From Halifax to healthy facts...

Another mega-mixed bag of Community Linking this week. Most prominent in my mind is the meeting I've just had with StreetInvest, a Twickenham based international charity. I heard how three brave and inspirational (read: lovely but slightly barmy) chaps intend to do a trans-Canadian bike ride in 13 days as a fundraiser. That’s nearly 300 miles a day. Many of us in the room were struggling to comprehend the feat, let alone consider the commitment to training to achieve it. Good luck to them (apparently everyone says this, sounding a little sceptical!). I'm sure this blog will feature news of their progress in the future, especially as the charity want to work locally with organisations in the borough.

We didn't meet Richard this week.

An eon before this (well, Monday) I met with a resident who I felt exemplified the kind of person we'd like to meet more often. She has a great idea, an overflowing caldera of passion, and I feel she has hit on something that will do well in the borough. Elsewhere she would be called a 'social entrepreneur' - a Richard Branson-esque figure where profit is community benefits, and everyone is a shareholder.

For the remainder of the post, I hand over to Mamta Khanna, for her account of some training she undertook this week:

We did meet Mamta though...

I was privileged to participate in Richmond’s LiveWell Community Health Champion training run by Richmond CVS and the Hounslow and Richmond Community Health Trust. I say privileged because I was struck by the commitment from my co-participants: all regular people who, out of an interest in reaching out to others within their community, were committed to building their knowledge and skills.  

We explored public health and came to what I consider the core of the training: understanding and addressing health inequities. Richmond, one of the richest boroughs in London, has children living in poverty. Life expectancy in certain village areas in the borough is less than in the more affluent areas. What has Community Links got to do with health, specifically health inequality?  This definition gave me clarity:

“The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organised efforts of society.” (Definition of Public Health, Sir Acheson, 1988)

Improving public health is about society organising its efforts to bring good to all within it. If that isn’t community linking, then what is? Responding to health inequities requires science empowered by the art of encouraging change within people. Community Links practices this art and can be part of the solution to address inequity: engaging people and groups, igniting their connections with where they live and with those around them, and encouraging them to reach out to opportunities to improve their health and overall well-being. I am excited about working with the Health Champion volunteers to link up residents to opportunities.

Thanks Mamta! Hearing about Mamta’s experience made me re-read an article from the Evening Standard, on the Government’s ‘nudge unit’, or Behavioural Insights Team. I love the idea of this, although I know some people find it uncomfortable as it can be seen as manipulative. I don’t think we’re talking the same league here for Community Links (or perhaps we are...? Comments below...), but through our brokerage and linkages, we can support small, positive adjustments and improvements to local activity, through positive methods. From this, I think we all have benefits to gain. 

By the way, is that ANOTHER biscuit you are reaching for....?