Published on: 26th February 2016
A drop-in style event to highlight the support available to those suffering from eating disorders across Lincolnshire, will take place next week (24 February).
Staff from the Eating Disorders Service, who work for Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT), have organised a second open evening to help promote the invaluable work they do in caring for people battling a variety of conditions including anorexia nervosa and bulimia.
This year’s open evening takes place in the middle of Eating Disorders Awareness Week (22 to 28 February) and the team are inviting members of the public, GPs and other healthcare providers to come along and discover more about the service in general.
Eating Disorders Awareness Week challenges stereotypes and stigmas to raise funds for ‘b-eat’, the UK’s leading charity supporting people affected by eating disorders.
Building on from last year’s inaugural event, Heather Killick, team coordinator for LPFT's Eating Disorders Service said she wanted to further spread the word about the help and support her staff can offer the people of Lincolnshire.
The open evening is really about getting people to make that first brave step in getting help, or perhaps someone has concerns about a loved one’s eating habits and thinks they might have an eating disorder. If so they can come along, have an informal chat and see what we can do to help.
Heather said the event is also an opportunity for the service to tell people about the success of its current Day Programme, which runs three days a week.
The programme, now in its fourth year, offers more intensive support for people suffering from eating disorders, helping to prevent the need for hospital treatment, promoting earlier discharge from an inpatient hospital and keeping them closer to home.
It was initially set up with a £5,000 grant from the Queen's Nursing Institute and is based at Carholme Court in Lincoln.
Heather added:
The day programme is crucial because it allows the person to access treatment nearer to home at a more intensive level, encourages peer support and teaches them to develop new coping skills rather than through the use of food. We hope that holding our event during Eating Disorders Awareness Week will promote the service and raise awareness that accessing services earlier is crucial to promoting recovery and preventing further deterioration in their physical and psychological well-being. We hope to run these open evenings regularly and we would love to see as many people there as possible.
Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are also getting behind the ‘b-eat’ campaign for Eating Disorders Awareness Week and encouraging people to take part in their Sock It to Eating Disorders campaign.
Ideas for fundraising include wearing silly socks to work and sharing a #SockItSelfie on Twitter (@beatED), skydiving, running, or trekking in silly socks, and throwing a bake sale with sock-shaped cookies or sock-topped cupcakes.
Dr Kevin Hill, Chair of South Lincolnshire CCG said:
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia affect over one-and-a-half-million people nationwide, and there may be many more because many sufferers hide their condition. Here in Lincolnshire we have support groups which are dedicated to helping people combat their condition, and which include former sufferers, their family members and friends, so they have direct knowledge of the impact it can have on people’s lives.
LPFT’s eating disorders open evening takes place on Wednesday 24 February from 4pm to 8pm at the Trust’s Carholme Court in Long Leys Road, Lincoln. There will be light refreshments and cakes available on the night.
There will be an opportunity to hear patient stories, detailing the help and support they have received, in addition to browsing a variety of stands promoting other Trust services.
For more information on the event contact Heather Killick direct on 01522 421651.
