In December 2023, VONNE and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) brought together more than 50 representatives from across the VCSE, health and care sectors and Local Authorities to explore social prescribing approaches, what work is underway and opportunities to help address health inequalities through community-based approaches.
At the event Durham Community Action shared an example of how they have been supporting social prescribing through their ‘Connector’ work across the County. Nicole Kirby, Community Support Manager, described how through a range of funding - including the recent Infrastructure Investment from the Integrated Care Board’s ‘Healthier and Fairer’ workstream - they are working to strengthen the links between social prescribers and the local VCSE, building on local assets and supporting the development of new social prescribing activity.
Julian Penton, Development Officer at HartlePower, gave powerful personal reflections about their initiative to introduce a ‘whole system approach’ to adult mental health services in Hartlepool. He explored the issues and opportunities of whole system governance, the need to develop a shared common language, the involvement of people with lived-experience of mental health services and the challenges of organisational and cultural differences between the NHS and other local providers. Delegates also heard about the experiences of the young people involved in HartlePower’s ‘anime on prescription’ project, being delivered in collaboration with local business Geek Retreat, which has quickly become an important social lifeline for young people who may be marginalised or experience isolation.
Lucy Brenkley, Active Forests Coordinator at Forestry England, shared videos featuring local people who have taken part in their ‘Feel Good in the Forest’ social prescribing project that has been piloted in a number of areas, including Chopwell Wood on the outskirts of Gateshead. People talked about the huge difference making connections with each other and being in nature through this project has made to them - whether they are dealing with mild to moderate physical and mental health conditions, dealing with challenging life events, or in a caring role.
The event also featured Dr Bethan Griffith and Dr Kate Gibson - researchers from Newcastle University - who shared findings of their recent study about the regional social prescribing pathway, which captured feedback and learnings about social prescribing in our region from the perspective of service users, link workers and primary care teams.
OHID’s Health and Wellbeing Programme Manager for the North East, Becky James, explained the work underway through regional Health Champions programmes and a Learning Set which shares examples of practice from champion approaches across the region, provides an online repository of information and resources to give ideas and guidance to help inform champion-led approaches across our region.
Reflecting on the event Nicole Kirby, Durham Community Action, said: “With the VCSE sector playing such a fundamental role in addressing health inequalities and supporting people’s health and wellbeing, it’s really important to hear about and learn from what’s going on around the region.”
The event was delivered as part of the Healthy Communities and Social Prescribing programme, hosted by VONNE, which forms part of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board’s ‘Healthier Lives, Fairer Outcomes’ programme aimed at reducing health inequalities across the North East and North Cumbria. We work to build on community assets, enabling local, community-based action to support the health and wellbeing of everybody in our region.
If you would like to hear about future events happening as part of the programme, learn about and share examples of excellence from across our communities, hear about future funding and investment opportunities, and help shape the work on the programme, sign up to our Healthy Communities and Social Prescribing Network.