Back Page: My Week - Why chocolate exemplifies healthy eating
Jeanie Lynch
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
MONDAY - Back to work after a week off following an operation, so I'm taking it easy. Kind people make cups of tea and warn me to ease up, but before long the phone is ringing constantly and our groups are due in any time. No surprise then that when 5pm arrives I'm exhausted! So much for going slow...
TUESDAY - Meet with an organisation called Common Purpose, which is helping a local charity develop a plan to ensure its survival and is talking to others about working with looked-after children here in Southampton to gain a wider picture about who has the most influence. I go into overdrive when talking about our services - I get so passionate about the inequalities that still exist. I stress that having a clear framework of values is essential to providing the best services to children. They seem to grasp what I am saying.
WEDNESDAY - It's Happy Club tonight and we're doing healthy eating. The children arrive in the kitchen, all smiles with their school bags and furry toys, which need to be put away before we start - but first I have to give Cutie the cat a quick cuddle.
We are making french bread pizzas with healthy toppings tonight and the children enjoy creating their own - mushroom and cucumber seems to be the most popular.
The children then do a quiz from the Who Cares? healthy eating booklet, which creates lots of discussion about healthy food. They end the night by creating collages. "I think chocolate is healthy as it makes me happy," says one lad. I know where he's coming from.
THURSDAY - Sort out travel plans for End Child Poverty's Keep the Promise rally in London on 4 October. It's a huge event and we're organising a Southampton contingent to support it. Last year was big but this year looks like it will be massive. Risk assessments and consent forms take up most of the morning.
FRIDAY - A quiet day so I begin to dismantle my office. Four weeks until I leave for my new local government role in Devon, gulp! I'm determined to leave everything as organised as possible.
The sound of children laughing in the kitchen makes me stop and smile in a bittersweet way. I'll miss this atmosphere and the day-to-day contact with children in care but I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities in my new post to work with new groups of children. Certainly hope so.
Jeanie Lynch is children's services manager at Barnardo's in Southampton and an independent trainer and writer.