In this Health and Wellbeing spotlight we hear from Wansbeck Community Links – a collaboration between Cygnus Support charity and Wansbeck Primary Care Network's four GP surgeries in Northumberland, that is going from strength to strength.
Their extensive programme of work is focussed on educating and empowering people and their communities around healthier lifestyles and wellbeing, as well as building trust and supporting local residents to connect with health and care services and each other through professional and peer support, running local health and wellbeing-focussed sessions, and hosting a wealth of community activities for local people.
Cygnus Support is a longstanding Counselling and Wellbeing charity, which formed a partnership with Wansbeck Primary Care Network (PCN) in 2021.
‘Wansbeck Community Links’ offers 1-1 support for the patients of Seaton Park, Guidepost, Bedlingtonshire and the Gables Medical groups. These ex-mining communities in the southeast of Northumberland are within a particularly deprived area with high levels of health inequalities.
Photo caption: The Wansbeck Community Links team - Jane (Manager), Graham (Social Prescribing Link Worker - SPLW), Marcelle (SPLW), Justine (SPLW), Christine (Team Lead), & Fran (SPLW)
Our team works within the PCN’s four GP practices for part of the week, offering appointments over the phone as well as face-to-face in surgery, in the patient’s home and within the local community.
Appointments are not time limited, taking as long as it needs to find out what exactly the issues are for individual patients and develop a plan to help resolve them. We spend time actively listening and can offer general advice, as well as signpost and make outward referrals to other Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) and statutory organisations where the patient’s practical, social and emotional needs are met.
As well as our 1-1 patient interventions we do so much within our local community.
We currently have a community base in Bedlington but, prior to that, were based within the Hirst area of Ashington. This was just after the Covid pandemic when community cohesion was at an all-time low. We were tasked by the County Council to come into an underused community setting, run activities and spark up engagement with residents, to help break down barriers between Primary Care and residents as this was proving difficult for their staff. We held a ‘Re Love Pre-Loved’ monthly event, where donated clothing and household items were available for free to those in need. This was particularly well received by our asylum-seeking refugee families.
We co-facilitated family events such as Halloween and Christmas parties. We also ran a pre-school play session. All these activities helped us to embed our service within the community, gaining trust from those who would not normally welcome health professionals into their lives.
Our annual Christmas appeal began at Hirst, where we asked for donated gifts for older isolated residents who were nominated by their GP surgery. Now every year we invite those who can come along to one of our Christmas events. Those people who are unable to attend in-person are visited at home where they still receive their gift, and we continue to offer wellbeing calls throughout the year. This annual appeal has been hugely successful. It’s now supported by many local businesses and is a heartwarming end to each year.
Photo caption: Link Worker Marcelle chatting with an elderly patient visiting her at home to deliver her Christmas gift.
Once trust was established, we were able to introduce more health and wellbeing-focused sessions to the residents.
We believe that educating and empowering whole communities around healthier lifestyles and health and wellbeing in general, and giving them opportunities to connect, to feel included and to be heard, is vital. Stronger and resilient communities look out for one another and create a better culture for future generations.
Our weekly ‘Wellbeing Wednesday’ sessions provide tabletop activities, guest support services and wellbeing information. Attendees - often who suffer anxiety, depression and feelings of social isolation - can meet in a safe and inclusive space to connect with others. Being able to talk things through as soon as something is worrying them allows for timely intervention that stops concerns escalating to impact their wellbeing. It has developed to also include accessible multi-sports, through a partnership with Northumberland County Council’s Sports Development service, and we are now offering health checks. This encourages people with long-term health conditions to try sports and games to improve their health, without any pressures, by making it fun. You can watch a video, courtesy of Ashington Town Council, about Wellbeing Wednesday on YouTube here.
Photo captions: (Left) Robert and Jackie, two of our Wellbeing Wednesday 'crew', enjoying a game of ring toss in the Sports Hall at Hirst Welfare. (Right) Mary and her Silver Birch sapling during a visit from Ashington Woods volunteers at Wellbeing Wednesday. Attendees could adopt a sapling to look after at home for the Summer before bringing back to be planted out in the woods.
Due to these successes, activities have expanded even further to include:
- Walk & Talk (Ashington, Bedlington & Cambois)
- Writing for Wellbeing (Ashington) - A collaboration with Ann Cleeves’ Reading for Wellbeing initiative
- Thursday Club (Bedlington & Newbiggin) - Table top activity, quiz and access to multi-sport and community garden at Newbiggin
- Monthly coffee mornings - where we introduce guest speakers and health related topics
- Cancer Peer Support group - which developed from Cancer Information community ‘pop up’ events
- Step in2 Wellness – a six-week course where we address all aspects of health and wellbeing
Photo captions: (Left) Thursday Club at Newbiggin Hub is always a lot of fun - Margaret was delighted to finally win at Scrabble. (Right) Free doggy cuddles and refreshments for Matthew, a Cambois Walk and Talk attendee, at St Andrew's Church after the walk.
We continue to look for gaps in provision and how we can fill them. Being employed by a charity enables us to access funds which would not be available to the PCN and allows us to be so much more creative in our approach.
To engage with young adults who are neurodiverse and those from our LGBTQ+ community, we recently received funding to run an Adult Lego and Games group. This is a great opportunity to introduce wellbeing topics and offer some wrap around support to these young people - most of whom are Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) and suffering from poor mental health.
Cygnus have run employability and volunteering projects over the past few years that we have taken the lead on, and our Link Worker service now has a core of Community “Canny Buddies”. Most were patients who have progressed so well following our support that they wanted to offer peer support to those just starting their wellness journey. Recently we held an award ceremony to honour our wonderful volunteers.
“Wansbeck Community Links aren’t just a service, they feel more like a supportive family!” (Volunteer quote)
Photo caption: Volunteers (left to right) Barry, Tracy, Robert, Morgan and Emilia, receiving their volunteer awards from Link Worker Fran (centre). Not all our volunteers were able to make it, but their awards were passed on by the others.
Every day is an opportunity for our small team to learn and develop our service to continue to meet the needs of those we seek to support.
"We really do have the best job!" (Staff quote)
"You have been so helpful to me, taking the time to really listen and not judge. I honestly don't think I'd still be here if it wasn't for your kindness" (Patient quote)
You can find more information about Cygnus Support’s Wansbeck Community Links on their website.
All photos courtesy of Cygnus Support.