Public health chiefs saddle up for Belfast visit
The Public Health Agency (PHA) is welcoming public health leaders from Yorkshire as they embark on an eight-day cycling challenge.
Dr Tim Allison, Director of Public Health at East Riding of Yorkshire, and a team of his colleagues will spend a day in Belfast seeing the PHA’s cycling initiatives and promoting cycling as one of the best ways for people to achieve good health and fitness. They will then take part in a cycling challenge which will take them from Sligo to Dublin and across the Pennines to Bridlington to promote public health and cycling, as well as raising money for charity.
Apart from burning calories and maintaining a healthy weight, cycling reduces the risks of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and can improve emotional health and wellbeing.
Mary Black, Assistant Director for Health and Social Wellbeing Improvement at the PHA, said: ‘We are really delighted to welcome our public health colleagues from England. Here in Northern Ireland, we have been developing and promoting a number of active travel initiatives over recent years as active travel improves people’s physical and emotional health, as well as benefitting the environment.
“Cycling and walking are activities that can be incorporated into everyday life and are an easy and fun way of getting more physically active and staying healthy. They can also be a much more efficient way of getting around, especially in the city.”
The PHA has also arranged for the Yorkshire Public Health Bus to come to Belfast, and is offering Health Checks to people participating in the Active Belfast Challenge which is running during the month of May.
While in Belfast, the visitors will take part in a 10-mile cycle tour of the city, taking in some PHA-funded community health projects as well as tourist sights. The visitors will also meet a delegation of children at the City Hall who will cycle there from An Droichead Primary School, one of 191 schools across Northern Ireland participating in the Active School Travel programme funded by PHA and the Department for Infrastructure. A further 180 schools are expected to join this scheme over the next three years.
Dr Allison said: “By eating well and moving more, you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of heart disease. Through this partnership ride we are showing that it is easy, no matter what age or physical ability, to get on a bike and cycle. I am extremely pleased that we have true international participation for the Cycle Challenge this year.”
The participants, who are volunteering in their spare time, will cover distances of 50-60 miles each day and will raise funds for the Oncology Unit at Castle Hill Hospital, Yorkshire.