The Bump to Buggy project, which is designed to engage with women in disadvantaged areas, was awarded the Community Partnership Award at the recent Nouveau Wellbeing tenth anniversary celebration dinner.
The awards, held on 2 November 2018, celebrated the achievements of Nouveau Wellbeing over the past decade and the organisations and individuals that have helped them along the way.
Awards recognised school partnerships, care partnerships, community groups, young people and volunteers among others. It was the second ceremony of its kind, with the first awards taking place on Nouveau Wellbeing’s fifth anniversary.
The multi-agency Bump to Buggy project is a Sport England funded project involving Teesside University, Nouveau Wellbeing, Fuse – the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health, Tees Valley Sport and local councils. It is developing ways to help pregnant women and new mothers to overcome barriers to physical activity – focusing on areas including time constraints, lack of social support, cost and accessibility.
Research has shown that pregnant women are often less active than women who are not pregnant, and levels of physical activity decrease as pregnancy progresses, having a negative impact on the health of both the mother and child.
PhD student Dr Murali Subramanian is involved and funded by this project and attended the prestigious awards evening at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, alongside Dr Liane Azevedo, his main PhD supervisor.
Being recognised with a community partnership award at the very beginning of our work, and competing against the likes of Middlesbrough Council and County Durham Sport, shows the gravity of this project.
His work is centred around exploring the needs of pregnant women or new mothers who were previously active to help them to maintain physical activity during this period of change. Together, Dr Subramanian and Dr Azevedo collected the award on behalf of Bump to Buggy project team.
Also in attendance were representatives from significant organisations in the region including Durham County Sport, Middlesbrough Council, Pinpoint Health and Social Care and many chief executives from across the North East.
Dr Subramanian said: ‘Being recognised with a community partnership award at the very beginning of our work, and competing against the likes of Middlesbrough Council and County Durham Sport, shows the gravity of this project.
‘The awards evening was great and we had a lot of fun. The recognition makes me more responsible and even more committed to delivering what we have promised to the community of pregnant women and mothers.’
On the award, Nouveau Wellbeing commented: ‘Working alongside Nouveau Wellbeing, Teesside University has developed an innovative new research project, examining ways to help new and expectant mothers in disadvantaged areas stay fit and healthy, both during and after pregnancy. This project truly has health and community at its heart and represents the finest of Nouveau’s values.’