Author:

The one thing the team want you to know

Livewell Southwest’s Wellbeing Team and Food is Fun CIC have a track record of working collaboratively to support individuals and groups with healthy lifestyle behaviours. Recently, the Wellbeing Team has commissioned Food is Fun CIC to produce a healthy eating recipe booklet specifically for slow cookers and to coordinate a community outreach programme (outlined below).
Positive feedback has been received from participants and local VCSE stakeholders. However, funding for this project runs out from March 2023. The vision is to build on the success from the Winter Roadshow and take this forward into Spring 2023.

Project description

Livewell Southwest’s Wellbeing Team and Food is Fun CIC to coordinate and facilitate a series of community engagement events to support local communities with healthy lifestyle behaviours under the constraints of the cost of living crisis. Specifically, Food is Fun CIC will provide slow cooker cookery workshops and The Wellbeing Team will offer group based health education and 1:1 brief behaviour change interventions. Livewell Southwest’s Wellbeing Team will be using the grant to commission Food is Fun CIC to support the project and to facilitate the cookery workshop element and to adapt the existing recipe booklet for Spring/Summer.

Slow cookers are one of the cheapest kitchen appliances to use and have been described as a money saving tip this winter by various media and money saving sources. However, through community insights and engagement, it is clear that many people do not understand the cost saving benefits of using a slow cooker. Also, many people only associate a slow cooker with stews or soups. The slow cooker cookery workshop element will promote using slow cookers for different types of healthy, cheap and sustainable meals. The Wellbeing Team will use this opportunity to discuss the benefits of healthy eating and to engage participants with other lifestyle behaviours. For example, smoking, physical activity and alcohol.

This will be a roadshow event style and will take place in different communities across the city. Warm Spaces and Wellbeing Hubs will be used as the primary locations.

Funding needed £5000

What group or groups of people will the project be working with and why?

People living in areas of high deprivation.
Deprivation is linked to poorer health and well-being outcomes.

Health inequalities are multifactorial. A key factor being people living in deprived areas are more likely to have health-related risk behaviours. For example; smoking and diet.

What areas will the project be working in?City wide

The most deprived communities will be targeted based on local knowledge and according to the Indices Of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). This will include, Stonehouse, Devonport, Barne Barton, Whitleigh, East End and North Prospect. Neighbourhoods in the upper middle IMD ranking will also be included.

What is the group or organisations track record? Track record:
Been delivering for many years

How new is the idea? Experimentation:
Been delivering for years

---

Budget

Salaries & peoples time 70%

Project costs 30%

Event/hire/rent 0%

IT spend 0%

Core costs 0%

Capital 0%

Organisations involved

Food is Fun CIC
Livewell Southwest CIC (Wellbeing Team)
Community hubs and Warm Spaces

The one thing the team want you to know

Our aim for this project is to bring our community together, give everyone a voice, generate relisilence, provide social networks and create wellbeing. We will do this by providing peer support, clear information, strong social networks and the wellbeing activities of art and mindfulness. We are a grass-roots organisation and are witnessing first-hand how the cost of living crisis is affecting the mental health of the people coming to our groups. Coming together as a supportive group has a profound impact on peoples mental health and their ability to cope with life

Project description

Our plan is to hold a group once a week at Onward House Community Centre in Greenbank.and is intended to enhance the wellbeing of local residents and offer good quality advice and support. The format of the group will be a check-in at the beginning where people can talk about how the cost of living is affecting them, 10 minutes of guided mindfulness and a simple art project that anyone can do. We will offer practical solutions to the problems that people are going through such as sign-posting to other mental health organisations, help with form filling, advice about financial help, stress management, healthy eating on a budget and sign-posting to food banks. It is the peer support that makes all the difference. We have found in our groups that people form a deep commitment to helping each other turn their lives around. We want to offer a non-judgemental space with drinks and biscuits, share our stories, offer advice and a friendly ear and provide reassurance that people are not alone. The activities of mindfulness and being creative have been proven to relax people and give their minds a break from the worries and fears caused by the current cost of living crisis. We use inexpensive art materials, so our participants can afford to buy them and carry on being creative at home.
We know there is a need for this project because we listen to peoples stories everyday about how much they are struggling. I have been handing out feedback forms to the people who come to our groups to find out more about what they want help with, and how the cost of living crisis is affecting them. I will be using this feedback to provide information about the subjects that matter to people. The aims of this project are to bring people together in a safe, local community space, teach them the skills of mindfulness and being creative for self-care, provide social connections, give people a sense of belonging, develop friendships, boost confidence and self-esteem, and give people the tools and knowledge to make changes in their lives

Funding needed £1600

What group or groups of people will the project be working with and why?

