This week’s leadership message comes from Ian Holmes and Kate Hainsworth

Hello, my name is Ian…

Our ‘Looking out for our neighbours’ campaign has got off to a great start. The official launch at the Headingley Carnegie Stadium on Friday 15 March was supported by MP Jo Cox’s sister Kim Leadbeater (Ambassador for the Jo Cox Foundation) and members of the Leeds Rhinos rugby team – to name a few.  Since then it’s been fantastic to see how this movement is spreading and taking hold across our area. 

The campaign, which covers Bradford District and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, encourages people to do simple things to look out for one another to help improve the wellbeing of other local residents. Our aim is to prevent loneliness and its associated health issues by encouraging communities to look after each other. This will reduce demand on health and care services through early help and preventing ill health. For me this is what integrated care systems are all about –simple ideas that can really mobilise people and make a difference. 

So why is this campaign so important? According to research from The Health Foundation (December 2018), social isolation can increase the risk of having a stroke by a third, and older people who live alone are 50% more likely to visit A&E than those who live with others. Findings published in Age UK’s report “All the lonely people: Loneliness amongst older people” (2018) show that the number of older people who are lonely is rising quickly.

People of all ages can feel alone for a variety of reasons, and this campaign is a reminder that it’s often the smallest acts of kindness that make the biggest difference to a person’s life. We could all look out for each other more and local organisations can also help bring people together in shared activities.

Part of the power of this campaign is that it really brings home what we, as people living in our own communities, can do to make a difference.  My parents are both in their 70s. They still live in the house I was born and grew up in. Directly across the road from them lives my oldest friend James, also in the house that he was born and grew up in. Both of my parents have had health problems in the last few years. James has always done little things to help them like taking the bin out on cold mornings, clearing the drive when it snowed. I know that little a bit of kindness and help has made a real difference to my parents. And for me it’s very reassuring to know that there is someone nearby looking out for them. Not everyone is lucky enough to have neighbours like this.

Alongside local area launches, our campaign received lots of positive media coverage – and promoted a real ‘Yorkshire’ feel good factor. And of course there was Twitter, where updates about the campaign have reached over 500,000 people. Follow @wyhpartnership, the campaign hashtag is #OurNeighbours. Or watch these three film clips (courtesy of Calderdale Clinical Commissioning Group) from Kim Leadbeater, Dr Matt Walsh and Robin Tuddenham, CEO for Calderdale Council. They all talk about the power of the campaign and how kindness can help to put pay to loneliness and social isolation.

Key to the success of the campaign is the involvement of local community organisations. Over 300 organisations and community champions have pledged their support including our emergency services; the area’s NHS organisations; all eight councils; community and voluntary organisations in every local area including The Jo Cox Foundation, Hello my name is… initiative, Age UK, Dementia UK and Piece Hall Trust; housing organisations; mental health organisations; art and dance groups; all six local Healthwatch groups; recovery clinics; conservation groups; colleges, student unions and faith groups - the list in endless. We need everyone in West Yorkshire and Harrogate on board in this ambitious undertaking.

Around 30,000 localised neighbourhood packs are being distributed. All resources can be downloaded from the website.

The next part of the campaign includes a targeted social media campaign. You can take part on Facebook at facebook.com/lookingoutforourneighbours.

Last year the Partnership allocated £1m to go toward supporting organisations to help tackle loneliness to our Harnessing the Power of Communities Programme which is led Soo Nevison, CEO for Community Action Bradford and District. Community and voluntary partners were allocated additional resources through their partnership work with local councils and the Health and Wellbeing Boards

And so this campaign, funded by the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Urgent and Emergency Programme Board, builds on some existing work which has been taking place across West Yorkshire and Harrogate.

The loneliness funds have supported a number of important projects, including work by Young Dementia Leeds. The group observed how lonely it can be to be a person with dementia, and a carer of a person with dementia. Often many friends drift away on diagnosis, and behavioural issues can limit social opportunities in a society that is only just learning to become dementia friendly. Carers can become isolated too. To help a monthly dementia café has been created for carers and people with dementia to socialise together in a safe space.

Charity Holbeck Elderly Aid works with communities to keep older people socially and physically active.   Funding has enabled them to provide an out-of-hours volunteer-led befriending and call service for isolated older people as well as a therapeutic wellbeing space. Ken and Margaret, who attend the group, said: “It sounds silly but you feel like somebody’s thinking about you.  And that they’re interested in you - which is not something we get to experience very often these days.  It makes a big difference having this place.  Like everyone you feel reluctant to go out sometimes.  But it’s better to get out.  Have some interaction and conversation.  It keeps us occupied and not just looking at four walls.”

Don’t just take my word for it, read what Kate Hainsworth has to say next about the difference other community partners are making in Leeds.

Finally, on behalf of all of our partners I’d like to say a huge thank you to Karen and the communication and engagement team for their excellent work on this.  They have been the driving force behind this initiative and have worked their socks off to ensure its success. 

