Agenda item

·       What do we mean by “Health & Wellbeing”

·       What does Health & Wellbeing look like in a village

·       Examples of what some villages are already doing

·       What does your village look like in comparison?

·       What do we need to be doing next?

 

Chairman explained that there were two important themes contained within the councils Business Plan, these were Sustainable Communities and Health and Wellbeing (H&WB).

 

H&WB was an important theme that the Board wished to pursue.

 

Lead Member Cllr Richard Clewer noted that the H&WB Group is to meet to discuss how to improve the H&WB for the southern Wilts community area. They will look at the work already going on and how that could be improved and some areas of work that was not yet established.

 

This initiative would work best on a community level, as the Board could draw on the use of volunteers and organisations that we already had.

 

The Chairman had put together a list of ideas which has been circulated at the meeting.

 

The Board then heard some examples of work already underway in some villages:

 

Downton’s caring community – Jane (former Head of Adult Social Care)

 

·       Downton was a good-sized village with a lot going on and many people were already involved.

·       They had started off with dementia friends training, this simple approach gave them a core of people that could then be make use of.

·       Liaising with the Doctors surgery, pharmacy and keeping Police informed.

·       They also used the Safe Places approach, this was a good start for a village, involving businesses and encouraging people to go out in the community in places that display the logo.

·       They had asked the people in the chemist to talk to the people in the surgery, getting people together and asking them to share information.

 

Intergenerational project with Age UK/Trafalgar School– Sue Wight

Sue had been involved in an Area Board project taking place in Trafalgar School in Downton, sharing skills and finding ways forward and having a legacy effect.

 

Within the written report circulated at the meeting, there were proposals for consideration.

 

Wiltshire online has an existing system which we have drawn from.

Equip older people with the skills needed for using online systems.

 

The school has been fantastic with their input in to this project. Tom met with the head teacher who felt that the project could be used as a starting point to develop further areas of work.

 

Cllr David Burton added that all the secondary schools in Laverstock also wanted to run with this.

 

Music for Wellbeing CIC - Olivia McLennan

Olivia had been involved with dance based projects to help people with dementia and other long term conditions. The Board was then shown a DVD which showed some of the group sessions in action.

 

Three outcomes had been drawn from this work, creating a greater social involvement and Improving friendship and community connection.

 

There were on average, 12 to 14 participants per session.

 

Tom then drew attention to the paper circulated at the meeting and asked those in attendance to consider their village, in how well it provided for young and vulnerable people. Groups were asked to put some ideas down on paper, these were collected at the end.

 

Areas for consideration were:

 

Supporting elderly and vulnerable residents:

·       A dementia-friendly village

·       A village with a safe place(s)

·       Who and where the elderly and vulnerable are is known (this needs definition)

·       They receive informal neighbourly help and support

·       The village offers activities specifically for them, ensures that they know about those activities, are encouraged to participate in them, and can get to them safely and easily

·       There are transport arrangements to meet their needs

·       Police know who they are and visit

·       Fire and Rescue have assessed the safety of their homes

·       The village (parish council?) can signpost to appropriate medical, social services, care and volunteer groups

·       Someone or some organisation in the village knows which people receive support/care and keep an eye on them.

·       Villages work with their churches and other organisations who already have networks in villages and contact with many of the vulnerable.

·       Clubs and groups which exist in the village who can provide activities and or support are identified.

Helping young residents develop

·       There is a range of constructive activities available. (Sports, active leisure, hobbies, cultural, artistic)

·       Parents/volunteers in the village run a youth club or activity group with area board support.

·       When participating in those activities they are kept safe

·       The availability of such activities is generally known about throughout the village

·       There are intergenerational projects bringing together the elderly and young

·       There are volunteering opportunities for young people in the village and they are encouraged to participate in them

·       Younger residents can be signposted to appropriate counselling services

·       There is regular contact between young residents and the local Community Police Team

All residents

·       The village provides a range of sports, active leisure, hobby, cultural activities

·       Residents are actively encouraged to participate in the above activities

·       There are frequent opportunities for social interaction

·       Local health and safety risks identified and rectified

·       Safe walking, running and cycling routes are mapped in the village showing their routes and distances.

People were urged to take the list away with them and further discuss how their village supported its vulnerable.

 

If a village was already doing good things, could this be shared with other communities?

 

If improvements were needed, was there a project that you could get off the ground using Area Board funding?

 

The list would also be circulated to all town and parish councils over the next week. A representative of the Board would come along to a parish council meeting to explain some of the things that were going on and advise on how to expand on some of these ideas in your areas.

 

The Chairman added that the challenge was for villages and communities to think about what could be expanded or done better.

He was proud of the fact that the Board had been instrumental in starting these initiatives we had heard about, with Tom in a facilitating roll.