Over 130 activities in ten priority areas across Oxfordshire have received a boost after being awarded Well Together funding.
The Well Together programme offers grassroot groups financial and community development support to strengthen the work they are doing in helping people to make healthier choices for themselves and their families. A wide range of activities to tackle health inequalities are taking place across the county that will benefit children, young people and adults.
A small team of Community Capacity Builders (CCBs) have been raising awareness of Well Together over the last year and supporting groups through the application process. The team are building on their strong community connections to help groups monitor and measure the impact of the work as well as providing infrastructure support.
Well Together funding has been distributed on a rolling basis, so all groups are at different stages of offering their activities. For some who received a grant earlier in 2024, their activities are now well underway. Some of these include:
- Rose Hill Junior Youth Club who are delivering sessions for ages 5-16 focused on improving wellbeing and building friendships through nature, cooking and art activities.
- South Oxford Community Centre hosts seated exercise classes with the opportunity to make friends in the community café afterwards.
- Oxford Wood Recycling are holding Community Shed sessions, encouraging residents from nearby Caldecott to meet their neighbours while making, creating or dabbling with wood.
- Banbury Young Homeless Project have been running sessions for 16–25-year-olds to promote mental wellbeing.
- UCARE are providing expert advice on urological cancers to other groups funded through the programme.
- SOFEA’s ‘pop-up’ community larders continue to run and expand to new locations. One visitor to Barton Community Larder said: “The staff are friendly and supportive and there are always fresh and tinned healthy vegetables and other food. I often use it to make soups and stir fry and other healthy recipes which I can enjoy throughout the week.”
- PEEP baby group is running in Littlemore and one parent said: “Prior to attending this group, I didn’t know anyone in our local community. Now I feel a part of the community and regularly see other individuals from the group out and about. This has had a very positive impact on my mental health as I adjusted to becoming a mum.”
Well Together is delivered in partnership by OCVA and Community First Oxfordshire. The Programme is funded by the NHS BOB Integrated Care Board.
The 10 priority areas identified are: Abingdon Caldecott, Banbury Neithrop, Banbury Grimsbury, Banbury Ruscote, Barton, Blackbird Leys, Central Oxford, Greater Leys, Littlemore, and Rose Hill.
Well Together aims to address health inequalities identified by the NHS. These include:
- Ongoing maternity care, especially for Black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities
- Mental health support for children, young people, and adults
- Early cancer diagnosis
- Preventing health concerns (such as chronic respiratory disease and high blood pressure) by increasing physical activity and promoting healthy eating
- Tackling obesity and encouraging healthy weight loss
- Encouraging people to look after themselves and stay healthier for longer
- Supporting people to stop smoking
- Reducing harmful drinking or drug behaviours
- Helping children to access dental healthcare
The above areas have been selected as they can have the biggest impact on avoidable mortality, helping to narrow health inequalities.