The Staying Well Programme commissioned by Calderdale Council first started in 2014 as a pilot to help tackle loneliness and social isolation. It is now well-established covering the whole of the borough.
The way the programme is set up is designed to make the most of community assets. It covers five localities with anchor organisations delivering the project with a mixture of council and voluntary sector staff. This has meant they all work in different ways to reflect the unique needs and assets in each area.
Staying Well Team Manager Rachel Swaby said: “It helps us to tap into community assets be it individuals, groups or places. There is so much local knowledge, energy and enthusiasm in our communities. By letting each locality make the most of what is already there we have been able to build a service that is making a real difference to people’s lives.”
To help, each locality has a micro-commissioning budget, funded from a variety of external sources and grants, that has helped support activities. The budget has ensured there is a thriving range of activities for people to take part in from chat and craft groups to gardening schemes, walking football and luncheon clubs.
Each locality also has two Staying Well workers who deal with referrals in from GPs, nurses and social care staff – although self-referrals are also accepted. The workers help people find local activities as well as volunteering opportunities. They can accompany them on their first visits if asked.
The workers also help support community activities, sometimes working alongside them or helping to connect them with other services. For example, Healthy Minds, an independent charity in Calderdale which runs mental health support groups, has been helped to run activities in GP practices in one area.
Abrar Hussain, who is the lead for the Central Halifax Staying Well locality and works for Halifax Opportunities Trust, a community organisation, says the locally-based approach is a “'real strength', it means the programme reaches parts others cannot. We are part and parcel of the community - we run children’s centres, employment support, training and wellbeing initiatives. It means we can knit all these things together to support people who are referred into Staying Well."
We were doing some of this before Staying Well, but being part of the programme, having access to the community fund and the overall wider vision means we can have a bigger impact than we would on our own.