The HW Alliance exists to put people’s voices and lived experiences at the centre of health and care policy development, connecting the VCSE sector directly with policymakers.
Over the next three years, we’ll be working with the HW Alliance to amplify the voices of community businesses, feed into national policy, and help create effective community-based health and care services.
What will we be doing?
In 2021/22, we’ll be kicking off our HW Alliance work with two projects, both of which we aim to build on in future years to produce recommendations for the health and care sector:
- Inspiring greater collaboration between Primary Care Networks and VCSE
Working with the public participation, community involvement and voluntary partnerships teams at NHS England and NHS Improvement, we’ll be investigating best culture and practice for effective collaboration between Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and local VCSE organisations. This will include creating a ‘Community of Practice’ for PCNs and our members/grantees to discuss how to better work together, particularly to help communities suffering from health inequalities.
- The impact of community anchors on the wider determinants of health
Working with the healthy communities and health inequalities teams at the government’s new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, we’ll be researching how the space and services provided by community anchors and businesses impact the health and wellbeing of their users. This will include a particular focus on certain user groups experiencing acute health inequalities, e.g. those with learning disabilities and autism.
Our steering group
We’ve assembled a steering group of Locality members and Power to Change grantees to ensure that our work in the HW Alliance is led by the experience of community organisations delivering health and wellbeing services on the ground.
The steering group will provide a direct line of influence for our members to government bodies on the most pressing health and wellbeing policy issues and will provide member input into the projects we are delivering as part of the HW Alliance.
The steering group is made up of organisations from across England, including several which are either user-led or have a specific equalities focus:
- Jennifer White, Chief Executive, Bradford Organic Communities Service
- Naomi Martin, Director, Commonside Community Development Trust
- Victoria Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer, Disability North
- Sarah Gorman, Chief Executive, Edberts House
- Christine Mcnaught, Chief Executive Officer, Foleshill Women’s Training Ltd
- Kellie Rostron, BAMER Family Project Coordinator, Granby Community Mental Health Group – Mary Seacole House
- Pat Mcgeever, Chief Executive, Health for All (Leeds)
- Aiyub Zamakda, Senior Worker, Highfields Community Association
- Annie Wynn, Development Director, Let’s Grow Preston
- Julia Darby, Founder, NEDCare
- Gareth Prytherch, Chief Executive Officer, Neston Community Youth Centre
- Tina Turnbull, Chief Executive, People Matters (West Yorkshire)
- Naseem Akhtar, Chief Executive Officer, Saheli Hub
- Penny Shimmin, Chief Executive, Sussex Community Development Association
How to get involved
As well as the Steering Group, Locality will also be working with their wider health and wellbeing specialist group to learn as much as possible from their experiences. This will be through webinars, discussions, and other events, as well as regular newsletters, online forums and social media.
As with all of Locality’s specialist groups, the discussion is led by their members. Locality staff facilitate discussion, share information, and offer advice, but the group is a chance for you to discuss what’s important to the communities you serve. To join the specialist group, or for any more information about our health and wellbeing work, please contact policy@locality.org.uk.
You can find out more about the launch of the HW Alliance here, and sign up to the monthly newsletter, here.