Project
The ‘Healthy Moms’ project is a community-based project supported by the CWELL programme. Healthy Moms provides peer-to-peer fitness programmes for young mothers in the Moyross area.
The classes, which are designed and delivered by CWELL adult learners, are intended to incentivise young mothers to meet with each other and develop a more healthy lifestyle. Classes are offered in the morning while children are at school at minimal cost (€2 a class). Transport is provided for those who did not have their own. Laura (CWELL team member & fitness instructor) facilitated the classes and created individual workout plans for each participant.
In many cases, young mothers once their children go to school, simply go home. The aim of this programme is to help young mothers get out and meet new people while becoming fit and healthy.
Research has shown that exercise benefits both mental and physical health. Furthermore, healthy moms encourage healthy behaviour in their children. Therefore, the Healthy Moms programme promoted healthy lifestyle change on multiple levels within the community.
This project is a supported by: the Healthy CWELL project team, the Moyross Youth Academy, Corpus Christi school and the University of Limerick.
Laura Hughes (Healthy CWELL) provides fitness instruction and individual workout plans
Andrew Byrne (Moyross Youth Academy) provides access to the gym and refreshment
Anne Marie O’Connor (Corpus Christi School Liaison Officer) supports and encourages young mothers to participate in the classes.
Eileen Hoffler (University of Limerick) provides project support.
The team piloted the programme in late 2019 with 5 participants. 4/5 of the mothers completed a survey regarding their participation, which was highly favourable pointing out the benefits of exercising in a class with peer support and a skilled instructor.
The team noted that the success of their project depended on word of mouth and reputation within the community. As a result, 30 mothers registered for the second programme. While the classes began in February, they were postponed due to Covid-19 public health restrictions and will resume when restrictions cease.
Learning
This module comprises workshop-based project management training delivered in CWELL classes with practical experiential learning, applied in a community based project, designed to address an identified need. Module delivery comprises a series of practical exercises, designed to support knowledge of, and capacity building for project management. Students taking this module will be expected to design and deliver a community based project to address an identified need.
This project is designed to help young mothers get out into the community and make new friends. Parenting can be an isolating job with much of the work being done in the home. Typically, as parents focus on their children, they experience less time for themselves. The intention is that as young moms develop more healthy habits learned in the classes, these will benefit the whole family.
The Healthy CWELL team will work in collaboration with
• CWELL tutors
• The Moyross Youth Academy Gym,
• Corpus Christi School Liaison Officer
• The University of Limerick Community Engagement Facilitator, CWELL
Support provided by these bodies include venue & materials, community out reach and project support & learning respectively.
There will be two assessments points to this module, each worth 50% of your final mark. The first assessment will comprise a site visit to your project by a panel of CWELL assessors. The second assessment will comprise the creation of a Project Portfolio detailing the project’s design and implementation and your participation in it. Guidelines concerning the creation of portfolios are available from the module’s sulis site.