ACCLAIMED Padstow-based celebrity chef Rick Stein is supporting an exciting new NHS campaign to help people in East Cornwall to manage their diabetes.

The Healthier Me Club has been created by Bodmin-based Dr Janine Riley from the Three Harbours and Bosvena Health surgeries to support a group of patients who are receiving help to manage their diabetes and mental health. The first group was carefully selected by the surgeries’ GPs who felt they would benefit from this new eight-week targeted approach of help.

The first group of people who have been chosen to join the club will receive one to one support from a range of local experts to manage their mental health, become more active, receive healthy eating advice and review any medication they’re taking to manage their conditions. They’ll also receive help from a closed Facebook group where it’s hoped the members will also support and encourage each other to achieve the targets they have each set at the start of the eight-week course.

Rick Stein’s Cookery School will also provide a specially selected weekly health recipe for the group to cook on a Thursday, culminating in a live cook-along with one of its chefs at the end of the programme in May.

Rick Stein said: “The thing that interests me is a lot of us often forget that we are what we eat, and the more healthily we eat, the more healthy we are – yes physically, but mentally as well. So I really do support this local project.”

The team at Rick Stein’s Cookery School have chosen six of Rick’s recipes to suit the group’s needs. Each dish is for a family of four, to involve the whole household together. First and foremost in choosing, head chef lecturer Nick Evans wanted hearty, healthy and tasty meals. Also essential was for them to be quick, simple and affordable to make.

Nick has filmed step-by-step videos for the group to follow in a weekly cook-along. To mark their success come the end of the programme, participants will be invited to join him in person at the Cookery School in Padstow, where they will make the final dish together.

Healthier Me Club is the brainchild of Dr Janine Riley, a partner at Stillmoor Surgery in Bodmin, which is part of the Three Harbours and Bosvena Health primary care network. Speaking of her aspirations for the fledgling group, she said: “This project is very different to our historic model of doctor/patient management plans. It aims to engage our patients with a personalised programme. We are creating a patient-led group that really supports and motivates its members.”

Jeremy Holder is one of those taking part in the Healthier Me Club. He said: “I need to be healthier for my diabetes. I know how to, but I’ve lost hope and motivation, especially during the past two years. I want this to help me back to my old healthier habits. I’m a good cook – I enjoy cooking -and I used to cycle. The central hub on Facebook will, I hope, make it easier to sustain change.”