I was interested to read the recently published results of the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP)’s survey of Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLWs). 

It’s great to see the high levels of job satisfaction that SPLWs get from their work, and that they feel that their work is making a real difference to people’s lives. It shows that social prescribing offers a really rewarding and satisfying career, with variety and purpose. 

At the same time, some of the challenges identified by social prescribers chime with what we have been hearing in our own region. SPLWs are carrying increasing caseloads of people with increasingly complex needs, whilst the services that social prescribers can help refer them onto can be difficult to access, have long waiting lists or are under-funded. 

There is a high risk that the pressures the system places on our Link Worker workforce are set to grow. Around the country we are hearing that social prescribing services are reducing now that GPs can use their Additional Roles funding more flexibly and there are so many more clinical roles being employed. 

One contributing factor may be the perceived lack of understanding that still exists within primary care teams about the role and value of social prescribing, despite the growing body of evidence available to show the impact of social prescribing on lives and the potential return on investment for health and care services. 

So how do we make sure we have a social prescribing ecosystem that can support our health and wellbeing aims? How do we make sure it can support the desired shift towards prevention and community, neighbourhood care? How do we ensure that the social prescribing workforce is stable, developing their skills and valued for their contribution, rather than shrinking and overwhelmed by growing caseloads of people with increasingly complex needs?  

Lots of questions, I know. These are the sorts of issues that our Healthy Communities and Social Prescribing programme needs to grapple with over the coming months and years, which is why the ICB’s continued investment in our work is so welcomed and vital. And, as well as working with system partners, we’ll be reaching out to all of you on our wider network. During the summer we'll be sending an invitation for you to join us at our next in-person network meeting in September. 

Richard Boggie, NENC VCSE Health Partnerships Strategic Manager, VONNE

Five organisations from across the North East and North Cumbria were successful in securing grants from the 2024/25 Health Champions Development Fund, coordinated through the HC&SP programme.   

The funding, provided by the Integrated Care Board (ICB), was used at neighbourhood and place level to support local partnerships between Local Authority Health Champion programmes and VCSE sector organisations working together to reach communities - with a particular focus on Core20Plus5 priorities. 

Gateshead Local Authority Public Health team worked with a range of community partners to increase Health Champion activity in response to local needs, focussing on Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). 

International Community Organisation of Sunderland (ICOS) worked with Sunderland City Council to expand the Health Champions network focussing on women and ethnically minoritised communities. 

Tyne Housing Association helped reduce health inequalities amongst people experiencing homelessness, supporting them to make positive lifestyle changes and increase access to key health messaging and services. 

The Pioneering Care Partnership aim was to understand the barriers that migrant communities (including refugees and asylum seekers) face when accessing health and/or other public services in Stockton-on Tees.

Healthworks worked with communities and local authorities across Newcastle and Gateshead to raise awareness of children’s oral health.

Many congratulations to these partnerships for their outstanding work and achievements over the last year.  You can read summaries of their work and the outcomes they achieved at the link below.

As part of proactive efforts to boost and maintain emotional wellbeing, a people-first project is being run by Tyne Housing to create a new community space that will significantly boost and maintain positive mental health amongst residents.

Residents at Farm View, a supported living residential scheme in Byker, Newcastle, are transforming a disused area outside of their homes into a woodland garden to help people get closer to nature, encourage more wildlife and reap the benefits from spending time outdoors.

The Tyne Housing project was born out of a collaboration between the Ouseburn Trust and garden designer, Nick Figgis, with the aim of bringing fresh life to unloved spaces close to people’s homes in the Ouseburn Valley.

Tyne Housing’s Farm View project is just one of many programmes being delivered by the charitable housing association across the North East to support positive mental health amongst its residents. The project stems from the organisation’s Health Champions initiative, a 'hub and spoke' support model now being embedded, offering residents and visitors doorstep, dedicated wellbeing opportunities and support.

Arts Council England and the National Centre for Creative Health are inviting submissions for an upcoming special issue of the Perspectives in Public Health journal, focused on the role of creative health in public health. 

