Greenwich community programme halves diabetes medication costs and supports weight loss
A Greenwich based community project is helping local residents living with type 2 diabetes to stay active and improve their health in a safe and welcoming environment.
The Champions 4 Change Wellbeing CIC delivers community-based boxercise programmes to help those living with type 2 diabetes improve their blood glucose control through structured physical activity.
Funded by the Greenwich Healthier Communities fund, the programme takes a holistic approach to improving health outcomes by also offering monthly sessions with a dietitian. Here, participants are taught about incorporating healthier foods into their diets and adapting cultural dishes to make them healthier.
With diabetes care costing the NHS around £10 billion yearly, the programme serves to improve participants’ health and resultantly, save the NHS money in prescribing costs. After 12 weeks of attending sessions regularly, Greenwich participants have on average reduced their prescribed diabetes medication by 50%, from an average of £356 per person to £178 per person. Participants also lost an average of a stone (14lbs) during this period and saw an improvement in other long-term conditions, such as high blood pressure.
The group’s Greenwich sessions are funded by the Greenwich Healthier Communities Fund, which has been established by the NHS Greenwich Charitable Funds, in partnership with the NHS South East London Integrated Care Board and the Healthier Greenwich Partnership.
The aim of the fund is to prevent health inequalities across the Royal Borough of Greenwich and ensure that everyone in the borough has equal access to the services and support.
The funding also goes towards providing vouchers from Tesco and Morrisons for people who regularly join the classes. The vouchers serve to incentivise attendees to exercise on a regular basis, while also helping to tackle health inequalities by removing socioeconomic barriers to exercise and healthy eating.
Find out more about the programme here: Welcome – Champions 4 Change Wellbeing