What is ASPIRE?

C3 Collaborating for Health is working with 16 partner organisations to deliver ASPIRE (Adding to Social capital and Individual Potential In disadvantaged REgions) – an EU funded project addressing obesity and unemployment in France and England through a holistic approach to diet, physical activity, and employment support. Why not try out the ASPIRE model? 

ASPIRE’s impact- The ASPIRE final report

A key part of ASPIRE was determining the effectiveness of the model. A realist evaluation was conducted to determine which aspects of the ASPIRE model were effective, and how to adapt the model to different contexts. We evaluated using a mixed methods approach consisting of innovative quantitative and qualitative methods. Learn what worked in ASPIRE and how best to adapt the ASPIRE model for you and your community by reading the ASPIRE EVALUATION REPORT.

C3 and ASPIRE:

As part of ASPIRE, C3 has engaged with 7 communities in England and France using its innovative community engagement strategy CHESS® (Community Health Engagement Survey Solutions), which has delivered 7 community co-designed action plans for change. Learn more about CHESS®.

ASPIRE in Boscombe:

In Boscombe, C3’s Zoe Keeping has managed the delivery of the community’s CHESS® action plan. Having worked and lived in Boscombe for over 20 years  Zoe is passionate about community driven change and ensuring all voices are heard! As such, Zoe has brought local residents together to grow, eat, cook, move together and lead healthier lives. Creating street art, organising litter picking, creating wild play areas, walking trails, providing healthy cooking classes and more. C3 has reached over 300 Boscombe community members! Learn more about ASPIRE’s impact in Boscombe in this one-pager.

The biggest thing for me has been the shift in the local community, seeing how people changed. It has gone from a question of can you do this Zoe? Or can the council do this? To how can we as a community make this happen? – Zoe Keeping, C3 Community Engagement Manager

 

ASPIRE in Lens and Loos-En-Gohelle:

Stephanie Gailiunas is a social worker, Naturopath and C3’s Community Engagement Facilitator in Lens and Loos-En-Gohelle France. To improve community health she has run healthy cooking classes, community events and workshops focussed on wellbeing, relaxation, and raising self-esteem. It is Stephanie’s work as a social worker and Naturopath in Lens that made her want to join C3 and the ASPIRE project, believing that being engaged at a community level
to bring people together around nutrition, cooking classes, and hiking is crucial to support them in leading a healthier life. Learn more about ASPIRE’s impact in Lens in this one-pager.

Stephanie is really good in engaging with the local community. She is lives in the area and has a very good understanding of the barriers that makes it difficult to eat healthily in the neighbourhood. – A participant after a healthy eating workshop

ASPIRE in Medway:

C3’s Lisa Malone has worked in Medway for the past 18 years and has been finding creative ways get the community eating better and moving more. Including cooking healthy pizzas, creating healthy snacks for a jubilee picnic, Zumba classes for plus-sized ladies, yoga classes, edible window box making, bee-bombing, word-hunts and more. Lisa has been featured on BBC Radio Kent for her work in Medway on the ASPIRE project. Excitingly, C3 has reached over 350 people in Kent. Learn more about ASPIRE’s impact in Medway in this one-pager.

Around 18-20 ladies attend a weekly yoga class; around 70% consider themselves overweight – and only 20% of them are in full-time work. I consider this a great success! – Lisa Malone, Community engagement facilitator

ASPIRE in Ham:

Having done a CHESS® walk with a group of very enthusiastic community members in Ham city centre, C3’s community facilitator Magali has been holding regular cooking classes and nutrition workshops for the local community in Ham centre social. It doesn’t stop there Magli has also taken opportunities to combine culture and hiking, organising community activities like a tour of Ham’s castle with the help of the association “Castle friends.” This combination of community and culture allowed people to not only get moving by walking along the canal but also helped them to discover an historic aspect of the town they did not know. Learn more about ASPIRE’s impact in Ham in this one-pager.

 

ASPIRE in Wimereux:

The community in Wimeureux have taken a  modern approach to health, diet and fitness. As part of their CHESS® action plan they decided to develop an app and web platform. This works as a central database, giving local community members one place they can easily access to find out about upcoming events, local walking routes and opportunities for being more physically active, eating better, and developing their career skills in the area.

Check out our ASPIRE resources:

• The ASPIRE practical guide – supports organisations and employers address obesity and weight based stigma in the workplace. Providing case studies, facts and figures to provide insights into the impact of stigmatisation and how inclusivity benefits employers.
• The ASPIRE toolkit – a collection of leaflets, workshops, and more that supports communities and individuals make long term behavioural changes. From a healthy cookbook, tips for buying better food for less, and practical ways to get moving everyday, C3 have adapted multiple resources on food, physical activity, sleep and wellbeing.

 

If you enjoyed this page you may also like our international seminar Physical Activity: the benefits for cancer prevention or our blog Legumes: It’s time to stop overlooking them.