Representatives from community groups discussed opportunities to work together at a meet-and-greet run by Warwickshire County Council earlier this week.
In September 2021, Warwickshire County Council awarded a total of £750,000 to 36 local projects run by community groups and small to medium businesses, to develop sustainable and innovative solutions to help improve the mental health, wellbeing and resilience of the local community and workforce both during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Six months on, the organisations were invited to a networking session where they could share information about their project, create connections with other local groups and find ways of working together to drive further improvements for the communities they serve.
First, attendees spoke with organisations that were located physically close to them in the county, and later on the groups mixed to allow everyone a chance to connect with each other. The organisations exchanged flyers and marketing materials so they would be able to promote each other’s services to their own clientele when appropriate.
Stratford Sports Club was one of the projects to receive grant funding in 2021. It allowed them to establish the first Sporting Memories Club in Warwickshire, which uses the hook of sport, through a mix of sporting reminiscence, social activities and inclusive physical activities, to connect older people with loneliness, depression and dementia. Anne Tubb, organiser of the club, said:
“The grant funding enabled us to set the club up – it didn’t exist before we had the funding. It enabled us to keep the club running on a weekly basis and for it to be free for the members.”
As a result of the networking session, Anne learned about wellbeing events run by other groups that she knows some of her members would be excited to attend. She added:
“Today has been really interesting and I think we should do more of it. I think all grant funding initiatives should probably go along this way. There were a couple of people I’ve been meaning to speak to, or I’ve emailed and we’ve not really touched base. It’s much easier when you’re talking to someone face-to-face.”
Cllr Margaret Bell, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health said:
“The Warwickshire Mental Health and Wellbeing Resilience Fund was developed to enable local groups to find and implement their own solutions to support members of their community or workplace. We have already seen some impressive results from many of the initiatives. This event was a real opportunity for these organisations to see how their projects can connect together and share good practice, and we are delighted that so many of the attendees went away with concrete plans to work more closely with each other.”
There is more information about the projects funded by the Mental Wellbeing and Resilience Fund 2021 on the Warwickshire County Council website.
Further advice, guidance and support for mental health and wellbeing is also at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/mentalhealth.