Wednesday, 8th October, 1.30pm - 4.30pm, One Strawberry Lane, Newcastle

The focus for our autumn Healthy Communities and Social Prescribing Network Summit for the North East and North Cumbria will be to share, explore, learn and plan to create a social prescribing infrastructure fit for the future. 

Through a series of workshops on the day, we will explore the following questions: 

• How can social prescribing support NHS reforms in our region? 

• What have we learned works? And what gets in the way? 

• How can we best promote the value and impact of social prescribing? 

• What do we need to do to more effectively support the social prescribing workforce? 

Places are limited for this in-person event, so if you'd like to join us please register before 6th October. 

Catalyst Stockton's unique position as the borough’s primary infrastructure charity has enabled them to build strong relationships across a wide range of local organisations. The local networks built proved invaluable when Catalyst launched their Link the Way project, which came about because of Catalyst’s provision of projects that support the reduction of health inequalities. The organisation knew they could use the learning and feedback from service users to develop awareness and use of social prescribing.

Link the Way is a partnership led by Daniel Forrest, Development Worker at Catalyst and supported by Amara Iqbal, Development & Engagement Officer at Pioneering Care Partnership and has already led to some powerful outcomes. 

One prescriber came to Catalyst seeking help to support an individual who wanted to access a gym but felt too anxious to go alone. With the support and understanding of one of the project’s compassionate volunteers, they built the confidence to take that first step and now regularly attend sessions at their local gym. Another service user wanted to get to know their community and be active but were unable to speak English and couldn’t find an interpreter. Link the Way were able to find them a volunteer who uses basic sign language and an online translator to communicate, and they are happily discovering their local communities together.

VONNE have been proud to support Catalyst and their Link the Way project through the Healthy Communities and Social Prescribing Infrastructure Investment Programme. Funded by the North East and North Cumbria ICB, the grants supported thirteen organisations to improve the social prescribing offer in their localities from April 2023 - June 2025.

NAVCA is calling for greater involvement of charities, warning that cutting back on Healthwatch and a shift away from an integrated care model with cross-sector collaboration at its heart could harm public trust. They’ve stressed the need to address digital exclusion and support local VCSE groups to ensure fair access and avoid placing extra strain on underfunded charities.

Connecting the NHS with charities and community groups is at the heart of the Government’s 10-year Plan. But at a time where charitable funding and public finances are under growing pressure, how do we ensure that these groups can play a full part in the neighbourhood health service?

Through social prescribing, millions of people have been connected to community-based support for their health and wellbeing since 2019 – for example, to local support groups for mental health, music-based activities for people living with dementia, or exercise sessions to help prevent diabetes. But these projects are usually not funded through the NHS. Instead, their funding often comes from a range of sources, and it is often short-term and fragmented. This makes it difficult for charities and voluntary organisations to keep delivering effective programmes.

That is why NASP are proposing a National Community Health Wellbeing Fund. Worth £1 billion over 10 years, the fund would bring together contributions from the public, philanthropic and private sectors, and provide vital long-term funding for community groups and organisations - key to tackling loneliness, reducing health inequalities and improving people’s health. 

A pioneering pilot programme has been introduced in a North East hospital in a first to enhance patients' health and wellbeing through social prescribing. As part of the initiative, a social prescriber role has been established within the cardiology department at The James Cook University Hospital for an 18-month period.

Some of the patients under treatment at James Cook come from deprived areas and lead complex lives whilst facing several social and economic challenges alongside their physical and mental health needs. To address this, Public Health South Tees and University Hospitals Tees partnered to invest in social prescribing.

Patients receiving care in cardiology will be referred to activities and support such as volunteering, arts, gardening, befriending, walking schemes and dance classes – if the need arises. By enabling patients to connect with tailored community-based support, the programme aims to foster sustainable improvements in mental and physical health.

They work with healthcare providers, offering training, workshops, and Poverty Proofing audits - see example of their work with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust below. Their aim is to support services in recognising and breaking down the barriers that make it harder for people with limited resources to access care.

In June, CNE ran four workshops, attended by over 80 social prescribers in our region. The sessions explored the impact of poverty on health, with a particular focus on how it shapes people's experiences of social prescribing. 

