LHT’s May Logan Centre – the heartbeat of a community

Published by Group Communications for Symphony Housing Group in Housing and also in Health

A longstanding relationship between NHS Sefton and Liverpool Housing Trust has been guaranteed for a further four years after an agreement was signed confirming the partnership.

Celebrating its thirteenth year at the heart of the Bootle Community, The May Logan Healthy Living Centre aims to tackle poor health in the borough and offers a range of courses and services from family planning, ante-natal and diabetes clinics to healthy living, counselling and educational courses. The centre brings together 69 different services in total with the aim of improving the health and wellbeing of local people of all ages.

In 2011 more than 50,000 visitors attended Alder Hey clinics, undertook educational courses and made use of the garden, crèche and community café at May Logan. The work is not confined to the centre - every year the Food & Health team also work with hundreds of families throughout Sefton.

Centre manager Debbie Storey said: “We are proud of May Logan’s achievements and the tens of thousands of people that we are able to help. The services on offer really can change lives.

“Health is improving in Sefton but there is still some way to go and with the joint commitment of our two organisations we are well on the way.”

One person who has been helped by the services offered by May Logan is Dave Braithwaite, age 59. Dave is a self-employed electrician with Type 2 Diabetes. He came to see Debbie Kelly, a May Logan health & lifestyle trainer at the centre after a serious illness prevented him from working.

Dave said: “Debbie was a sounding board. I could talk to her about my concerns. I attended a weight management course and a cookery course which inspired me to try different vegetables like sweet potatoes and I am working in the gardens to grow vegetables. I don’t usually like to be part of a group but this allows me to work in a way I feel comfortable with and the centre gives me somewhere to go.”

May Logan Centre will celebrate its thirteenth birthday with a community family fun day in August and will produce a report celebrating people’s personal experiences of May Logan and the difference the centre is making to the community.