Health & Well Being

The last year has been about maintaining and consolidating partnership/ making new partnerships with people and agencies in Barton and Tredworth, and the wider community. Exercise classes continued to be delivered at St. Catherine’s Court. A large part of the health and well being work has been around facilitating local community events, and bringing senior people from a host of agencies into the community to discuss how health and well being services are delivered, and to continue to explore joint working opportunities.

There have been a number of health and well being workshops held at the Barton and Tredworth Community Trust Centre, looking at areas such as, people from the Black and Minority Ethnic Communities volunteer in the National Health Services, Barton and Tredworth and Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust “3 funded projects”, the Polish Health and Social Wellness Day, World Mental Health Day: Culture and Diversity, Black and Minority Ethnic Community and Rural Gloucestershire Workshop, Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust and Barton and Tredworth Mental Health Workshop: Focus on 11-18yr olds, Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Ambulance Service Information Day, Projects for Older People (POPS) information sharing day. This has brought a closer scrutiny of how agencies promoting volunteering in health engage and involve people from the BME community.

I continue to be involved in local forums such as the Patient and Public Involvement Forum, and the Gloucestershire Voluntary and Community Health and Social Care Strategy group and the Barton, Tredworth and White City Health Action Group. I also work with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), Healthcare Commission, and the Improvement and Development Agency all of which provide an opportunity for personal development and an opportunity to attract national organisations to Barton and Tredworth, an example of which is NICE coming to launch their national work around the environment and physical activity in Jan 08.

I have secured funds from Community Counts to edit the Health Action Group Newsletter, and all the events hosted at the Trust centre have been funded through agencies who wish to promote/ take forward their services in the community. The key agencies in this have been the Gloucestershire County Council, The Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, The Council for Ethnic Minority and Voluntary Organisations, and the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.

Joseph Eustace (BDc Hons. Psychology with Religious Studies) began volunteering with the Trust Centre in June and has presented at the Black Environment Network in London, joined the Chairs and Chief Executives of the South West NHS for a strategic business meeting (accompanying the Chair of the Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust) and provided invaluable support and direction for the health and well being agenda. Thanks Joe! As I thank all the many people and agencies I have worked with in 2007.
If I were to pick out one, from a number, successes from 2007 it would be 2nd place for the NHS Centre for Involvement: Involvement to Impact Awards. At a Gala awards evening in London on the 28th of November (all expenses paid by external bodies) The Barton and Tredworth was recognised for the Polish Health and Social Awareness Day

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Bren McInerney (Health Volunteer/ Health Involvement Lead)

The Trust Centre, Conduit Street, Tredworth, Gloucester GL1 4XH

Tel: 01452-544933