June 2, 2010
Crowds flocked to the Healthy Pompey Big Picnic on Bank Holiday Monday 31 May. Over 10,000 people descended on Southsea Common for a day of family fun to promote healthy and active lifestyles hosted by Healthy Pompey, a joint Portsmouth City Council and NHS Portsmouth programme bringing the Change4Life movement to Portsmouth.
"The Healthy Pompey Big Picnic has provided a great free day out for local families. Thousands of people came down to try out new activities and find out about how to make some small changes to make a big difference to their health," Rachel Hatcher, Healthy Pompey programme manager, said.
Hundreds of people had a go at hula hooping, belly dancing and Thai boxing as part of the day to promote active lifestyles and healthy eating. The event held in association with Heart, was hosted by Jules and Bunker from the Heart Breakfast Show and gave families the opportunity to try out new activities for free.
A highlight of the day was the Fruit Factor Competition to win places in the Great South Run. After a hotly-contested competition, 15 slots were won in the ever popular race due to be held on 24 October in Portsmouth. Dozens of local residents, both young and old, battled it out to win slots in the race by tackling a fruity obstacle course and a challenging inflatable obstacle course sporting giant fruit and veg costumes.
The health zone provided free health checks and advice on programmes available in the city including free swimming lessons recently launched for over 11s and adults. In the Healthy Pompey Zone residents could pick up a free growing kit to grow their own salad and veg, while the food and health team provided free activities for children to help them learn about healthy eating.