Participants reflected on how their own services could better meet the needs of people facing economic challenges, learning to view access barriers from the perspective of those experiencing poverty. The sessions also created space for action planning, helping attendees identify those common systemic barriers - such as travel, appointment systems, communication, and patient empowerment - that can prevent people from accessing healthcare.

CNE offers a range of Poverty Proofing training both online via the Boost Learning Academy, or in-person. More details at the link below.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with Children North East to reduce the unfairness and barriers to healthcare for those living in poverty.

Through its Poverty Proofing© programme, Children North East has carried out audits of two key services for young people – speech and language therapy and CAMHS (children and adolescent mental health services). The Trust’s maternity service is also working with the charity through a North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) project.

To build on this, Northumbria Healthcare is now working with both organisations on an ambitious delivery partner model, which will see staff trained to help embed poverty proofing in other teams and services, alongside a group of influencers to support this agenda.

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."

With the NHS under intense pressure, it can be difficult for commissioners and managers to find resources to invest in preventative services like social prescribing.

While there are a range of studies showing how social prescribing generates cost savings, these are often small-scale or specific, and there is a clear need for better data.

That is why NASP is working with Jag Mundra, a data analyst and health economist, to review evidence and summarise findings, so that it is as easy as possible for decision-makers to understand the economics of social prescribing and have confidence to invest their limited resources in services that make a real difference. 

Earlier this year NASP surveyed more than 400 Link Workers across England. Recently published findings show a workforce that is highly motivated, sees its work as meaningful, and reports strong job satisfaction. However, the survey also revealed variation in practice and satisfaction, and highlights challenges around training and development, as well as gaps in community services.  

A new health and wellbeing offer is now live on the Boost platform for all staff and volunteers, including those working in the VCSE sector, across the North East and North Cumbria. It includes resources for emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing, self-help guides, virtual resilience workshops, fitness and lifestyle tools including popular wellbeing apps. You can also access the staff wellbeing hub which offers free, confidential, rapid-access psychological support. Again this service is freely available to people working across the VCSE sector involved in health and care work.  

The Roadmap has been designed to help SPLWs, commissioners, and training providers build a consistent, high-quality training offer for the workforce.

Monica Boulton of NASP says: "This Training Roadmap arrives at a pivotal moment, as we await more detailed implementation and workforce plans aligned with the new NHS 10-year Plan. It clearly shows how SPLWs are equipped to meet increasing community needs and to deliver on the ambitions of neighbourhood-based care."

The National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) has developed 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 range of resources.

15th October, 12.30pm – 1.30pm, online

NCCH are also hosting this free webinar where you can hear about opportunities for creative health to support the delivery of the 10-year Plan including: the prevention agenda; children and young people’s mental health; supporting employment and economic growth; and the development of Neighbourhood Health. 

The NHS Business Services Authority is an arm’s length body of the Department of Health & Social Care. They support people to access help with their health costs.

They have published a series of toolkits and promotional materials to help healthcare professionals, local authorities, public health teams and VCSE organisations promote the NHS Health Exemption Services, and signpost citizens to any help with their health costs they may be entitled to. 

Information about the services they provide and communications materials for use in your settings can be found in their Health Exemption Services Communications Toolkits.

This NHS Eligibility Checker lets people find out if they're entitled to free prescriptions - it takes just three minutes to check. 

The North East and North Cumbria 'Making Every Contact Count' (MECC) team has released a new campaign video to encourage people to have MECC conversations and signpost others to the MECC Gateway.

The video shows a glimpse into the life of a man called Terry. He’s a single parent in his 40s who is seen to be struggling with feelings of loneliness, isolation and an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. The video shows his interactions, over time, with different people to highlight the various opportunities there were to have a MECC conversation, regardless of someone’s position, background or role. The film shows his inner dialogue, highlighting a desire to change. Terry manages to change his behaviour and join a running club to improve his physical and mental health and wellbeing. It prompts the audience to consider the opportunities we all have to Make Every Contact Count. 

Please consider supporting the campaign by sharing the video through your website or social media, and signposting people to the MECC Gateway where a wide range of support and advice is available. 

Get the new campaign film on YouTube here.

Visit the MECC Gateway here.

The regional MECC team offer free training for people across our region who are interested in learning how to have an effective MECC conversation. You can find out about the training offer 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.