On Friday 16 May, organisations from across Hinckley and Bosworth joined forces to host a drop-in wellbeing event at the Britannia Shopping Centre, from 1pm-5pm to connect local people with new support offers and activities to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week (12-18 May) and its theme of ‘Community’: Being part of a safe, positive community is vital for our mental health and wellbeing’.
One of the organisations hosting the event was the Hinckley and Bosworth Medical Alliance; the local GP service providers, who brought their social prescribing team and their clinical director, Dr. Kerrie Spaul, who is a champion of social prescribing. Social prescribing works to connect patients to local social and community activities rather than the usual physical health support that they receive from the practice.
Lucy Moore who manages the Alliance’s Social Prescribing team, said: “We know that social prescribing makes a huge difference to people’s lives and we now have new software, Joy, that enables us to quantify this for the past year.
“We now know that our patients’ mental wellbeing, happiness and life satisfaction scores went from below 30% to 80-90% after working with social prescribers. We’ve also seen a 24% reduction in GP appointments.
LPT’s Clare Kozlowski, manager of the Hinckley and Bosworth Neighbourhood Team, who brought her three community connectors to the event, added:
“I am delighted to be part of this event celebrating the importance of the community. This new team of connectors at LPT will be based across all eight of our neighbourhood teams across Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland, staffed with people who understand patients and families and know what support’s available in each local area.
“We know that people with mental health conditions are best served when they’re back in their local communities and supported to get the most out of their life – and it’s our job to help make this happen. This is why events, like this one, are really important as they bring local charities, NHS providers and local council teams into the heart of the community to speak to people and find out how to best support them.”
The Hinckley and Bosworth Medical Alliance is also piloting a new role in social prescribing: a special educational needs /learning disabilities social prescribing link worker for children and young people and their families. The role has been funded by Shaping SEND Futures, a partnership dedicated to improving the lives of children and young people with special education needs and disabilities.
Sophie Saker, who was appointed to the role five weeks ago said: “Lucy and the team identified a real demand for Special Educational Needs and Learning Disability support, so I am delighted to be appointed to this new pilot role as part of our social prescribing service. I am focusing on patients with learning disabilities and special educational needs – and their families – and helping them to get the most out of their lives, whether this is through work, education, volunteering or local activities and groups. It has been great to be here today to meet lot of new people.”
Several people came to the event and shared how their health and wellbeing has been transformed through the team’s social prescribing. This included Janet, an 80-year old resident, who needed support at Christmas: “I had a stressful family Christmas and just couldn’t cope. I then was put in touch with the social prescriber Fi Foote and she has been brilliant, like a friend to me. She has helped me to relax and cope and understand that I am not being stupid or overreacting to things. She has made me make sense of everything.”
Sunny, a 40 year old resident from Barwell, had been invited to come to the event by her social prescriber, Clara. “I had depression and needed a way out of it without medication. I spent my first two sessions with Clara in tears as it all poured out and she just listened. I as having a difficulty with one of my children and she gave me coping tools. She also helped me negotiate with the school and sort things out, she has been so kind. I still have challenges but now i can deal with them.”
Hinckley & Bosworth Neighbourhood mental health leads, who have dual roles with Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council and LPT, have been responsible for organising the event.
Amie Carroll, one of LPT’s neighbourhood leads, said: “I am delighted to say that we had 75 people come to the event. Lots of people took information away from groups such as the U3A, local dog walking groups and our Recovery College. I met a woman called Sue from Barwell who was recently bereaved and was becoming agoraphobic. She has picked up leaflets on a coffee morning with the U3A and has information on crafting and pilates and has left the event uplifted. ”
To view a comprehensive guide to mental health support, please visit: Mental health support – Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust