Seven community and voluntary organisations across Walsall have been granted a share of almost £200,000 to help improve the health and wellbeing of local communities and tackle health inequalities. 

The money will be used to pilot a range of health coaching, social prescribing and community champion initiatives in Walsall’s most vulnerable communities, helping them to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to be more active in managing their own health, care and wellbeing needs, based on what matters most to them. 

Deb Hipkins, Head of Primary Care and Place Development (Walsall), Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer this money to community and voluntary organisations who are key in connecting with our local communities, delivering vital services, offering support and advice and reaching those who are less likely to access statutory health and care services. It is clear from the high number of bids received that we have a huge passion and desire in Walsall to make a real difference to the health and well-being outcomes of our citizens. We are really excited to see the positive impact this funding will have on the lives of local people.”

Michelle McManus, Acting Programme Director for Walsall Together, said: “There were some really excellent bids, and lots of examples of positive work already taking place, which can be built upon to strengthen our communities even further. It is really important to us as a partnership that we focus on how we can better support people in the community, to access the help and support they need, to live happier and more independent lives and in doing this we begin to better meet the needs of our diverse populations and tackle the widening gap in health inequalities.”

The funding is part of NHS England’s Health Inequalities Programme, targeted at supporting the work being done by the Walsall Together Partnership, to build resilient communities and tackle health inequalities across the area, through delivering grassroots help to those people most at risk or experiencing poor health outcomes and reduced life expectancy. 

Over 30 bids were received and a panel of representatives from across the partnership evaluated each one with the following seven projects shortlisted and allocated a share of the funding:

  • Nash Dom – Palfrey: A one year project delivering multilingual health coaching and advice and group meetings/information sessions, based on common issues or interests, for the Eastern European community
  • Tumende: A one year health mediation and advice service for the Eastern European community including interpretation and translation, face to face mediation and an online platform with a social media campaign promoting diversity and access to health services
  • Hindu Forum of Walsall: A one year project using Hindu places of worship as locations for healthy living activities including yoga, sports games, health professional talks on obesity, mental health, smoking, covid-19 vaccine uptake, life coaching, dietician advice and cooking demonstrations and service signposting
  • AAINA Community Hub: A multilingual Community Health Connector to organise health-focused activities in the Caldmore and Palfrey area, including health awareness sessions to encourage healthier lifestyles such as running, walking, cycling, attending outdoor exercise classes and making use of local green spaces to improve physical and mental wellbeing. Working with Local G.P surgeries and health professionals to increase take up of appointments, reviews and check-ups and increase awareness around key health inequalities linking obesity and diabetes amongst vulnerable populations
  • MindKind: Over 12 months a support worker will attend local schools and engage with residents to promote healthy eating offering and linked activities to schools in the Birchills/ Leamore area. Engaging with both parents and children to educate and provide practical support around healthy eating and mental well-being a well as link to for parents to attend already established offer of classes based at the MindKind hub which include Pilates, Yoga, Covid support group, Art and Craft and gardening club
  • Metaminds: A programme focusing on supporting individuals to explore new concepts around mental health and connecting them with practises, therapies and/or local services to encourage them to find their own path
  • The Motivation Hub: Supporting people with Downs Syndrome to get active and stay fit through drama and keep fit sessions 

All of the projects will be evaluated and the data and intelligence will be used to look at how we can work more collaboratively in the future, gain a better understanding of which approaches work best when engaging with our diverse communities, share lessons learnt and examples of best practice and contribute to future decision making when commissioning services.