A senior representative from the Department of Health, Steve Feast who is a senior advisor for Health and Well-being, visited Osmani Trust on the 2nd of December 2008 to experience the outstanding work being done by the Osmani Trust Health Trainers at the Osmani Youth Centre. He was accompanied by Dr Somen Banerjee and Chris Lovitt, both associate directors of Public Health from the Tower Hamlets PCT. They were accompanied by the Project Manager of the Health Trainers programme, Rakhee Lahiri. The senior public health officials heard about various projects that Osmani Trust deliver within the community. The main aim of their visit was to understand and visualise the work being done by the Health Trainers and the Tower Hamlets PCT.
The guests were received with a warm welcome by Shelim Shakir, Team Leader of the Health Trainers. He then introduced his team to the visitors. Subsequently this lead to a short presentation made by Abu Mumin (Committee Member) who gave a brief history of Osmani Trust, which then lead onto a video presentation that summarised some of the projects that Osmani Trust deliver.
Shamimuz Zaman and Shajue Begum who are both Health Trainers then followed with a short presentation about the Health Trainers programme. The guests were then given a tour of the Osmani Centre where they have seen various activities taking place. This includes a women only physical activity session, which comprised of aerobics and yoga training. Followed by men’s circuit training and culminating in a glimpse at a 1-2-1 smoking cessation session.
The guests were extremely impressed by the vast array of work that has been conducted by the Health Trainers. Steve Feast said: “Thank you very much for arranging what was a really excellent visit to your PCT yesterday. I met an inspiring and committed group of individuals, both within the PCT and across the community. Certainly you are a beacon of action which much of the NHS would benefit from copying.” The community is greatly benefiting from an outstanding project. Osmani Trust Senior Manager, Abu Mumin concluded by saying: “It’s been a privilege and an honour to be recognised by the Department of Health and the Tower Hamlets PCT for the hard work and dedication shown by Osmani Trust.”