A significant proportion of the adult population has still not been vaccinated and, as the country increasingly opens up, those people may be putting themselves at risk of serious illness or may be excluding themselves from activities which require evidence of vaccination.
Funding is still available to local groups able to run a short term project targeted at specific groups within the community, aimed particularly at those who may have had less access to the vaccination programme to support them to make an informed choice about whether to put themselves forward.
We are looking for proposals which clearly identify a target group and which either have a good understanding of the barriers faced by that group with suggestions about how to overcome those barriers or who are well placed to explore in more depth what those barriers are. Examples are:
- groups working with minority ethnic communities who have had fewer opportunities to access the vaccine who could reach members of those communities with well-researched information on side effects; cultural and religious issues; or concerns about long term health implications. Perhaps addressing this by holding online question and answer events or reaching people via radio or TV in specific languages
- Would the people you work with find information from a peer or community champion easier to access?
- Or perhaps the barriers are practical and groups could support individuals to travel to clinics or support individuals to understand what will happen at a clinic.
It is also becoming apparent that young people are less likely to take up the offer of a vaccine than their older family members. Youth groups who could access young people under 30 perhaps through special events or by offering question and answer sessions at existing events or organizing discussions with health professionals about the science of vaccination or supporting pop up clinics in convenient places for this group are also invited to apply for grants.
For an application pack and more information, please contact Melanie@wandcareall.org.uk. We are accepting expressions of interest on a rolling basis until September.