The Wandsworth Health and Wellbeing Board is a partnership between Wandsworth Council, the NHS and the voluntary sector. It meets four times a year at Wandsworth Town Hall, and is chaired by the Cabinet Member for Health, Cllr Graeme Henderson.
The Health and Wellbeing Board aims to:
- Improve the population’s health and reduce health inequalities
- Help reform the way the health and care system works
- Protect the health of residents
In Wandsworth, the Board retains a place for a representative of the voluntary sector in the borough. That representative can offer insight, support and challenge from the voluntary sector.
Abi Carter, who has been the voluntary sector representative since 2023 is now stepping down from the role because she has a new job outside the borough. This means we need a new representative.
Are you interested? If so, read on to understand more about the role.
A note from Abi Carter:
“The role gives you a really good insight into the health and wellbeing eco-system both in Wandsworth and, where necessary, in South West London. It also gives you the opportunity to get to know and hear from a load of awesome and impressive people working and volunteering at charities in the borough. There are four Board meetings a year (which you can join in person or remotely) and usually a couple of seminars. Before each meeting, you’d work with WCA and Vusi Edeki who is the liaison between Wandsworth and the VCS (and who is great!) to run an engagement meeting with voluntary sector stakeholders. These meetings are aimed at explaining more about the Board’s work, hearing ideas / concerns for you to take to the meetings and also establish stronger networks between different people and organisations.
“In the time I’ve been on the Board, I’ve definitely seen a drive towards doing more outside of the meetings e.g. in seminars, which is positive. The meeting papers do tend to be a gazillion pages long BUT I’ve found that AI can really help in terms of summarising them / focusing on voluntary sector-focused things in the papers so you can prioritise what you read.”
The person:
This is a unique opportunity for someone with an understanding of health and social care issues in the borough to influence the strategic direction of our local services on behalf of the voluntary sector. Do you want to ensure the knowledge and experience of our sector is heard? Do you want to help shape inclusive, effective services which work for all?
We are looking for someone, prepared to work alongside the VSCS to ensure that the voluntary sector contribution to the Health and Wellbeing Board and the feedback from the Board is communicated effectively to the voluntary sector and to our statutory partners.
The commitment:
The representative is elected for an initial period of three years, with an option to stand for another three years.
Board meetings are held four times each year, with papers circulated around a week before the Board meets. Board meetings last about two hours, and it can take around the same time again to go through the papers beforehand.
Future dates:
- 2026: June 25th; Sept 17th; Dec 3rd
- 2027: Feb 27th
All meetings take place between 1-3pm usually at Wandsworth Town Hall. You can view agendas and minutes of previous meetings here:
https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CId=508&Year=0
There is also a Health and Wellbeing Board Engagement Group that meets before each Board meeting. This usually meets a couple of weeks before the Board and is chaired by the voluntary sector rep. This meeting lasts an hour. Wandsworth Care Alliance promote and host the Engagement Group.
Anyone from within the voluntary sector in Wandsworth can attend, and it’s usually also attended by council officers. It gives the voluntary sector the opportunity to:
- Understand more about the Board, through presentations on key topics and the chance to see what’s on the forthcoming agenda
- Strengthen relationships with other members of the voluntary sector
- Ask the voluntary sector representative to raise issues relevant to the agenda.
How to express your interest in becoming the representative:
Send in a short video (5 mins max) or statement (2 pages max) about why you want to be the representative and what you think you’d bring to the role by Tuesday 12th May 2026 to Shani Tully at Wandsworth Care Alliance at the following email address:
Election of the Health and Wellbeing Board Representative
The election of the Health and Wellbeing Board Voluntary Sector Representative will take place at the Voluntary Sector Forum. The Forum is being held on 18th May 2026 from 12-2pm at the Kambala Community Hall 126 Fawcett Close, London SW11 2LQ
Register your free space here.