News of Camden High Street’s pedestrianisation trial, a survey on local pharmacy needs and YCF’s new photography exhibition.
On the VAC side of things, we’ve got an upcoming CEO and Trustee Network meeting on the 28th – read the newsletter here to find out more.
Positive news from our former home the Greenwood Centre, which recently received a unique recognition for social care – find out more in our newsletter below, which also has updates on local events including Camden People’s Theatre’s SPRINT festival (in its last week!), some new job opportunities in the local VCS, and the launch of the London Vision for Volunteering.
You can read the newsletter here.
There are so many opportunities and events for Camdenites in this week’s newsletter, from film screenings to fruit harvesting to community festivals. There’s also a chance to have your say on the council website. But first, some positive news from Donna on the integration of the VCSE with health transformation boards.
What does health transformation mean? How does it affect the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in Camden?
These are questions raised recently in Camden’s State of the Sector Report and VAC’s own surveys. So here goes…….the first thing to note (and I apologise in advance) health transformation involves lots of jargon, initialisations and acronyms!! I will aim to define or write these in full at least once……
You are probably aware that there are changes taking place in health and care services. Importantly the shifting relationships that will (we hope) make space for community organisations and residents to collaborate in delivering the health and care communities need. Terms like ‘health transformation’ and ‘systemic change’ are often used to describe this massively ambitious process. Change is being driven by new health and care ‘systems’ and new types of collaboration. In Camden we are part of the North Central London Integrated Care System (NCL ICS). This is governed by an integrated care board (ICB).
The voluntary sector communicates with the ICB via a steering group that uses local sector insights and evidence to promote and embed VCSE collaboration – The NCL VCSE Alliance steering group has recently produced the first issue of a newsletter which you can see here.
The newsletter will be circulated every 2 months in VAC’s newsletter – with spoilers from me on what to look out for should it start to get exciting….. The first issue summarises and explains the NCL system and strategy stuff if you want the in-depth background – so happily I don’t need to cover all that here….
So what has VAC been up to? A couple of years ago VAC held forums and meetings to explore how the Camden voluntary sector wanted to work with the new health system. Since then all the sector ‘asks’ have been incorporated into the relevant NCL strategies and action plans (yes, it takes a while!).
You can find the strategies for working with communities and the VCSE sector here:
Actions on those strategies to develop a way for VCSEs to participate (largely through collaborating and resourcing) are slowly being tested and learned from. It’s not straightforward, in fact it appears pretty haphazard a lot of the time, but everyone is learning, and trying to manage the scale and complexity of the task within limited resources. Even making sure core principles for working with VCSEs are understood across a huge and complex system is frustratingly slow!
Anyway, enough on the challenge of the process …… here’s a snapshot of some VCSE-relevant and emerging themes:
Changing delivery of health and care:
Population Health: supporting the health of the whole population rather than putting all the emphasis on treating illness. This means more attention to preventing, improving and managing poor health, especially in relation to the prevalence of long-term health conditions in a population that is living for longer
Personalised Care: treating the whole person including understanding wider determinants of health like welfare, social and environmental challenges, and supporting self-care
Integrated working: NHS, council, VCSEs, residents – ideally all collaborating to achieve the above so that residents are confident their needs are understood and don’t have to keep repeating themselves
Health and care neighbourhoods: this is where it all happens. There are 5 in Camden. These locations make it easier for Camden’s health and care teams to work together. Neighbourhoods are about having services and support close to where people live. VCSEs shouldn’t get too tied up in the geographies – but look out for ways to get involved as networking opportunities emerge on your doorstep or where your beneficiaries are
Some of the things VCSEs can bring to the system:
Local knowledge and insights….Championing and health promotion…..Addressing health inequalities (including introducing different approaches)…….Training, co-training, orientation for system staff……..Insights and case finding for undiagnosed conditions or needs…….Access to communities that find health services difficult to use…….Wrap around ‘wider determinants’ support in the community / neighbourhood……Discharge from clinical services into safe, supportive communities / neighbourhoods……Participation in research and service design………Sustainable healthy ‘lifestyle’ support for residents in their communities
Components and aspirations of the integrated care system like the examples above suggest huge potential for VCSEs to collaborate with health providers. How that happens is the challenge now being addressed! Importantly there is an NCL VCSE Investment Project underway that includes the NCL Integrated Care Board, councils and the NCL VCSE Alliance steering group.
The project will learn from existing commissioning and resourcing of the VCSE sector e.g. council investment, and develop an approach for the NCL system. Working groups will look at ways of working and communications, improving commissioning, reviewing commissioning approaches, and increasing investment opportunities.
As all this takes shape VAC will keep Camden VCSEs updated in our newsletter and gather comment and contribution on any developments. In the meantime, anyone from our local voluntary sector who would like to discuss or find out a bit more about the work of the NCL VCSE Alliance please do email me or contact me to arrange a chat!
Donna Turnbull, VAC Health Transformation and Partnerships Manager, dturnbull@vac.org.uk.
The North Central London (covering Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington) Integrated Care Board funded alliance with the VCSE acts as a voice for our sector within the integrated care system.
