Public Health specialists from Leeds City Council are celebrating along with workers representing young people’s frontline services following national recognition thanks to winning ‘Young People’s Sexual Health Service/Project of the year’ at the UK Sexual Health Awards.
The 3 in 1 Scheme faced stiff competition from a range of other projects and teams around the country, but was a clear winner. The scheme provides sexual health information, advice and resources such as condoms, pregnancy tests and chlamydia screening to 12,193 young people within over 150 community based sites across the city.
Celebrating their win, Hannah Sowerbutts, Health Improvement Specialist at Leeds City Council, said:
“The scheme has been running since 2010 and in that time we’ve trained over 500 frontline workers to be confident and equipped to have the right conversations with young people about their sexual health and staying safe. Sexual health is everybody’s business – it’s not just something that should be left to clinicians to deliver.”
“It’s an amazing achievement to win this award. It recognises the commitment and dedication of not only hundreds of frontline workers in the city, but just as importantly the thousands of young people who make sure they do take responsibility for their sexual health and wellbeing”
Councillor Lisa Mulherin, Chair of Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board, said:
“Leeds can be really proud of this award and everyone in our teams delivering sexual health advice for young people.
“The close work between Leeds City Council, with our Public Health and Children’s Services teams, the NHS and third sector means we are making good progress improving the sexual health of young people in the city and that is something we must build on in the future.”
Kirsty McKellar, young people’s worker at Bracken Court Hostel, said:
“The 3 in 1 Scheme is invaluable to our young vulnerable clients, especially those who lack the confidence to access services in the wider community. This is a unique extra service that we are able to provide and makes us stand out from the other services within our organisation.”
Denis Metcalf, Leeds College of Building, said:
“The 3 in 1 Scheme means so much to our students here at the Leeds College of Building with many using the services on offer and the feedback we get is excellent. The 3 in 1 Scheme offers quick, reliable and most importantly confidential sexual health services in a relaxed and comfortable setting with staff that they know and trust.”
Online advice is available at
www.leedssexualhealth.com
