Ross-on-Wye Community Development Trust celebrates funding award to deliver social prescribing in Herefordshire.
Amid fierce competition, local charity, Ross-on-Wye Community Development Trust (Ross CDT), is celebrating after being awarded £50k from the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP)’s Thriving Communities Fund to support its work. The project will increase social connectedness and help local communities to cope with the impact of COVID-19, as part of a national initiative to embed social prescribing in communities and healthcare.
Over 200 applications were received and just 37 projects were selected by NASP across England to receive funding from The Thriving Community programme - a unique partnership between NASP, Arts Council England, Historic England, Natural England, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Sport England, the Money & Pensions Service and NHS Charities Together. Their collective aim is to strengthen the range of social prescribing activities offered locally, enhance collaboration and networking between local organisations and enable social prescribing link workers to connect people to more creative community activities and services.
The Ross CDT’s project - called CLOVER - aims to increase access to social prescribing activities in the HR9 postcode area, especially for those over 65, the rurally isolated and carers, in order to improve mental and physical wellbeing. It will run for 14 months between March 2021 and April 2022 and is being coordinated by Ross CDT (lead partner) on behalf of a partnership comprising five core partners.
Jane Roberts, Chair of the Ross-on-Wye Community Development Trust commented: “We’re absolutely delighted that The Thriving Communities Fund understands our vision for social prescribing in the community. With intense competition for the funding we are over the moon and we feel this is a huge step for us in achieving what our charity originally set out to do. Now the hard work begins and we very much look forward to working alongside our partners who are all committed professionals and care deeply about the wellbeing of our communities.”
The strong application submitted by the Ross CDT, demonstrated to NASP that this powerful partnership would benefit local communities in far reaching ways, supporting people who have suffered during the global pandemic. The partnership, involving Herefordshire Council’s Social Prescribing Team, also includes:
Other voluntary groups and social enterprises will also be encouraged to engage in Ross CDT’s CLOVER project, creating opportunities for volunteers to get involved and help support the aims of this exciting new partnership.
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Factual Information about The Thriving Communities Fund:
The Thriving Communities Fund will support local voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise projects that bring together place-based partnerships to improve and increase the range and reach of available social prescribing community activities – especially for those people most impacted by COVID19 and health inequalities.
Partnerships supported by the fund will come together to plan and deliver community activities involving partners from:
Funded activities will increase social connectedness and help communities cope with the impact of COVID19. By working with those communities most impacted by the COVID19 pandemic, including Black, Asian and ethnically diverse communities, the projects we will fund will help to:
The Thriving Communities Fund, worth £1.8 million, will support 37 projects across England and is being delivered in a unique partnership between National Academy for Social Prescribing, Arts Council England, Historic England and Natural England, NHS England and NHS Improvement, Sport England, the Money & Pensions Service and NHS Charities Together.
About the National Academy of Social Prescribing (NASP):
The National Academy for Social Prescribing was launched by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP in October 2019. NASP is an organisation dedicated to the advancement of social prescribing through promotion, collaboration and innovation. They work to create partnerships, across the arts, health, sports, leisure, and the natural environment, alongside other aspects of our lives, to promote health and wellbeing at a national and local level. They champion social prescribing and the work of local communities in connecting people for wellbeing.
Their objectives are to