The special issue seeks to platform current practice and research which demonstrates the value of collaboration between creative health and public health by sharing work that supports the health of individuals and communities through policymaking, research, and preventative measures. They particularly encourage submissions that showcase real-world applications of creative health, highlighting its potential to address pressing public health challenges, enhance wellbeing, and empower communities, for example:

• Research exploring the role of creativity in social inclusion and community development
• Innovative models for integrating creative health into existing public health systems and policies
• Collaborative programmes between public health professionals and creative practitioners

Submission deadline: 1st September

The Integrated Care Board's (ICB) Healthier and Fairer programme is running co-production workshops to support the development of a North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Healthy Weight Declaration - a system-wide approach to promoting healthy weight across our region.

Recognising that tackling obesity requires coordinated, population-level action, the Declaration will promote a whole-systems approach involving a wide range of partners beyond local authorities. Building on successful models from across England and with the support of Food Active, this session offers stakeholders across sectors an opportunity to shape shared commitments that reflect the specific needs of our region's population.

These workshops aim to gather views, ideas, and feedback to shape the core commitments of the Declaration. Workshops are taking place: 

• Wednesday, 2nd July, 9.30am - 12.30pm, Carlisle. Register here 
• Thursday, 3rd July, 9.30am - 12.30pm, Durham. Register here
• Wednesday, 16th July, 1pm - 4pm, Newcastle. Register here

In this analysis from The King’s Fund, Loreen Chikwira and Nurjahan Ali Arobi outline what needs to be done to enable shared leadership in social prescribing.

They say: “To embed social prescribing and maximise what it has to offer neighbourhood health, system leaders and financial decision-makers must recognise that hierarchical structures often create power imbalances with communities and community-led services. They need to design and establish shared leadership frameworks that enable collaborative decision-making and sustainable funding models, drawing on the community needs and strengths of those with lived experience and the expertise within community-led services."

A study of more than four million patient records shows that the rollout of Social Prescribing Link Workers has led to improved patient outcomes and experiences. 

The research is by far the largest analysis of the national impact of the Government’s 2019 drive to increase the numbers of Social Prescribing Link Workers, who connect patients to activities and support in their communities which boost health and well-being. 

This National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funded research - led by researchers from The University of Manchester and co-authored with the University of Edinburgh, Newcastle University and University of Bristol – demonstrates that the scheme has led to improved outcomes and experiences for patients with long-term conditions and mental health needs.  

The National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) has launched new online resources designed to showcase practical examples (with evidence) where creative health is already an integral part of care systems and delivery.

Many Integrated Care Systems and providers are already incorporating creative health in physical and mental healthcare, social care, and public health - delivering measurable social and economic value. Find out more about implementing creative health in your service, organisation or system from this new range of resources.

The MECC Gateway is an online health and wellbeing conversation and signposting tool featuring health information, community activities and services across the North East and North Cumbria, funded by our Integrated Care System.

It's free to use for individuals working and volunteering in the region who want to have access to trusted health information and services to help them help others to make positive changes to their physical and mental health and wellbeing. MECC as an approach also helps support our regional health services in delivering key messages to people to improve the health of our communities. 

The MECC Gateway provides ‘conversation starter’ prompts on a wide range of topics that can be used by staff and volunteers if the opportunity presents itself with an individual - such as alcohol use, addiction, cancer awareness, financial issues, falls and frailty, a cold home or poor dental hygiene, amongst many other themes. It then allows you to search via place or postcode for local services that are available to directly support that person. 

If your organisation provides a service that's not yet listed on the MECC Gateway, get in touch with the MECC team on their website to be added to the database. 

Get free MECC training!

Anyone working or volunteering in the VCSE sector in our region can access free MECC training - which is accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health. The Core MECC training only takes 1 hour and 30 minutes and will support you to have better conversations about health and wellbeing by using the 3A approach (Ask, Assist, Act), an awareness of behaviour change models and knowledge of relevant health inequalities.

Find out more about the training and available dates on the Boost website here. 

We also produce a series of other ebulletins. Sign up on our website for:

- Health & Wellbeing Network bulletin (North East & North Cumbria)
- VONNE News, a fortnightly round up of relevance to the region's VCSE community
- VONNE Jobs, a weekly round up of all the vacancies advertised through VONNE
- Funding Information North East (FINE)*, fortnightly details of funding opportunities.

*A benefit of Membership+ support.