Description
Obesity across the FCE area is a significant concern; high levels of obesity coincide with high rates of unemployment across the zone. A Gallup poll shows that the longer a person is unemployed, the higher the rates of obesity, with rates reaching up to 32.7% after a year or more of unemployment.
To address this issue, ASPIRE will target the obese and overweight unemployed population across the FCE zone, using food production as a way to increase awareness and engagement, reduce weight, increase self-esteem and improve employability via new skills and work experience.
ASPIRE will be innovative in 3 ways:
- it will be the first project that regards obesity and unemployment holistically, not as two separate issues;
- it will use food production as a means of information and upskilling;
- it will be using partners’ unique engagement programmes the project will engage with the local community to co-create a needs-based response, involving all ages in the community to ensure a multi-generational, long term benefit for: creating a new model for service delivery combining healthy weight and employability services, embedded in statutory practices and creating a network of food-based centres tackling unemployment and obesity.
Of the ASPIRE participants, 50% will reduce their body weight and 10% will move from obese to non-obese. 80% of participants will rise at least 1 stage on the employability ladder and 40% at least 2 stages.