Our voluntary and community partners hold the key to supporting us to deliver more community-led engagement approaches, increase diversity of participation and to build trust through continuous conversations.
Over the period October 2024 – February 2025, when winter pressures are greatest on the NHS, we sought to have ‘good conversations’ with communities about urgent care services. We also wanted to hear what is most important to our communities, any challenges they experience accessing services, and in particular any key barriers for those disproportionately impacted by health inequalities.
We ran a grants programme – called the Winter Engagement Fund – inviting grassroots VCSE organisations to bid for a small pot to run activities and engage with their community. We gather richer insights and hear voices we wouldn’t otherwise due to the connections and trust our VCSE partners have with local people and communities. Working in this way also ensures wide reach of the information shared about health services.
Our Winter Engagement Fund distributed 115 grants to local community and voluntary sector organisations that can reach people who are likely to experience unequal access to healthcare and communities with the greatest health needs. The small grants scheme supported community leaders to bring communities together to share information during the winter months about our local health campaigns on:
NHS app – reducing pressure on primary care
Pharmacy – reducing pressure on urgent care services
Vaccinations and immunisations – reducing hospital admissions
This winter around 350 activities and events took place, reaching 10,000 residents across South West London. Funded organisations included Wandsworth’s Baked Bean Charity, which hosted a series of Zumba sessions for adults with learning disabilities and the Togetherness Community Centre’s Caribbean Social Club in Merton funding hot lunches for the over 65s.
The engagement not only provided guidance and advice about local health services but also created opportunities to gather valuable feedback on what matters to local communities. This report sets out the insight gathered on challenges accessing urgent care and the barriers communities can experience.
Read the insight report Return to the Insight Bank