Over the past 5 weeks, we have hosted two Work Based Learning students from Chester University studying Nutrition. Read below to hear about both Emma and Wendi's experience with us!
Emma’s Experience
I’ve been placed with HealthBox CIC as part of my BSc Human Nutrition course and have just completed five weeks full time with them. From day one I was made to feel welcome and relaxed about all the new things I’d be doing. The placement has involved a mixture of working from home on recipes and a final week presentation, through to attending weight management and falls prevention classes as well as getting hands on and messy with little ones in school.
It was a proud moment to see the recipes I’d help develop go live on the HealthBox website, which boosted confidence in my skills. I’ve also enjoyed working with people in the community, particularly after so much of the last two years has been online. I especially enjoyed seeing the early years children and their younger siblings getting stuck into fresh fruit and exploring what ‘eating the rainbow’ looked like. It helped me to see that this is an age group that I’d love to continue to work with.
My supervisor knew from the start that giving presentations was not something I felt particularly confident with, so I was encouraged to work on these skills each week, in a supportive and unpressured way. I think the experience finally got me over my fear of public speaking. It made a big difference to be able to speak on a subject I am passionate about.
Being able to speak to HealthBox staff about their roles and career paths has been both inciteful and inspiring. It opened my eyes to the myriad of opportunities open to me for working in health promotion.
I’ve appreciated the opportunity to work in several different settings, to feel like I’m contributing to the Health Promotion community, and to explore what might work for me in my future career. The staff at HealthBox are a mine of information and always happy to help.
Thank you for making me feel so welcome.
Wendi's Experience
I’m currently in my second year at the University of Chester studying BSc Human Nutrition. When I learned about Healthbox CIC I knew that I wanted my work placement to be with them. The company provide many support services to people of all age groups within the community. Within our first couple of meetings we had discussed areas that we would like to learn more about and our supervisor, Jess, created a timetable to include them. The placement was a mixture of working from home and attending group sessions in the community.
Working with Emma, also on placement, we relished in the opportunity to create new recipes and looked forward to #TastyTuesdays every week. We were given the opportunity to deliver an online presentation on food and mood and spent time researching and preparing for this throughout the placement. This was a daunting experience however we enjoyed the research and the freedom to create a presentation of our own. We delivered the presentation to a live audience during our final week of placement and although we were nervous it was a fantastic learning experience.
I learned a great deal from observing Emily’s online weight management sessions and spending an afternoon with Gracie talking to patients about their health and wellbeing. I had been unsure if this was an area of interest to me however the sessions were inspiring. I could see how providing the right information along with support and motivation could really make a difference to people’s lives. I also enjoyed the Shine session with pre-school children where we played with colourful fruit and encouraged the children to try new things, it felt like a huge win when a little girl tried her first kiwi fruit and loved it!
Although our focus was nutrition, we also experienced some of the other services that the company provide to support the community. The art workshop was a real highlight, having no creative skills at all I wasn’t sure how it would go! However, it was so much more than painting. Lindsay facilitates a welcoming and calm space to follow along - it was relaxing and a lot of fun too. We also went along to a falls prevention group each week and saw the huge benefit that this service brings to the participants.
The placement provided many opportunities to put theory into practice and I’m grateful to Jess and the rest of the team for being so supportive and welcoming throughout.
If you'd like to watch the Improve your mood with the 5P's virtual session, click below: