A TAUNTON-based charity is funding a free programme for people with serious health conditions to potentially turn their lives around.

Under the guidance of a GP, 24 people in Taunton Deane and West Somerset have the chance to sign up to a course that aims to tackle their health issues.

Those running the initiative claim people with long-term illnesses could enjoy better health by simply changing the way they live - and in some cases reverse their condition.

Dandelion Seeds Foundation, set up by Phillip Bristow, is providing funds to Compass Lifestyle Medicine to run the ten-week programme from January.

Consultant ophthalmologist Dr Matt Hawker, a clinical entrepreneur with NHS England, heads up Compass, which offers "lifestyle medicine".

He said: "We see a lot of patients with long-term conditions such as diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease and chronic stress.

"We estimate about 70 per cent of those have been predominantly caused by the way we live, our diet and lifestyle. That's not to say it's our fault. It's our culture, our environment, but it accounts for about 70 per cent of the NHS spend.

"A huge proportion of it is within our control.

"If you start to address the causes in diet and lifestyle of those conditions, we can start to see improvements and even reversal.

"There's no guarantee, but it is possible if you set about addressing the problems in your diet that are causing the condition.

"I have had patients who think their condition is inevitable, part of ageing and they just go to their doctor. They think there's nothing they can do about it.

"We want to help patients to do things that are meaningful for themselves by taking ownership of their own health."

Compass Lifestyle Medicine is running a Complete Health Improvement Programme (CHIP) that takes "the whole person approach to health", advising on diet, sleep and physical exercise.

It has operated in scores of countries.

Dr Hawker said: "People are encouraged to set their own goals in life in groups of eight to ten people who maybe share the same condition.

"They go on a health journey together starting with simple blood tests, like an MOT, to say, 'This is where you are at the moment'. They share the successes and losses and at the end they repeat all the measurements to see how they have done."

Mr Bristow, who is a full-time architect, runs the Dandelion Foundation from his bedroom in Taunton on a voluntary basis.

He said: "CHIP is a programme that has been proven to reverse the effects of type 2 diabetes and substantially improve a number of other major health conditions.

"I have procured funding for the course in Taunton Deane and West Somerset to reach out to some of the most vulnerable members of our community in order to bolster their health during the current pandemic."

If you would like to be considered for one of the 24 free places on the CHIP local course e-mail office@compasslifestylemedicine.org.uk or visit www.chiphealth.co.uk/