Hello, my name is Kate

At Leeds Community Foundation we aim to improve people’s lives by encouraging local giving and through supporting groups and organisations to address inequalities and working together to help create opportunities for the people in our city who most need a little help.

At the heart of our organisation is the belief that investing in communities is both smart and effective. We have seen over and over that groups and organisations like LS14 Trust and Oblong which are rooted in their communities can make a sustained impact on people’s lives, particularly when supported by long-term investment.  We work from the belief that community foundations are uniquely placed to direct funding and investment to community groups and charities that can really make the difference that funders want to see and work with other infrastructure organisations to support health and care leadership across our region.

Through the funding investment last year, it was the first time that we got to work with the wider West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership. We were in the fortunate position of having worked with clinical commissioners in Leeds on a previous investment – called Third Sector Health Grants – and you can read about them here. So from day one, we could build on the success of that programme: clear and proven health outcomes, our learning and robust evaluation and through our relationships with our city's responsive and dedicated third sector.

In January we held a lunch time workshop with the nine projects we were able to fund through the investment. And whilst, each of them are delivering quite different solutions to working with the communities they are passionate about. Through our discussion, we all noticed some features that were shared across all the projects.

All nine local groups and projects have an established a track record of trust and community empathy. For example in the heart of inner-city Holbeck, HEA is offering out-of-hours, local volunteer-led ”friend on the phone” service for isolated older people experiencing loneliness. This came about because local residents asked for something on evenings and weekends – recognising that it is when they most felt the impact of their loneliness. HEA have also established a therapeutic wellbeing space helping people to take ownership of, and be active contributors to, their own health.

GIPSIL work across Leeds, primarily with young people in more deprived situations – many of whom are learning how to manage an unplanned pregnancy, leaving school or care and are at risk of feeling isolated and alone. Because of its long track record of working with and empowering young people, in its first two months Gipsil received 22 referrals from 13 different agencies including child adolescent mental health services, GPs, schools, and housing projects.

Hamara is based in inner-city Beeston and because of the high levels of trust they have developed over the last 20 years, they naturally have reach into their local communities in ways that statutory services just aren’t able to manage. Through the funding, they have been able to tailor sessions on “5 Ways to a Healthy Heart” to work with people from the local South Asian communities with high rates of heart conditions – to maximize their empowerment and learning in how to better manage their own health.

Another trait shared across all these groups is that they genuinely understand communities and the people they serve – either because they are ‘of’ the community they serve or because they are rooted and work in ways that promote real empowerment. For example Solace provides therapeutic support to refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom carry trauma from fleeing war or persecution, or for whom the impact of the continued uncertainty of their status causes mental health distress. Enforced migration can be particularly isolating and the loneliness experienced by people who do not speak English, or do not have people nearby who speak their home language can be overwhelming. Physical pain is all too often a barrier to people accessing services, so being able to provide sessions of massage therapy and a physical activity stress management group has already improved the counselling and therapy results. Solace provides much needed bi-lingual therapy but through investment can now extend this to helping people look at their whole health and wellbeing and building on people’s resilience and helping them identify their own resources and skills.

Dial Leeds –a citywide organisation run by and for disabled people offers tailored, holistic and practical support around social welfare issues - benefit related issues and associated money difficulties and debt. Through the investment, they are trialing a Happiness Café for some of their more vulnerable foodbank users – to look together at their physical and mental health, and to take charge of their health and happiness by making sustainable longer term changes.

Another shared trait across all the groups is their ability to empower people to bring about their own lasting change. This means that not only is it successful in the short term – but sustainable – which makes it so much better for people and a pretty good investment for the system! For example Community Links has been able to devote time and resources to upskill the workforce in mental health residential settings in order to address parity of esteem, promote healthy eating and link in with the Ministry of Food in Leeds Markets to improve the ability of people with long term mental health needs to prepare home-cooked meals.

A final shared trait, often seen as the ‘X’ factor in community settings, is how these groups have used their creativity for maximum impact, such as Space 2 who focus on reducing loneliness through improved social connectivity are developing a ‘zine on Men’s Health being put together by the men in north Leeds for dissemination across local venues including health centres.

It has been fantastic to see the groups’ generosity in sharing their learning and being willing to learn from each other and from partners across the health system - and, in many ways, to see them grow as leaders. All of these organisations have a unique perspective on the challenges facing their communities and the people who access their support. It is encouraging that the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care partnership has chosen to invest in their expertise and passion. Someone at the sharing lunch where we gathered all the projects reflected: “it’s great that they are now putting their money where their mouth is… the next step is for them to put their ears where their money is, and really listen to how we’re making things happen”.

It is a real privilege to lead an organisation like mine – where we can play a role in helping others make the differences that only they can. The groups we work with are successfully changing lives throughout our diverse communities and it’s great that a partnership like ours exists to support them to do so.  

Have a good weekend,

Ian and Kate