Sexual health courses in Lambeth celebrated

19 June 2007

fpa is delighted to celebrate two successful sexual health courses running in the Borough of Lambeth at the YMCA in Stockwell on Thursday 21 June from 10am. Two separate courses have been running, one with parents and the other with women from ethnic minorities to improve their knowledge of sexual health.

The event will start with speeches from the Lambeth Minority Ethnic Women’s Project, including women who have attended the course. Then parents who have completed the fpa Speakeasy course will be awarded their certificates. Speakeasy gives parents and carers the skills and information needed to talk to their children about sex and relationships.

Developed in partnership with Lambeth Teenage Pregnancy & Parenthood Partnership (TPPP), the fpa Ethnic Women’s Project provides women with sexual health information. The project works in a relaxed and open atmosphere with different minority ethnic groups over the age of 16, including refugees and asylum seekers.

The Teenage Pregnancy & Parenthood Partnership brings together a range of local agencies such as Lambeth Council, the local NHS and local voluntary organisations to tackle teenage pregnancy as part of a broader strategy to improve sexual health for Lambeth residents.

The first of two workshops introduces the facts about reproduction and contraceptive choices. The second covers sexually transmitted infections, where and how to access help and advice on sexual health issues. Courses are flexible to meet the needs of all the women.

The event also launches a new development in the Ethnic Women’s Project, through which a new training programme for professionals is offered to any organisation in Lambeth who also want to carry out this type of work.

Terri Ryland, Director of Practice Development, fpa said: “It is important that all women are informed about sexual health. This project has given tremendous help to groups of women who may not have had the confidence to talk about these aspects of sexual health before.”

Lambeth’s director of public health, Ruth Wallis, who co-chairs the Lambeth Teenage Pregnancy & Parenthood Partnership, said: “Improved sexual health is one of our key local priorities, whilst all of our work is underpinned by our shared determination to reduce health inequalities. The projects we are celebrating today unite these commitments and show that the best way forward is to work in partnership with other agencies and the communities we serve.”

Comments from women who have attended the course include: “At first I was embarrassed talking about these subjects but now I have more confidence. I would definitely suggest other women did the course.”

“I did not realise how little I knew about my own sexual health. I just never knew about how my body worked before. Now I know how to protect myself.”

The new courses for people working with minority ethnic women will start in September 2007, and course places for minority ethnic women are available now. For more information contact Terri Ryland on 020 7608 5262.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact the fpa press office on 020 7608 5265/5264. Mobile 07958 921060.

fpa (Family Planning Association) is the only registered charity working to improve the sexual health and reproductive rights of all people throughout the UK.

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