Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise and health improvement charity, Well Connected, have recently donated thirty copies of their ‘Open Wide and Step Inside’ books to Plymouth Libraries.
‘Open Wide and Step Inside’ is a schools-based initiative which is aimed at five to seven year olds to help them to develop good oral health hygiene by telling the story of Geoffrey the Giant who has toothache and his journey to visit Daisy the Dentist. He meets different characters along the way who each tell Geoffrey a key oral health message.
The donation of the books to the twelve libraries across the city and also the school library service will enable more children and their families to read Geoffrey’s story and discover how to look after their own teeth in a fun, friendly yet educational way. The books are bright and colourful – children will enjoy meeting the different characters. Prince George and Princess Charlotte were recently sent copies of the book too which Prince William acknowledged in an encouraging letter about the project sent as a ‘thank you’ to the Well Connected team.
Wendy Smith MBE, Strategic Lead for Community Engagement at Well Connected says: “We are delighted to be donating our brand new Open Wide and Step Inside hardback books to Plymouth Libraries. The books are a welcome addition to the project which enables us to reach more children and their families across the city and promote the importance of good oral health from a young age.”
Well Connected delivers interesting and exciting projects in communities across Plymouth to promote and encourage positive lifestyle choices. One of these projects is Open Wide and Step Inside which is delivered in partnership with Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise and is supported by The Wrigley Company Foundation.
The project is an innovative oral health improvement resource helping to tackle the problem of large numbers of children needing tooth extraction in the south west region. Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise and Well Connected are committed to improving the dental health of children in Plymouth as part of the city’s Child Poverty Action Plan.
Open Wide and Step Inside has recently been nominated as a finalist in the Early Intervention category at the Children and Young People Now Awards and in the Best Community Initiative category at the Oral Health Awards – both ceremonies will be held in London in November.
