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An introduction to the Little Leithers Project

PIP

The Little Leithers project is run by ECFI and based at Dr. Bell’s Family Centre. The project began in October 2006 through money from the Leith Regeneration Outcome Agreement. The project is funded by the Leith Regeneration Outcome Agreement until March 2008. The Food and Health Worker, Nuala Roger, has run the project since May 2007 and based most of the time at Dr. Bell’s Family Centre.

The aim of the Little Leithers is to work with families of children aged 5 and under in Leith. The hope is to encourage and influence the eating choices of those families in the recognised regeneration area through a number of ways.

  1. Training Sessions- these sessions are based on raising people’s awareness about healthy eating. These sessions are available for people working with parents and/or children under 5 years of age who live in the Leith community. The sessions are also open to parents interested in increasing their knowledge about different food issues. The sessions can be changed according to the needs of the different groups. To see the topics covered click here.

  2. Little Leithers Library- there is a Lending Library open to all members of the public who look after children aged 5 and under. The library contains books that are specific to weaning, healthy snacks, stories related around food, as well as general story books and cookery books. There are also cooking equipment like handblenders and pastry cutters available.

  3. Voucher scheme- the voucher scheme was set up to encourage local families to buy healthy foods and to use local shops. There was funding available for 20 families to take part in the voucher scheme and all places are full. All families live in the recognised Regeneration area of Newhaven and Harbour. The majority of them are also on Healthy Start vouchers.

    All of the families receive a sheet of 8 vouchers each month for local shops. Each family also receives a selection of recipes associated with each voucher to help them cook the food, if they are unsure. All of the families receive a variety of vouchers that changes every month for each shop. There are a few families that only eat Halal meat, and so that request is catered for with Rajah’s Supermarket and their wonderful supply of Halal meat.

    To find details of the shops taking part click here.

  4. Promotions- promotions are carried out with all the local nurseries to raise the awareness of the children there about different fruits and vegetables. The promotions are usually based around a story book with a healthy eating theme, for example,

    5. a. Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Brown - fruit faces activity

    b. Avocado Baby by John Burningham - Vegetable woodland activity

    c. Oliver’s vegetables by Vivienne French - vegetable men activity

    d. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle - Hungry Caterpillar activity

    e. I will never not ever eat a tomato by Lauren Child - I will never not ever eat a tomato tasting activity

    The nurseries that receive regular promotions along these lines include Bonnington Nursery, Fort Nursery and Stanwell Nursery. The Dr. Bell’s crèche receives fruit from the Little Leithers project on a weekly basis to support the children attending eating healthily.

For more information on Little Leithers please contact:

Nuala Roger,
Food and Health Development Worker
Edinburgh Community Food Initiative
Dr. Bell’s Family Centre
15, Junction Place
Edinburgh
EH6 5JA
E: nroger@ecfi.org.uk
T: 0131 5530107