VAC’s VAC’s Health Transformation and Partnerships Manager, Donna Turnbull, is our representative on the alliance. Alongside her are a number of key figures from within the sector, whose collective experience and expertise of working in health transformation is extraordinary. These include Janet Matthewson, CEO of Young Barnet Foundation, Ken Kanu, CEO of Help on Your Doorstep, Navinder Kaur and Jo Ikhelef, CEOs of Voluntary Actions Islington and Enfield respectively.
This alliance now has a newsletter, bringing monthly updates on how the VCSE has been influencing health transformation in North Central London. You can read it here!
To visit the NCL VCSE alliance website, click here.
High time for us to shine a light on our long time volunteer and artist in residence, Hasel Hooshiar! Today’s newsletter features a profile on Hasel and all the important work she does for VAC, as well as her emerging talent as an artist.
Elsewhere, we’ve got updates on the fallout from the Keir Starmer’s aid-spending cut, NIC contributions from small charities and news of a multi-year funding initiative from the Scottish government.
Local events include the Spring2Life Community Festival, Crossroads Women’s visit to the Wellcome collection in honour of International Women’s Day, and much more.
Plus the usual funding opportunities and new resources for charities and community groups.
You can read the newsletter here.
This week we’re talking about a new report on mental health in small charity leadership, as well as a new coalition looking for help from the sector to rebuild communities.
Locally, Camden are looking for emergency centre volunteers, and there are some really important events taking place over the next few weeks about experiences for migrants in the NHS and a summit on sexual wellbeing and reproductive health.
Newsletter here.
We highlight Charity Reform Group’s Forces for Good report in this week’s newsletter, ahead of the release highly anticipated Civil Society Covenant.
There’s also opportunities for a young rapper in Camden to appear at the Royal Albert Hall, and
Local events include Camden’s Preparation for Adulthood for young people with special educational needs and disabilities, Castlehaven’s first screening in their Health on Film series, and Camden’s first night market at Inverness Street.
Catch up with the newsletter here.
This week’s newsletter features a in-depth feature on Camden Charity Crescent kids, as well as local funding opportunities and much more.
You can read it here.
Crescent Kids started when Funmi Vanessa Ulam’s baby, just two weeks old, was diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease. This serious blood disorder impacts people in different ways. In severe cases, it can be fatal. Funmi admits she didn’t know much about the condition until her family faced it, at which point she was thrown in at the deep end. While her son was in hospital for Sickle Cell crises, she met with medical teams and consultants. These crises are painful and can cause serious complications. She found out through her research and talks at the hospital that Sickle Cell is one of the fastest-growing genetic conditions worldwide, it has fewer resources and funds for research than other conditions. Health equity issues make this worse. Most people with Sickle Cell are black & brown-skinned.
Finding treatments, communities and vital resources for families is often challenging. Most details aren’t gathered in one place. With a better understanding of the condition and the lack of resources for families, Funmi set up Crescent Kids.
It wasn’t until the Covid pandemic however, that the organisation really got off the ground. Funmi registered with the Charity Commission. But, starting a charity alone and without funding can be a long, lonely journey, especially when looking after a child with complex medical needs. Funmi says she didn’t know where to start. The pandemic changed everything, though. Funmi vividly recalled her time in and out of hospital with her son, and this made her think of parents now facing tough decisions about taking their children to the hospital. To add to this, Funmi’s regular hospital was closed, so, they had to visit a new place. The staff there were unfamiliar and didn’t know hers son’s clinical history. Caring for a child with Sickle Cell became much more difficult.
Crescent Kids used fundraisers and social media to help spread awareness about Sickle Cell disease. They created care and wellness packs, offered online education on wellness, mindset, and pain management, and set up a support network.
Since then, the charity has grown from strength to strength. They have followers and team members across the world; Funmi met one of her team members on LinkedIn – Molille, who lives in Lagos, Nigeria. The charity is a great help for anyone with Sickle Cell disease or those caring for them. One of their latest projects is the Eli Health App – the first app aimed at children and carers, not just healthcare professionals. The app helps users by making things easier. It includes features like daily logs to track symptoms and comfort levels. Users get reminders to stay healthy and hydrated, which is crucial for those with Sickle Cell. Plus, it allows reporting that gives feedback to doctors and clinicians. The App has been chosen for the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur programme, which is the largest NHS initiative for innovators. The programme helps NHS employees and service users create effective health solutions.
Crescent Kids is also co-leading a new research project with UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and NIHR. This project, called CARES Research, focuses on every child in England with Sickle Cell, and will explore their health and education outcomes. The aim is to understand how the disease impacts children’s quality of life.
The study will hold focus groups on:
8th March in Birmingham
Families with children who have Sickle Cell are encouraged to join and share their stories. The London focus group will take place at Crescent Kids office on Camden High Street.
To register interest, email your name and preferred location (London, Manchester, or Birmingham) to ichppp.cares@ucl.ac.uk.
Both projects are expected to provide a wealth of data for healthcare systems. This will help improve visibility and care for those with Sickle Cell disease. Funmi is determined for other parents not to have the experience she did of feeling isolated while looking after a sick child.
If you know someone who has Sickle Cell, check out the Crescent Kids website:
