New service set to help Liverpool "Liv Life" to the full

LIVERPOOL residents looking to achieve and maintain a healthy weight can get support from a brand new service that has now launched.

Liv Life Liverpool is free to access for anyone in the City and is informed by the findings set out in Public Health Liverpool's groundbreaking:- 'State of Health in the City - Liverpool 2040' report.

The programme is underpinned by behaviour change approaches following consultation with partners including:- the NHS, as well as the wider community. The aim is to support up to about 1,000 families and 2,000 adults in the 1st year.

Anyone can sign up for Liv Life Liverpool via the website, they do not have to be referred by a professional, but need to meet eligibility criteria before a personalised plan is developed.

Designed to support individuals, families and pregnant women, Liv Life Liverpool will also be aligned with the Council's Neighbourhood Model to ensure that services throughout Liverpool's communities will be engaged.

Liv Life Liverpool plans last for 12 weeks and include:-

• 1 to 1 coaching, with sessions taking place either in person or virtually.
  

• Weigh and stay or weigh and go groups.
  

• Physical activity groups.

There will also be on the go support from the free:- 'Best You' app which can also help with reducing alcohol consumption and stopping smoking.

All the different elements of the programme have been tailored to support people to develop knowledge and practical skills around food and cooking and physical activity which will ensure a successful and sustainable journey towards achieving a healthy weight.

63% of adults in Liverpool, are overweight and about a ¼ of children start Primary School overweight, increasing to:- 1 in 3 children aged 11 being overweight or obese by the time they enter Secondary School.

You can follow Liv Life Liverpool on Facebook and Instagram.

Liverpool City Council's cabinet member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing Cllr Harry Doyle said:- "Liv Life Liverpool is a brilliant toolbox for residents to use to support them to eat healthily and to get more active. Trying to achieve a healthy weight can be daunting for many people. The team at ICE Creates understands this so have developed an evidence-based programme that has plenty of support built in to make sure that change is not only sustainable but enjoyable. Whilst losing excess weight is important for reducing the likelihood of serious health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, Liv Life Liverpool is about more than just the numbers on a scale. It's about building healthy habits that will last a lifetime."

Matt Ashton, Liverpool's Director of Public Health, said:- "I'm thrilled we are now offering the right support to create a healthy weight culture, that benefits everyone in Liverpool. We're excited to be on this journey to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes with our residents, and working in multiple partnership including:- ICE Creates, Liverpool City Council's Neighbourhood Managers, Food Active and Feeding Liverpool."

ICE Creates' Liv Life Liverpool's service and engagement lead Jamie Prescott, said:- "As service lead I'm looking forward to engaging with the many excellent partners we have in this City, with the ultimate aim of helping people to make small, but crucial changes. We want to help families and adults across Liverpool to improve their long term health and believe this service can really make a difference."

Nuclear technology can open door to low carbon energy production

THE University of Manchester's policy engagement unit, Policy@Manchester, has marked Nuclear Week in Parliament by publishing a new article from a leading academic exploring the role advanced nuclear can play as a balancing technology to facilitate the generation of low-carbon hydrogen - whilst maximising renewable energy potential.

In his piece, Dr William Bodel from the Dalton Nuclear Institute; who is part of a high level University of Manchester delegation attending Nuclear Week events in Westminster; highlights that the only current:- "scalable" low carbon energy options available to the UK are renewables, in the form of wind and solar, and nuclear.

He writes:- "For the periods where the sun doesn't shine much and the wind doesn't blow much, a flexible alternative technology is needed to fill in these gaps and meet the nation's power demand. Today's nuclear plants don't fit that role very well. While cheap to run, they are expensive to build, which makes the concept of a nuclear power station sitting idle for extended periods, when its power isn't needed, extremely bad economically. The economics of nuclear plants are therefore optimised by running them at full power, 24/7."

Dr Bodel points out that introducing hydrogen production; as well as electricity; to the mix:- "creates a way to make the output flexible, diverting nuclear output towards electricity or hydrogen production as required."

He continues:- "This means reactors can run at full output capacity, and their energy split between the grid or hydrogen production according to demand. Even rapid changes in renewable output can be accommodated by turning the hydrogen production:- 'dial' up and down to divert more or less nuclear energy to that purpose."

The University of Manchester academic explains that high temperature electrolysis is likely to be the cheapest route to hydrogen production:- "provided the high temperatures it requires are available."

He writes:- "This makes it an ideal technology to partner advanced reactors. Such reactors can provide a variable mixture of high-temperature heat and electricity to a hydrogen production facility, in addition to putting electricity into the grid when needed."

Dr Bodel adds:- "Our recent research at the Dalton Nuclear Institute demonstrates how renewables and nuclear working in tandem; alongside a route to hydrogen production; can both reduce emissions by eliminating the use of backup gas-fired generation and save money by reducing the costs of backup plant or expensive energy storage, allowing both nuclear and renewables to operate to their full potential."

Concluding his piece, he argues that having advanced nuclear as a balancing technology:- "not only allows us to generate substantial amounts of hydrogen at a competitive cost, but it also allows renewable technologies to operate to their full potential, without curtailment."

He writes:- "High temperature advanced reactors are particularly suited to generating hydrogen and should be built at scale. These should be equipped for delivering hydrogen and electricity generation for the grid. This would enable them to generate electricity for the grid when output from other low-carbon generators is low. We recommend that government continues to support the delivery of advanced nuclear; at accelerated pace and with full recognition of the wider benefits to achievement of net zero."

'Is advanced nuclear the route to low carbon hydrogen production?' by Dr William Bodel is available to read on the University's Manchester website.