Your Patch
Hugs all round
by YourMail-Heather
4 months ago
in
Holderness Road and Preston Road
Last updated 3 months ago.
from the Hull Daily Mail/East Riding Mail Thursday, June 12
They embraced like long-lost friends, reunited after months apart. The Duchess of York hugged the Sargerson family as she met them in East Park yesterday.
The family featured in The Duchess In Hull, a two-part programme shown on ITV last month, where Sarah Ferguson advised them on tackling obesity, healthy eating and exercise.
She returned to the city yesterday as part of a fact-finding mission for healthy lifestyle programmes.
But arriving at East Park she was greeted by the youngest member of the Sargerson family – seven-year-old Olly.
The Duchess said: “I got off the bus and I saw this very pretty, healthy-looking girl running towards me, she had pink cheeks. She gave me a huge hug and said ‘I’m just so pleased to see you’.
“That’s the best example of how that family has changed.
“They used to smoke in the house and she had grey skin and breathing problems.
“Now Tonia and Mick have lost weight and they look amazing.”
For the filming of the documentary, the Duchess stayed at a £40-a-night bed and breakfast in Holderness Road, while helping the family-of-six, of Preston Road, east Hull, improve their health by encouraging them to eat better and take more exercise.
Parents Tonia and Mick said the Duchess had “turned their lives around”.
Mrs Sargerson, 47, said: “We really enjoyed having her here and love her to bits. It’s nice to see here again.
“She’s been keeping in touch with us. If we text her we always get an answer.
“It’s made a big difference to our lives.”
The Duchess also praised the city’s healthy lifestyle initiative, including the Shape-Up scheme, which promotes a healthy lifestyle for young people.
She visited Paisley Primary School in Paisley Street, west Hull, one of three Hull schools taking part in the pan-European scheme.
At East Park, she met 200 children taking part in a Healthy Living picnic, organised by Councillor Mary Glew, combining exercise with a healthy lunch.
The Duchess also re-ignited the free school meals debate, saying the scrapping of a scheme in which all primary and special school children were given free healthy lunches was “absolutely wrong”.
Asked if she wanted to bring back the free school lunch scheme, which was scrapped by the Lib Dem administration, she replied: “Absolutely. Yes. I support this with every grain of my being.”
Sarah Ferguson www.sarahferguson.com
Healthy eating www.eatwell.gov.uk
Replies
-
YourMail-Heather Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!
Obesity on agenda for Duchess
from the Hull Daily Mail/East Riding Mail Wednesday, July 9
The Duchess of York will meet with Health Secretary and Hull West and Hessle MP Alan Johnson following the success of her TV show, for which she spent six months teaching a Hull family how to eat well.
The Duchess In Hull, which was shown on ITV1 in May, featured Sarah Ferguson living in a £40-a-night bed-and-breakfast as she gave advice on battling obesity to the Sargerson family, who were living on benefits.
The programme followed her from her apartment overlooking New York’s Central Park to Preston Road, east Hull, where the family live.
The Duchess, who has battled with her own weight, helped them cut back on smoking, start exercising and budget to feed six people healthily on £80 a week.
Now, she and Councillor Mary Glew, who drove the city council’s Eat Well Do Well healthy eating campaign, are to meet with Mr Johnson to discuss their ideas for tackling obesity.
Previously, the Duchess said she wanted to use the Sargersons’ experience to help other people across the country and is preparing to publish a leaflet with her and the family’s diet tips.
She also called for a meeting with Mr Johnson and Schools Secretary Ed Balls to see if there is any way she can support the Government in encouraging people to lead healthier lives.
Mr Johnson has now confirmed a meeting will take place.
He also revealed he expects Hull to become a “pathfinder” area in tackling childhood obesity following the success of the healthy, free school meals scheme.
Mr Johnson told the Mail: “I didn’t manage to see the programme but the Duchess has been in touch and we are setting up a meeting with her.
“She is interested in tackling obesity and it is a major issue for me and my department, but we cannot just tackle it from the Department of Health.
“We need to work on this right across Government.
“The Duchess was very taken with the healthy, free school meals programme in Hull and she met up with Mary Glew.
“She and Mary requested the meeting and I am more than happy to listen to what she has to say.”
Alan Johnson www.alanjohnson.org
You must be Logged in to post replies.