We’re now 3 months into Well Together, which is a new programme of grants and support for community-led health and wellbeing activities funded by the NHS Integrated Care Board. We’re working in 10 priority areas across Oxfordshire, investing in activities and projects for all ages. Read on to find out what we’ve been up to so far!

In our first couple of months, we’ve been busy getting the word out about the programme. We’re meeting with groups across the wards, working closely with local partners and networks, and hosting drop-in information sessions in communities.

The Well Together drop-ins are informal opportunities for groups and residents to find out more about Well Together. These sessions have been a chance for anyone interested to meet the team, ask questions, and share their ideas whilst enjoying tea and biscuits! It’s been great to meet with different people and groups within each community, and we’ve been so pleased to see around 100 attendees across our first 5 sessions. The drop-ins have also enabled groups to meet others working in the area and explore potential partnerships too.

With a strong uptake and over , the team are now focusing on supporting the first groups to develop their proposals. We’ll be working with groups to define the specific activities they are able to deliver to support health and wellbeing in their communities, whilst helping them connect with partners and collaborators. We’ll be putting together tailored funding plans for each ward, factoring in priorities in the different areas and building on existing work and research such as the Community Insight Profiles.

Through Well Together we’re focusing on creating a hyperlocal approach, with activities that cover a broad range of health inequalities and demographic groups in each ward. Example activities include cooking classes to support healthy eating, classes to help people find exercise they enjoy, support groups for parents and babies, initiatives to support mental health and wellbeing, activities enabling connection and reducing isolation, campaigns to promote attendance of health checks, and support groups around addiction.

We’ll be releasing the first 20% of our funding in Spring 2024 and aim to award remaining funds by November 2024 to give groups a minimum of one year to deliver their activities. The specific funding deadlines will vary for each ward, depending on the volume of applications, and existing grant schemes in the priority areas.

Interested in applying for Well Together? Our team are on hand to provide support throughout the programme. If you want to meet us to discuss your questions or ideas before completing an application, we’re very happy to help! Please reach out to us via [email protected]

We are encouraged by the levels of engagement with Well Together, the 2-year funding programme of £1m, from the NHS to reduce health inequalities in ten priority wards across Oxfordshire, with accompanying capacity building.

The Well Together team have hosted free drop-in events in many of the wards over the last month or so, and have met with representatives of community-based organisations, groups and individual residents over a cuppa and biscuits, to offer more information about the Well Together programme of grants and support, and to discuss ideas they have.

We have met hundreds of people and heard about great ideas for running activities that strengthen health and wellbeing within the priority wards. Together we have been discussing the best approach that meets the funding criteria, the needs of the groups and local residents, as well as ensures sustainability.

The Well Together team are keen to foster collaboration between groups and organisations. The events have also been useful for local groups, residents, Councillors, and others to meet each other. Many have spoken about new collaborations with others that they have met at these events. For example, one group of residents and their local Councillor met at one of the drop-in events and agreed to set up a Residents Association together, which they are now working on! The power of community-led action.

We have had a wealth of expressions of interest from across the wards. The first tranche of Well Together funding will be released in spring, and the rest of the funding will be released at different points throughout the year. We continue to welcome expressions of interest from organisations and groups for the Well Together programme.

More information about the Well Together Programme of grants and support is available here: https://www.communityfirstoxon.org/community-action-and-volunteering/well-together-programme/