Community Development Team Impact Report 2023

Our relationship with health colleagues across the system from local GPs to those working in Surrey Heartlands has continued to grow. Two members of the team undertook ‘Systems Leaders’ training helping them understand better how the health system works. Our work in 2023 has been targeted towards ‘health creation’ – supporting residents to design and deliver projects that they identify as being needed in their community. Much of this work was delivered in collaboration with GPs as part of the East Surrey Place funded work we have undertaken with Growing Health Together (GHT). In the north of the Borough (part of the Surrey Downs Place) our CD worker Maria has undertaken similar, but different work with health partners.

Growing Health Together (GHT) Work

Through funding from East Surrey Place, our team have dedicated one day each week to supporting their GHT lead GP and local residents to set up projects that create health in our communities. As part of our evaluation of this work, we produced the below video. The video below, titled, 'Growing health together' is with spoken voice and has instrumental music playing in the background. If you require a descriptive transcript contact us via our online form.

Examples of this health creation work include the following projects:

Asian Women’s Wellness Hub (Redhill)

Redhill is one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Reigate and Banstead and this has influenced the work of Eli, our Redhill CD Worker. Eli and Dr Aziz (the Redhill GHT GP lead) identified that the Asian women in the Redhill area were experiencing health inequalities and isolation and worked with local residents to support the development of the Asian Women.

Wellness Hub (AWWH)

Provides a nurturing space to raise awareness of health issues, the benefits of staying active, prevent loneliness and isolation, engage in meaningful activities, and connect with a compassionate community. The hub's tailored programme services the unique needs and challenges faced by elderly Asian women, fostering their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.  As this group has developed more partnerships and activities emerged including crocheting/knitting for East Surrey Hospital and arts and crafts sessions. There are 43 women currently registered with AWWH with, on average, 14 attending each fortnightly session.

Hublets (Merstham)

Hublets is a parent led weekly stay and play session, empowering parents to forge strong relationships and lasting support for each other through the early years of parenting. Hublets launched in January 2023. The project developed as a result of engagement with the community and the partnership between Alice (Merstham CDW) and Dr Siddiqui, a GP at The Moat House Surgery and funded through Growing Health Together.

The sessions were so popular that they were increased from fortnightly to weekly during term time after the initial pilot of the project.

Alice created an online peer support network on Instagram (parents_and_minds) for parents who attend the sessions to link together and share children’s health related messages. Maternity Voice attended one of the sessions to hear parents’ experiences of ESH maternity services.

Two of the parents who supported the group have gone into paid work and Alice was able to supply them with a reference. Parents’ feedback has been really positive, with a score of 9.11 on a scale of 0-10 whether they would recommend Hublets as a place to meet parents.

Kiln Community Garden (Whitebushes)

In Whitebushes, Charlie has worked with residents on the Kiln Community Garden with up to 15 residents meeting up for fresh air, a natter, a cup of tea and some gardening on the first Saturday of the month. Gardening and watering continue informally during the week, organised by the residents. Charlie obtained funding from Growing Health Together for some fruit trees in three of the planters. The garden has proven to have reduced isolation and anti-social behaviour in the area.

Working Better Together Conference

As part of our evaluation of the work with Growing Health Together, we hosted a conference to show case our health creation work and to better understand the appetite for the continuation of this form of work as a means of reducing health inequalities and placing residents at the centre of prevention work.

Approximately 140 colleagues and residents attended the conference and we received very positive feedback on our approach to health creation. We heard about examples of good practice from Adam Lent (New Local) and listened to the lived experience of some of our inspirational local residents who are active in their communities.

Other work focussing on health inequalities

Pulling Together – Working with Surrey Downs Place

Maria, our CDW covering the Preston Estate has been working on the ‘Pulling Together’ programme with Surrey Downs Place looking at community level health and wellbeing activities and through some funding from Surrey County Council (Public Health), looking specifically at mental wellbeing and the ongoing impact of the COVID on mental health on the estate.

The football project Maria leads on is featured in the below video. The video below, titled, 'Pulling together' is with spoken voice, has subtitles and instrumental music playing in the background.

Health and Wellbeing Champions

Our Merstham CDW, Alice worked with Merstham Community Facilities Trust (MCFT) to make a successful bid to the Mental Health Investment Fund to extend the Community Health and Wellbeing Champion project she had set up. MCFT now employ a coordinator to increase the training offer and support offered to volunteers and to encourage more residents to get involved. The Champions are already having an impact – helping their neighbours try and eat new foods through the food club and supporting people to give up smoking.

MECC Training

Alice and Tracey have undertaken training through Surrey County Council to be able to provide MECC (Make Every Contact Count) training to colleagues and volunteers. MECC is a great way to incorporate basic wellbeing information in everyday conversations staff and volunteers have with residents. This training now forms part of the induction training for the Merstham Health and Wellbeing Champions and we have piloted the approach with Council staff and volunteers through our Community Centres.