I was in London again today for the presentation to support our Healthy Schools Beacon bid... actually I never got home yesterday The presentation was at the IDeA offices near Farringdon tube station and I wasn't sure until the middle of the morning if the rest of our team would be able to make it.

The railway system on the East Coast mainline had been badly disrupted by the storms and it took Anne Cowling, Kat Johnston, James Young and Charlee Brewsher four hours to get to London as they dodged cancelled and packed trains, fallen trees, disrupted power lines and floods. However they made it and we were brilliant even if I do say it myself!

Kat and James, from Youth on Heath, led our presentation, showed our fantastic and inspiring DVD, introduced Anne and I to do our bits and then Kat finished with a real WOW factor finale! We then answered questions from the panel for the rest of our hour. Charlee, from The Project, had done a great job coaching Kat and James, who were so impressive. We'll now have to wait until March to hear if we are to get Beacon Status. I can't imagine that the panel weren't impressed... even I was!

What is great about Leeds and everything we do is the connections and how everything ties together... wherever you look we are all working collaboratively and collectively to ensure that all our children and young people are happy, healthy, safe and successful... whatever it takes! The Leeds Healthy Schools Programme is an amazing school improvement toolkit and provides a really powerful framework for integrated, joined-up, multi-agency working. It is a unique and innovative approach and it has brilliantly engaged and involved our schools, our colleagues and our partners to ensure that we are making a real difference where it matters.

Anne and her team have done a fantastic job over the years and I know that their energy, passion, commitment and hard work will be recognised in March.
Chris