this work doubled down on systems leadership to help drive change in underserved communities.
2022
Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance funds Strategic Obesity Project
The Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, became the first alliance to commission a specific programme of work to address healthier weight on a population level. Bringing together system leaders, including non-health stakeholders such as housing and transport, the aim of the project is to build connectivity in the newly formed ICS system.
Pioneering work in sport to address gambling sponsorship in sport
In Greater Manchester, we worked with clubs across the football pyramid to call for an end to gambling sponsorship in sport securing support from a range of sports organisations across the region including Bolton Wanderers FC, Greatersport, Manchester FA, and a range of grassroots clubs. The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham also lent his voice to the campaign.
2021
Taking a compassionate approach to delivering effective brief advice on healthier weight
Cheshire West and Chester public health team commissioned Food Active to consult on, design and deliver a universal training programme, primarily for frontline health and social care workers to deliver effective brief advice to members of the public on healthier weight. The training was scaled up across Cheshire and Merseyside with funding from NHS Cheshire & Merseyside reaching over 1,000 practitioners by 2025.
Reimagining oral health promotion through sport
The GULP Sport programme harnesses the power of sport to promote healthier hydration habits among children, integrating oral health into wider prevention efforts. It reframes water consumption as a social practice, challenging commercial influences and addressing inequalities in oral health. To date the programme has worked with over a dozen professional sports clubs across England.
2019
Framework for NHS Provider Trusts to consider prevention of ill health
The NHS Prevention Pledge is a prevention framework underpinned by 14 commitments that has been developed for NHS Provider Trusts to embed prevention of ill health within core service delivery, wider Trust environments, and with partners organisations at Place.
Healthy Place, Healthy Future
One of five Childhood Obesity trailblazer programmes funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, Healthier Place, Healthier Future worked with system leaders to inspire action to support healthy weight, food businesses to encourage healthier offers and with plnneing authorities to align policy across departments and district councils.
2018
NHS Healthy Weight Declaration
Working in partnership with NHS England South West, Public Health England South West (now OHID) and Diabetes UK South West, the Food Active team developed the NHS Healthy Weight Declaration and began supporting NHS organisations to work as part of a wider system to promote healthier weight.
2016
First signatory of Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight
Blackpool Council becomes first local authority to sign up to Food Active's Local Authority Declaration on Healthy Weight. The declaration, which is a strategic, system-wide commitment made across all council departments, has now been signed by over 30 local authorities in England.
2015
Healthy Stadia named as health partner within UEFA’s social responsibility portfolio
Our relationship with UEFA grew into a formal partnership. Subsequently, we supported Europe's governing body of football to embed tobacco-free stadia policies at UEFA EURO 2016 and 2020, delivered an Active Travel project for UEFA Women's EURO 2017, and supported their member associations to develop communications activities to support WHF's World Heart Day campaign.
Give Up Loving Pop launched
Campaign to raise awareness of the health harms of over-consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages launched across the North West of England. Advocacy work began lobbying the government to implement a sugar tax which eventually led to the development of the soft drinks industry levy in 2018.
2014
Healthy Stadia becomes partner for EU funded EuroFIT programme
Healthy Stadia supported academics from across Europe to develop a 12 week physical activity and weight loss programme to be delivered by football clubs in four EU member states. Our role was to facilitate relationship building between researchers and clubs as well as other partners such as UEFA. Funded by EU Horizon 2020.
2013
Heart of Mersey becomes Health Equalities Group as responsibility for public health transferred to local authorities
Our population-based approach to prevention, which purposely set out to build local capacity and enhance our partners' ability to support under-served communities, proved hugely successful and precipitated our development into Health Equalities Group. This change coincided with responsibility for public health services transferring from NHS to local authorities. Our role in an emergent system was to galvanise new coalitions to address health inequalities with restricted resources.
Launch of Food Active
The North West Directors of Public Health commissioned the launch of Food Active, focussing on advocacy, targeted interventions, research and strategic partnerships to drive forward action to address healthier weight across the region.
Helping children in care and their carers to lead healthier lives
Food in Care seeks to fill this gap, developed as part of a three year British Heart Foundation-funded project, delivered in partnership with Liverpool City Council and other local partners.
2012
Respect Your Health at UEFA EURO 2012
Healthy Stadia develops the 'Respect Your Health' education programme for UEFA EURO 2012, contributing to the strengthening of local communities and improving health literacy in Poland and Ukraine.
2010
Partnership with World Heart Federation
Healthy Stadia begins partnership with World Heart Federation (WHF) to strengthen work with UEFA on development of healthier stadium environments and healthier lifestyles through football.
2009
Product placement regulations
Heart of Mersey joined other leading organisations in opposing future regulation of product placement which would have allowed unhealthy commodity industries to promote their products on UK television. In 2010, the government u-turned on this proposal.
2007
Review of hospital food in Cheshire and Merseyside
Working with 10 hospitals across Cheshire and Merseyside, Heart of Mersey reviewed hospital food provision helping to reformulate menus and encourage the sale and promotion of healthier options.
2006
DG SANCO funds Healthy Stadia
The Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection of the European Commission funds inaugural European Healthy Stadia programme with the aim of working with stadia and other agencies across Europe to promote health through a settings-based approach to public health.
2005
Heart of Mersey becomes registered charity
Funding from the Merseyside primary care trusts and local authorities enabled Heart of Mersey to be established as a formal charity.
Smokefree legislation in Merseyside – local action influencing national politics
Following the development of a local bill by SmokeFree Liverpool that would make all enclosed workplaces and public places in Liverpool smokefree, Heart of Mersey were tasked with galvanising support from across Merseyside, presenting a proposal to the Leaders and Chief Executives from Greater Merseyside to ensure this landmark bill was adopted uniformaly across the sub-region. Enclosed workplaces were initially exempt from proposed national legislation, but the government eventually yielded to pressure due to local action. Smoking was banned in workplaces as part of the Health Act in July 2006.
2001
Study visit to North Karelia, Finland, lays the groundwork for Heart of Mersey
The Merseyside Health Action Zone funded a delegation of elected members, academics, and public health officers to attend a study visit to North Karelia, Finland. The ambition was to broaden their appreciation of how coronary heart disease (CHD) was first lowered through an integrated programme of primary prevention at local level that was then rolled-out regionally and nationally. The visit laid the foundations for a population-wide intervention to address CHD in Merseyside, which ultimately became Heart of Mersey.
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