Winning artist scoops adventure day experience

Henna Zamir canoeing at the Water Park Lakeland Adventure Centre

Henna Zamir a pupil at Broadfield Community School won an adventure day experience in the Lake District after her prized artwork impressed Primary Care Trust (PCT) judges.

Henna and her 3 chosen guests accompanied her on Sunday 29 July 2007 to Water Park Lakeland Adventure Centre in Coniston, Cumbria where they enjoyed a day of outdoor pursuits such as canoeing, climbing and orienteering.

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale PCT invited children in local primary schools to produce pictures that will be displayed in a special gallery in the new £9m Health and Social Care Centre currently being built in Deeplish/Milkstone.

The special prize was donated by private sector partner, The Eric Wright Group Ltd who are currently contracted by the PCT to build new health and social care centres across Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

Richard Turpin, Director of Eric Wright Group Ltd, said: “We were happy to welcome Henna and her guests to the Lakeland Adventure Centre. I hope she and her friends have had a wonderful day taking part in some of the activities we have on offer. The Eric Wright Trust that owns and operates Water Park Lakeland Adventure Centre, wishes to support any young people from schools or other organisations who would benefit from participating in outdoor pursuits. Experiences at the Adventure Centre are not only fun but promote team working, personal development, managerial processes as well as offering recreational value.

"Teachers and leaders in the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale area are encouraged to contact Water Park about such needs. The Trust can subsidise any young people who cannot afford the cost of a residential course at Water Park.

“Since we have signed a 25 year contract with the Primary Care Trust to build up to 13 new health and social care centres across the borough of Rochdale we are hoping to engage the community as much as possible. As the 25th most deprived area in the country we feel that the Eric Wright Trust has a lot to offer local disadvantaged communities. We hope more young people from the borough will soon be able to join us at Lakeland Adventure Centre.” 
 
Children were briefed by Healthy Lifestyle Leads in the PCT and Local Authority to produce artwork that highlighted the positive benefits of being fit and healthy.

Henna used her creativity to illustrate on paper the positive benefits of looking after your teeth. All the artwork was judged by a PCT and patient council and patient and public involvement forum panel of judges which included the PCT’s Chief Executive, Trevor Purt and Chair, John Pierce.

John Pierce said: “I was impressed by the number of entries for the LIFT Centre Artwork Competition and delighted by the high standard of pictures created by local children. Trevor and I found it very hard to judge.
 
“I would like to congratulate Henna on her dental health picture which we felt promoted good oral health messages about the importance of looking after your teeth and gums. I hope she enjoyed the adventure day experience. Our partnership with Eric Wright Group is thriving and we admire their social and community values. ”

Henna also bagged herself many other goodies such as an annual swim pass giving her free entry to any swimming pool across the borough for a year donated by Link4Life as well as a £10 gift voucher donated by the PCT, an electric toothbrush donated by oral health, the veggie gang cuddly toys amp; stationary packs, pedometers, pens, rulers, stickers, jigsaws and skipping ropes donated by the health sector.

The PCT hopes that the new purpose built health facility in Deeplish/Milkstone will be a landmark in the centre of the community that local people can be proud of. The new artwork is intended to represent local people’s contributions to the design process and will help create a sense of community ownership.