On Friday 22 February, we celebrated the success of our Community Health Champions at a graduation event. Those who have been actively volunteering for 6 months or more received a certificate in recognition of their dedication to the programme and we listened to speakers talk about their experience of the scheme. These included 2 Community Health Champions who shared their story of how they became involved with the programme and what they have achieved. We also heard from Nasreen Akhtar, contract manager of the CHC programme; Marc Blanchette who coordinates the CHC programme at Pheonix Futures; and Ibrar Uddin from Birmingham Mind who spoke about the wider Community Cohesion Programme and upcoming mental health training opportunities.

The morning was a huge success and a great opportunity to recognise the brilliant work that Community Health Champions are doing across Birmingham to promote positive healthy lifestyles to others in their community.

The event closed with a delicious buffet, provided by ChangeKitchen, a local social enterprise supporting disadvantaged people in Birmingham.