Sex campaign is a success thanks to YOU!

A SUCCESS!

That's what health bosses have declared our Let's Talk About Sex campaign.

And, thanks to YOU, they have pledged to use key information provided by the hundreds who responded to our online survey to shape future sexual health services for young people – and tackle rising numbers of sexually transmitted infections and high teenage pregnancy rates.

As you know, our campaign got the whole of North East Lincolnshire talking about sex!

From parents to students, teachers and health bosses, our Let's Talk About Sex campaign engaged hundreds of people in a subject many find difficult to discuss.

Students at Havelock Academy join in the celebrations at the success of our Let’s Talk About Sex Campaign.

Tackled in a way never before seen by a local newspaper, our campaign saw weeks of continuous coverage using frank and open language, online debates with the people at the heart of sexual health services and online surveys designed to make everyone think – and talk – about sex and relationships.

Nick O'Sullivan, the principal of Havelock Academy, said he was delighted his students – and their parents – had been involved in the campaign. He said: "We are very pleased with the level of interest the students demonstrated, both in their willingness to participate and in bringing these issues into the open.

"It is important, as it allowed them to address the issues that concern them, such as teenage pregnancy and STIs, in a way they were comfortable with.

"The survey created a superb environment for thinking about them in a way we hope will be of considerable benefit to public health, both now and in the future."

Programme co-ordinator for sexual health with North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus Sheena MacRae said: "What we were really pleased about with this campaign was the way the Grimsby Telegraph approached the subject and, in terms of dispelling myths and reassuring people, we think it was really able to achieve its aims."

Geoff Barnes, deputy director in public health with NELCTP, said: "The survey is a useful addition to our local knowledge, which should help us in the further improvement of sexual health services in North East Lincolnshire."

It even received praise from a top politician for tackling the taboo subject in such a bold and frank way.

Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said the campaign was "a bold and very welcome move by the Grimsby Telegraph and the paper deserves congratulations for talking about sex in such an open way".

Now the results of the sexual health surveys – key components of the campaign and completed by more than 600 young people and adults – have been analysed and welcomed by health bosses, who want to use the information to ensure that services are tailored to meet the needs of young people.

We discovered:

80 per cent of adults feel comfortable talking about sex with their children.

Over half of the adults surveyed – 61 per cent – do not feel current young people's sexual health services undermine parents' rights.

100 per cent of young people who received the Mash (Multi Agency Sexual Health) education programme in school found it helpful.

A huge 83 per cent of young people said the people with whom they feel most comfortable talking about sex are their friends.

The CTP's Sheena MacRae helped to write the surveys, and said the data collected from them would be used alongside other research to plan sexual health provision in the future.

She said: "The campaign was about giving people information and getting them to discuss sex openly, and the Telegraph approached it like any other health issue.

"We are all just pleased at what we managed to achieve and the number of surveys we got back just proves how successful it has been."