Welcome to the Health BOCS Update, the monthly update on Health and Wellbeing activities at The Brothers of Charity Services in England.
March Promotion
As part of Health BOCS, the Brothers of Charity Services’ health and wellbeing programme, throughout March we promoted: No Smoking Day; Apprentice Week; Downs Syndrome Awareness Week and Comic Relief.
No Smoking Day
No smoking day is an annual health awareness day in the United Kingdom which is intended to help smokers who want to quit smoking. The first No Smoking Day was on Ash Wednesday in 1984, and it now takes place on the second Wednesday in March.
Over the last few decades, it has become very clear how terribly dangerous smoking is. There are toxins in them that cause many different forms of cancer from the mouth to the lungs. What is also important to know is that while it may be a personal choice to smoke or not, when someone smokes near another person, the second hand smoke is just as dangerous to them. So, in fact it really isn’t just a person decision. The protection of people who do not want to be effected by second-hand smoke has led to new laws in most communities that ban smoking in most public spaces.
Click here to find out more.
Apprentice Week
National Apprentice Week takes place on 4th to 8th March 2019. This annual celebration of apprenticeships will bring the whole apprenticeship community together to celebrate the impact of apprenticeships on individuals, employers and the economy.
National Apprenticeship Week 2018 was record-breaking: with 780 events taking place across England. The ambition of delivering an amazing 10,000 talk’s movement- #10kTalks- to inspire the next generation of apprenticeships in schools across the country was exceeded, reaching over 33,500 people. Over 300 schools joined the 10,000 talk’s movement and a further 130 schools also hosted teacher to teacher talks- reaching an additional 2300 individuals. The Big Assembly reached 20,000 people with a live video stream- showcasing apprentices and employers sharing their apprenticeship stories. Events also took place to celebrate international Women’s Day, apprenticeships diversity and a launch event with the BBC and Sutton Trust included the announcement of a new ground-breaking apprenticeship programme.
Click here to find out more.
Downs Syndrome Awareness Week
Every single person with Down’s syndrome should have the same opportunities as everyone else, in EVERY area of life:
- Personal development
- Personal relationships
- Education
- Work
- Public life
- Hobbies and Leisure
Down’s syndrome Awareness Week and World Down Syndrome Day are an amazing opportunity to challenge our society’s misconceptions about Down’s syndrome and to call for it to be more inclusive.
Down’s syndrome Awareness will be celebrating the achievements of people with Down’s syndrome, telling their stories and amplifying their voices.
The DSA will especially be highlighting the stories and achievements of people with Down’s syndrome and who have more complex needs; a section of our own community who can sometimes feel particularly left behind.
Click here to find out more.
Comic Relief
Since its launch in 1988, Red Nose Day has become something of a British institution. It’s the day, every two years, when people across the land can get together and raise money at home, school and work.
There’s a fantastic night of TV on the BBC, with comedy and entertainment to inspire the nation to give generously.
Comic Relief spends the money raised by Red Nose Day to help people living tough lives across the UK and internationally.
Step 1– You raise and donate amazing amounts of money for Red Nose Day and Sport Relief to help people living incredibly tough lives.
Step 2– Comic Relief will add together all the money and use it go give grants to thousands of charities who are working to help people living tough lives, both here in the UK and around the world.
Step 3– It takes two years for all the money to be allocated. This gives the charities time to apply for grants and gives us plenty of time to ensure we’re only funding the very best ones.
Step 4– We give money out in stages, rather than in a lump sum. That way we can make sure we’re kept updated regularly about how the money’s being put to good use.
Step 5– While the cash is waiting to be paid out, we invest the pennies wisely.
Step 6– It’s the return from those investments that helps to pay our running costs. This means you can be sure that all the money you give is spent on helping people!
Click here to find out more.
April Promotion
As part of Health BOCS, the Brothers of Charity Services’ health and wellbeing programme, throughout April, we will be promoting: World Autism Awareness Day.
World Autism Awareness Day
World Autism Awareness Day is an internationally recognized day on 2nd April every year, encouraging Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about people with Autism Spectrum Disorder throughout the World.
The day itself brings individual autism organizations together all around the world to aid things like research, diagnoses, treatment and overall acceptance for those affected by this development disorder.
Society has come a long way in raising awareness about autism but there’s still more to be done. We need the public’s support to raise vital funds to continue running campaigns and influencing government decision making, training and sharing knowledge with professionals working with autistic people, and so much more- and that’s where you can come in.
- £5 could pay for a recently diagnosed adult to call our helpline for support and advice
- £40 could pay for a parent of an autistic child to have an hour long telephone consultation with our Education Rights Service
- £200 could fund out Parent to Parent service for a day.
Click here to find out more information
