Sixteen community groups have been awarded a share of half a million pounds by Hackney Council and the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) through a new fund aimed at improving health and wellbeing in the local area.

The Healthier City and Hackney Fund, thought to be the biggest of its kind in the country, is the first time Hackney Council and the City and Hackney CCG have combined money for this kind of funding.

The community groups who have been awarded grants range from Hackney-based Core Arts, who have been awarded £60,000 to offer sessions to 80 adults who require support after being discharged from mental health crisis support, to the Terrence Higgins Trust, who have been awarded £19,846 to investigate the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people of colour in the local area, and how racism and heterosexism act as barriers to accessing services and better health outcomes.

They were asked to demonstrate how their projects could tackle one of a number of priority health and wellbeing issues in the borough, including promoting mental wellbeing at times of change, improving uptake of cancer screening and end of life care.

Catherine Macadam, Lay Member for Patient and Public Involvement at the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group said: “The Healthier City and Hackney Fund aims to support community and voluntary groups and organisations to develop innovative and exciting approaches to address some of our most complex health problems. I am looking forward to seeing the projects develop over the coming months and find out about their positive impact on our local communities, working in partnership with mainstream services.”

Alongside the funding, groups are supported to work with one another to overcome the health challenges they are focused on. Groups will also receive wider non-financial rewards, including direct support from a council officer to help build capacity within their organisation and ways to help promote their achievements.

Hackney-based Core Arts have been awarded £60,000 to offer sessions to 80 adults who require support after being discharged from mental health crisis support.

Giuliana Molinari, Deputy Director at Core Arts, said: “Core Arts were delighted to have been awarded the Healthier City and Hackney Fund towards our essential new project, Core Resilience, offering creative support sessions, tackling physical and mental health for discharged clients at risk of relapse due to severe mental ill-health, who are not in receipt/eligible of other services at a crucial time of transition/change.

“The fund will allow us to fill this essential gap in provision with person centered individualised care, offering creative opportunities for clients to achieve their goals, ambitions making a full contribution to society, highlighting talents rather than focusing on perceived difficulties and promoting wellbeing at times of change.”

The Terrence Higgins Trust have been awarded £19,846 to investigate the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people of colour in the local area, and how racism and heterosexism act as barriers to accessing services and better health outcomes.

Adam Wilkinson, UK Service Director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “We’re really looking forward to working with the Hackney community to learn more about the barriers for LGBTQ+ people from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities engaging with and accessing health services in one of London’s most diverse boroughs. By learning more about these barriers, we will work with health and social care organisations and services in Hackney to properly target and meet the needs of this group.”

The next round of grant funding for projects which look to improve health and wellbeing in City and Hackney will open for applications in September 2018, and priority topics for funding will be announced nearer the time.

For more information on the fund, visit https://www.hackney.gov.uk/healthier-city-and-hackney-fund