Community Champions are volunteers in Wandsworth who help support community members and encourage healthy life style choices.
Recently, Estate Art took part in our Community Champions programme over 2022/23, recruiting 20 Champions who would be supporting the Roehampton community. These Champions were all MECC (Make Every Contact Count) trained and all either had or applied for a basic DBS check, ensuring they felt safe and prepared for any situation they may encounter.
Estate Art is a non-for-profit organisation who were first set up during COVID to help members of the Roehampton community with their physical and mental health through art. They are committed to enabling a person’s full potential, and developing community cohesion, through creative community-led projects.
“(Being a health champion) has taught me how to appropriately discuss health, improvements and issues members of our community may be facing via the use of correct language and open-ended questions and it has taught me all about the inequalities in health and barriers people are facing throughout the UK which has allowed me to understand and support people from all walks of life and backgrounds”.
Our Community Champions are supporting community health and wellbeing through regular group wellbeing activities such as community building, Health Cafés, yoga classes, Walks with a Champion, and community outreach.
The outcomes have been very successful as it included improved mental wellbeing and physical activity of participants, as well as opportunities to signpost community members to local services. Through the funded activities, the Health Champions and the Founder of Estate Art were approached for help by individuals and provided signposting to appropriate healthcare, mental health, or social support services. Over 100 Roehampton residents have been supported through signposting and advocating their cases with 8 different agencies from hospitals to Wandsworth Council to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).
“Becoming a health champion has helped to broaden my social circle and increase my confidence, after suffering a traumatic experience. Gaining new skills and qualifications has also served to increase my level of confidence and happiness and the personal and professional support given has boosted my mental health.”
Some of the key outcomes Estate Art and the Roehampton area saw because of the Champions programme includes:
- Bringing and increasing diagnostic screening to the community, which lead directly to new medical diagnoses.
- Referring individuals to health providers and advocating for them in clearing barriers to accessing effective healthcare.
- Facilitating contact between residents and health and wellbeing providers which built trust between the two sides and encouraged residents to speak up more.
- Sharing health information and lifestyle advice to local residents and communities.
- Conducting a health survey which help gave residents a voice and highlight the services needed in the area to tackle health inequalities – this information about unmet health needs in the community was provided to the South West London ICB.
- Increasing the uptake of physical activity and sport through yoga and ‘Walk with a Champion’ sessions.
“Being a Health Champion has been an interesting addition to my life. It has given to me an opportunity to meet new people which I find very helpful as I am quite a shy person therefore it is hard for me to make friends. Attending regular walk on Mondays has been an enjoyable form of exercise for me. Thanks to Estate Art I have been able to improve my knowledge by accessing trainings such as Make Every Contact Count and Level 2 Understanding Health Improvement. But most importantly, being a Health Champion has given me a chance to help people who I come in touch with. Some of them need a chat while others need signposting to different services. To see a smile on their faces while enjoying Estate Art events makes me smile too. Knowing I can be useful and help someone is so rewarding.”
If you’re interested in becoming a Community Champion or learning more click here.