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Community Course is Healthy Option for Students
29th July 2008
Two graduates of a Sheffield community course which inspires students to become tutors are planning different futures as a result of the skills they have learned.
The women, both aged 29 but from different backgrounds, spoke at the annual awards ceremony at Sheffield’s Cutlers’ Hall of the confidence they had gained as a result of the 14-week Introduction to Community Development and Health (ICDH).
Mother of two Shysta Nadeem, who lived in Pakistan for eight years before returning to Sheffield in 1998, says the course has made her want to return to education and to work in the community with parents and children.
Former administrator Cathie Reid, a graduate in sport and sociology, who took a career break in January last year (07) to involve herself in sport again, is now working as a volunteer coach with primary school children.
Both women were among 36 people aged between 18 and 60 who completed the course, sponsored by local organisations supported by NHS Sheffield, Sheffield City Council and the Big Lottery Well Being Fund. The course is provided free in communities which face some of the greatest health inequalities.
Several courses run simultaneously throughout the year in areas including Parson Cross, Burngreave, Manor & Castle, Jordanthorpe, Upperthorpe, Tinsley and Norfolk Park The course aims “to make a difference” to the lives of its students, many of whom go on to become ICDH tutors. Using innovative exercises including drama, collage, creative writing and photography, the course helps students to explore the issues surrounding “health” and how community-led initiatives can prove effective in addressing some health inequalities.
Mai Mustaphanin, a development worker with NHS Sheffield’s Community Development and Health Programme, says: “It does not matter whether students achieve the Open College Network qualification or just complete the course – it is the participation and learning which is important.
“I want our graduates to use their new-found confidence for themselves first, but hope that it is catching too so that people close to them also become motivated.”
She said that she hopes that after that they will to use their new skills in the community.
Shysta, a former classroom and special needs assistant who enrolled for the course without a clear concept of its contents, completed projects which included issues around praising children and Vitamin D deficiency.
“It gave me a great opportunity to learn about those subjects, both of which are relevant as I have since discovered that both my parents suffer from the Vitamin D deficiency,” says Shysta who would now like to work in the community and possibly become an ICDH tutor. “I feel proud to have completed the course.”
Cathie, who now spends between 15-30 hours a week coaching children in a range of sports with Activities Sheffield, says: “The course tutors were amazing. They helped me to develop my communication skills, to find out more about myself and other people and to find the path I want to take.” She is now hoping to return to full-time employment in a community sports development role.
Consultant in Public Health for NHS Sheffield, Chris Nield, who spoke at the ceremony, says: “The feedback we receive from students of this course has proved its value time and again. Some people who take part are already involved in their communities in different roles, but many have had no previous involvement locally.”
The course programme manager Elaine Goddard went on to say, “our graduates tell us that the course not only gives them confidence and new friends but a real desire to help in the community. With the skills they have gained, we hope that ultimately they will understand and improve not only their own health - in its broadest sense – but that of their family, friends and the community where they live, work or volunteer.”
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