We will be working with the residents of Greenbank who access Onward House, and also the beneficiaries of Mindful Art Club who live in the area. It will be aimed at anyone in the community seeking support with the cost of living crisis and their mental health. I live in Greenbank which is an area of high economic deprivation and I see people people everyday who are submerged in worry and struggling to find a way out

What areas will the project be working in?1 neighbourhood

We will be working in Greenbank

What is the group or organisations track record? Track record:
Been going for a few years

How new is the idea? Experimentation:
New, adapting something similar

---

Budget

Salaries & peoples time 50%

Project costs 20%

Event/hire/rent 15%

IT spend 10%

Core costs 5%

Capital 0%

Organisations involved

Onward Community House

The one thing the team want you to know

Bringing people together in a new safe space local community environment (Amber aged 12). We recognise a need owing to the pandemic and cost of living crisis that people are becoming more isolated. This project will make a real difference to our neighbourhood.

Project description

The aim of this project is for people to come together in a central warm space, chat and develop a sense of belonging within the community. This idea, raised at the last Residents’ Association, was that we need a space for isolated locals and others in the neighbourhood, to engage in activities such as board games, craft etc.

The plan is to open a central room for four hours a week to provide a warm space with hot food and non alcoholic refreshments, as well as activities such as crafts and games. This will enhance the well being of the participants and facilitate social connections and interaction.

Funding needed £2600

What group or groups of people will the project be working with and why?

We will be working with a diverse group of people, including elderly retired, those who work part time, parents and pre-school children. We are keen to be as inclusive as possible to work with people from all backgrounds.

The project is aimed at providing a warm space for people in need, as well as create new or maintain existing social connections that the cost of living is putting under strain.

It will offer a creative and relaxed environment for people to share stories, problems and bring together generations.
A safe space to let your feelings out. (Tesla aged 12)

What areas will the project be working in?1 neighbourhood

Turnchapel

What is the group or organisations track record? Track record:
Just starting out

How new is the idea? Experimentation:
New, we haven’t tried it yet

---

Budget

Salaries & peoples time 0%

Project costs 73%

Event/hire/rent 23%

IT spend 0%

Core costs 0%

Capital 4%

Organisations involved

Turnchapel Residents’ Association
Boringdon Arms (for the venue)

The one thing the team want you to know

By continuing to be able support vunearable local residents

Project description

Oue plan is to build on the support we already give and this would include some sessional work so that this can be even more effective. It wil alsol include supporting our weekly food aid drop in but also to run some identified well being sessions.

We know there is a need for this from the number of people coming and feedback that we have recieved. Such as “this has kept me alive” I look forward to coming all week” “I feel more comfortable coming here to get support” “it is a lifeline”

Case study: A resident’s husband had a stroke and she had no access to finance at that point, we were able to supply her with some food essentials and a small grant to help with her heating. She has a condition that causes her to need to keep warm.

Funding needed £5.000

What group or groups of people will the project be working with and why?

It is aimed at anyone in the community seeking support but also those suffering with mental health and stress related conditions.

What areas will the project be working in? Our main Council ward area is in Greenbank “including the University” but we are also very close to Mutley, Lipson and Mount Gould. Although we aim to keep it local to Greenbank we do not turn anyone away.

What is the group or organisations track record? Track record:
Been going for a few years

How new is the idea? Experimentation:
Established for a year

---

Budget

Salaries & peoples time 20%

Project costs 40%

Event/hire/rent 10%

IT spend 10%

Core costs 10%

Capital 10%

Organisations involved

Mutley Greenbank Trust, Mindful art