Nearly half a million pounds funding awarded to improve health in the borough

Fourteen local community groups will be receiving funding from a local health innovation fund, totalling almost half a million pounds to tackle complex local problems.

The funding comes from the Healthier City and Hackney Fund which combines money from Hackney Council and City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The aim of the fund is to find innovative solutions to address long-standing or deep-rooted health inequalities in Hackney and the City of London. It is the biggest local health innovation fund of its kind in the country.

Some of the community groups who will receive funding include Hatzola Trust, North London, a volunteer ambulance service team offering health support and prevention services. They will receive almost £40,000 to help parents, carers, guardians and families manage common illnesses closer to home. The aim of the project is to reduce the number of children admitted to hospital A&E with minor illnesses and injuries.

A Trust spokesperson said: “We at Hatzola are really excited to be recommended for funding. In the next few months we hope to develop our vaccination awareness campaign and develop our "help ourselves at home first" education in order to minimise unnecessary visits to GPs and A&E Departments.  We hope to continue in our life saving work and help as many people as possible.”

Social enterprise Renaisi, have been given nearly £20,000 worth of funding to tackle social isolation and connect people from Hackney’s migrant communities. A Renaisi spokesperson said: “Renaisi is delighted to be working with Hackney Council to explore which community activities have the greatest impact on reducing loneliness in under 50s from migrant communities. We have worked in and with communities in Hackney for over 20 years, which gives us the experience and networks to discover which activities work best and why.”

Groundswell Network Support UK will receive around £50,000 to help homeless people and rough sleepers in Hackney access the right health and social care support and advice by pairing people with volunteers who have also experienced homelessness, to support them through appointments and health services

The community groups were asked to demonstrate how their projects could tackle some of the key enduring health and wellbeing problems in the borough. Some of these issues include identifying people at risk of falls, improving health and wellbeing at work, supporting people to recover if they have had a life-changing illness or injury, and improving access to health and social care for homeless people and rough sleepers.

Catherine Macadam, Lay Member for Patient and Public Involvement at the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “I am really pleased to see the Healthier City and Hackney Fund being rolled out to support community and voluntary groups and organisations for the second year running. The fund enables them to develop and implement innovative solutions to address complex health problems. I think some of the projects being developed over the coming months are extremely exciting and I look forward to finding out about their positive impact on our local communities, working in partnership with mainstream services.”

As well as receiving funding, groups are supported to work with one another and existing services, to address the particular health challenge they are focusing on. The groups will also receive support from Council and health service officers to help them succeed and promote their achievements.

The next round of grant funding for projects is likely to open for applications in September 2019, 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

The Healthier City and Hackney Fund is a way of funding different solutions to address long-standing or deep-rooted health inequalities. Through this project the Council can work closely with key partners including the NHS and community and support groups to identify people’s health needs and deliver better targeted approaches.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, Transport and Parks