Published Tuesday 27 September 2016 at 15:08
A famous face from Corrie’s cobbles will be making his way to Blackburn Cathedral to celebrate the best of health and social care on Thursday (29th.)
Gareth Berliner, who plays ‘Macca’ on Coronation Street, has been performing stand-up comedy across the UK and internationally for eight years, taking his successful solo shows to comedy festivals.
The actor will be taking time out to attend the special event from 10am – 3pm, to share his personal experiences of depression, living with a long term condition and how he overcame its obstacles.
The event aims to gather together health and social care professionals, third sector organisations, service users and members of the public to highlight the work that has taken place over recent years, as well as offering a chance to hear about some exciting new developments.
It is part of a new project where NHS and local councils in Pennine Lancashire – made up of East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen – are working together to change the way health and social care is delivered in the area.
Together they aim to meet the future health and social care needs of residents as well as meeting the tough financial challenge in the next few years.
On Thursday, the Cathedral will be themed and split into zones of health and wellbeing.
Teachers Tim and Kerry Meek, along with their daughters Amy (11) and Ella (9), will be leading mini-workshops at the Ordnance Survey Stall, and giving a talk about their incredible experiences of travelling the UK.
In 2014, they sold their house, quit their jobs and went off on family adventure, in order to complete 100 Family Adventures – everything from sub-zero camping to coasteering – and making some radical life changes.
The event will also host Suco Suco Samba – a drum and dance troupe for people in recovering from addiction formed by East Lancashire support group ‘Juice’.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to get a free health check or take part in a mini-fitness demonstration including the use of a state-of-the-art ‘Wattbike’ and rowing machine.
There will also be demonstrations of the North West Ambulance Trust’s telecare services, virtual visits designed to reduce social isolation, health Skyping and 3D printing of prosthetic hands.
Information will be available on social prescribing schemes, smartphone and app developments and much more.
Dr Phil Huxley, NHS East Lancashire CCG Chair, said:
We are looking forward to this opportunity to share some of the stories of people who use our services, highlighting some of the innovative ways of working that we are introducing.
Together with the voluntary and third sector, the health and care community is trying to work collaboratively to make better use of resources and improve the health and wellbeing of the people we serve.
Graham Burgess, NHS Blackburn with Darwen CCG chair, said:
The event is for everyone who has an interest in health and social care and what the future holds and I urge everyone to come down and see what there is to offer.
To get involved in the debate around helping to shape the future of health and social care in Pennine Lancashire, log onto the campaign website, like the Facebook page or follow on Twitter.
A full programme for the event is available here.