Wandsworth Care Alliance

Empowering Roehampton: Estate Art Community Champions

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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.

Voluntary Sector Accommodation Opportunity

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Give us your views on a new Wandsworth Town Hall voluntary community sector hub

Wandsworth Council is excited to announce a new 1,700sqft ground floor space at the Town Hall dedicated to a Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) Hub. We invite local organisations to provide input on how this space can best serve their needs.

How to Give Feedback:

Online Survey: Take the survey.

Focus Group: Join the in-person session on May 24th. Sign up here.

For questions, email the Wandsworth Voluntary Sector team at voluntarysectorteam@wandsworth.gov.uk.

For more information please find flyer here: VCS Hub – Wandsworth Town Hall

What movement does for Dominic’s well-being

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I’m Dominic and I’ve been working at Wandsworth Care Alliance as a Mental Health Project Manager since September 2022. Mental Health Awareness Week is on 13th -19th May and has a theme of movement so I wanted to speak about enhancing mental well-being through physical activity and connections.

I have experienced challenges in my life, just like many others, and this has led to stress and anxiety at times, but what has helped me cope better is my exercise routine.

I found that for me physical activity isn’t just about building muscles or losing weight; it’s a tool for nurturing my mental health and well-being. I can say it’s provided me with mental clarity, is an excellent way to de-stress, relax, get some fresh air and an associated dopamine boost on my Monday night football sessions.

My sessions are more than just about playing sport and getting fit, it’s a chance to bond (depending on who won), offer escapism, and to have light hearted discussions about what’s happening in our lives, as well as any concerns we’re facing.

Meeting with other people who are going through the same or similar challenges puts things into perspective, and being distracted for a couple of hours is a great way for me and the others to leave those problems behind. At first, people from Monday night football might not pick up the phone and say, ‘Can we meet and talk’? but over time they feel more comfortable talking after a game of football.

Regular physical activity has become part of my routine, whether it’s a brisk walk in the morning to work, a gym session in the evening, or a swim on the weekend, each activity helps ease stress and anxiety.

Physical activity has been a companion on my journey towards mental well-being. As I get older it has taught me the importance of listening to my body, nurturing my mind, and honouring my connection between physical and mental health. Football is my way of maintaining human connection through sport, but it doesn’t have to be yours.

There are so many activities you can do like walking and exploring the great outdoors, swimming, yoga or even martial arts. There’s a wide range of activities you can take part in both independently and as part of a group whether that’s with new people, friends, or family.

Remember, just take one step at a time!

Take a look at our social post.

Resources:

For tips, advice and ways to get active near you click here.

Do you have more resources to share on this article? Please email us on communications@wandcareall.org.uk to share resources.

Health Inequalities Fund: welfare support and legal advice for all people

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people sat in a group with laptops collaborating

To be effective in tackling health inequalities we must not just react to illness but also prevent illness by helping people to live well and stay well. Some people may struggle to access welfare and legal advice, (particularly those belonging to less advantaged groups).

People need a good standard of living and protected rights to stay healthy.

WCA are programme managing the Health Inequalities Fund to allocate funds to voluntary sector projects in Wandsworth and create a steering group to deepen conversation about this issue and address barriers to accessing local services. Project delivery will run from March 2024 – March 2025.

What groups are we working with that experience health inequalities?

Organisations who work with the community in the following 6 theme groups are being invited to collaborate and join the following project information sessions.

19th February – 11:00-12:00 Unpaid/young carers project – RSVP

19th February – 14:00-15:00 Learning difficulties/autism project – RSVP

20th February – 11:00-12:00 Black/Asian/Global majority ethnic project – RSVP

20th February – 14:00-15:00 LGBTQIA+ project – RSVP

21st February – 14:00-15:00 Asylum seekers and refugees project – RSVP

22nd February – 14:00-15:00 Socially isolated people project – RSVP

Is there funding available to support the projects?

Funding may be available to support people with activity addressing these issues at the discretion of the lead organisations who will be organising an engagement group in March 2024.

Could you be a project lead?

Do you believe your organisation is a leading voice in Wandsworth on engaging people in one of these 6 key themes? You could be a project lead and access funding support from £10k-£80k.

Project leads will receive a fund and a programme manager for development support.

We are taking project proposals for 6 project leads (1 per theme) in the voluntary sector from 5th February – 29th February.

What’s the expectation for health inequalities project leads?

These projects must build on insight (from existing work with one of the above themes in the community) but we also expect you to propose a new approach to work and activity to engage people in welfare support and legal advice.

You must be prepared to engage other organisations in the delivery of this work at steering group meetings.

You must agree reporting requirements and accommodate external evaluation at the end of the project.

How to apply to be project lead

Register your interest by emailing communications@wandcareall.org.uk

We will be in touch with more information.

Want to hear about other funds and opportunities for voluntary sector organisations in Wandsworth? Join our mailing list.

What is Kooth? The free mental health service for young people

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What is Kooth? 4 young people sat against a red background holding paper speech bubbles over their faces

What is Kooth?

Kooth is a free, safe, anonymous online mental health service for young people that is accessible 24/7, 365 days of the year and provides access to chat sessions with BACP-accredited counsellors and qualified emotional wellbeing practitioners.

All our chat sessions are text-based conversations that take place on the Kooth website, and last up to an hour. Chat is available from 12pm – 10pm Monday through Friday, and 6pm – 10pm Saturday and Sunday, providing a much needed ‘out of hours’ service.

Kooth is accessible from any device.

koothplc.com

Are you able to see all content on the site?

There are restrictions in place to ensure that when using Kooth, you only see what is age appropriate for you. This also helps us to ensure you find the content that is most useful to you.

Any comments are pre-moderated to ensure that only relevant comments are posted and visible.

Can you create content on Kooth?

You can submit content and post on the discussion boards to share your experiences and to support others within the Kooth community.

We also encourage you to give us feedback by sharing your views of how we deliver our service.

This will help us to keep improving Kooth.

Can you message other young people on Kooth?

The safety of our users on Kooth is really important to us.

Therefore, you cannot add friends or directly message other young people on the site in the same way you can on gaming platforms or social media sites.

This is because we are an anonymous service and we need to make sure everyone using the site is safe.

When can you talk to someone?

The Kooth team are available to chat 7 days a week, 365* days of the year. You can access the magazine, discussion boards and any other online content whenever you like, from wherever you are.

Our friendly online team are available to chat during the following times:

From 12 noon until 10pm weekdays.

From 6pm until 10pm weekends.

To make sure we can support as many of you as possible, we do have a chat queue.

How long you will have to wait in the chat queue depends on how busy the site is so please be patient with us.

You can send a message to the team at any time and it will be responded to during service working hours. Our counsellors are employed by us and are fully qualified with the BACP or equivalent.

Do you need to be referred by a GP?

You do not need to be referred to Kooth to access the service.

You are invited and welcome to join as long as you fall within the age of 10-25.

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