Get Ready for Summer with NHS Choices

To enhance our Health Kick project, NHS Choices have launched 'Get Ready for Summer'!

As a professional working directly with communities, NHS Choices would like to tell you more about a new health and wellbeing campaign that is launching in April. In the lead up to what we all hope will be a long and hot summer, NHS Choices wants to encourage people to boost their health and fitness activities and stick to them in the long term. The Get Ready For Summer campaign harnesses a popular desire to make diet and fitness changes ready for the holiday season.

What's on offer?

Participants can choose one of four weekly email 'action packs' - Lose Weight, Healthy Eating, Couch to 5k or Get Fit - which take them on a health improvement journey over 8 weeks, with expert advice, motivational articles, tips and tools to help people achieve their health goal and stick to their regime in the longer term. Andy Stevenson from Lincoln recently completed the Couch25k pack, said: "In just six weeks I've gone from worrying about being able to keep up a jog for 60 seconds to looking forward to 25 minutes of it without a break. I can't begin to describe how good that feels."

To make it easier for people to support each other, NHS Choices will also create dedicated Facebook groups the around four popular health topics. Users will be able to join the groups to swap tips and get encouragement from their online networks. They can also share their health goals with Facebook friends through a dedicated status update tool available through the Healthy Living Facebook page.

The campaign will start on Monday 11 April, when people will be able to sign up for a Get Ready for Summer action pack by visiting www.nhs.uk/summer or by texting SUMMER to 64746 (free text number).