Funding boost to support health and wellbeing in South Warwickshire
15 March 2019
Almost £80,000 has been made available to promote South Warwickshire residents’ health and wellbeing.
The South Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Partnership, which involves representatives from Public Health Warwickshire, NHS South Warwickshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Better Health, Better Care, Better Value (the name of Coventry and Warwickshire's Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP)), has awarded a total of £79,000 to 10 projects which will support a variety of vulnerable groups.
They include a number of different initiatives such as training young people in mental health first aid, supporting people living with dementia and their carers and encouraging physical activity through connecting with the natural environment.
Last November non-profit organisations were invited to apply for the funding. Criteria required them to be inclusive of South Warwickshire’s population groups, different geographical areas and provide opportunities for those in need with clear routes of accessibility. Just under 30 bids were submitted and 10 projects were identified for funding which has been provided by the partnership.
All successful projects are based on the health and wellbeing issues identified in recent joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) carried out in south Warwickshire by Warwickshire County Council (WCC). They found more needed to be done around reducing inequalities in health and wellbeing, promoting physical activity and healthy lifestyles across all ages and promoting mental health and wellbeing, particularly among men, parents and infants and children and young people.
They also recognised that social connections needed to be built to reach those who are lonely, child health and injury prevention needs to improve, older people need more support with independence and living with long-term mental or physical health conditions, the health and wellbeing of people caring for friends or relatives needs to be supported and opportunities for the inclusion of marginalised groups must be promoted.
Cllr Les Caborn, WCC Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, said:
“I am delighted to see these jointly funded pilot projects, with a health and wellbeing focus in Warwickshire, particularly since the funding has been guided by the joint strategic needs assessment priorities.
“Watching projects grow and develop, offering hope and change for individuals in our local communities is a real privilege. We look forward to working with these projects and seeing the changes over the forthcoming year.”
Emily van de Venter Associate Director of Public Health for South Warwickshire ICB and WCC added: “Giving the community the opportunity to respond to priorities identified in the local joint strategic needs assessments has promoted some innovative approaches to promoting health and wellbeing. There are clearly many local individuals and organisations in South Warwickshire who are passionate about improving the lives of local residents, and we are proud to support them and enable ideas to turn into a reality through the Healthy South Warwickshire grants scheme.”
For more information about health and wellbeing in Warwickshire visit the public health Warwickshire website http://publichealth.warwickshire.gov.uk/
Press release from Warwickshire County Council.