Northamptonshire Health & Care Volunteering awarded a grant as part of Volunteering for Health Programme, which aims to harness the power of volunteering for health and social care nationally and locally.

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Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire, on behalf of Northamptonshire Health & Care Volunteering has been awarded a grant as part of Volunteering for Health – a £10 million programme being delivered in partnership by NHS England, NHS Charities Together and CW+, the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Volunteering for Health aims to maximise the benefits of volunteers as a vital resource in delivering health and social care nationally and locally, whilst strengthening volunteering infrastructure.

The programme is part of NHS England’s response to the NHS Volunteering Taskforce which brought together health charities, volunteers, clinicians, civil servants and policy makers. The Taskforce published its recommendations in June 2023, concluding that more can be done nationally and locally to maximise the benefits of volunteers and volunteering in the NHS.

Northamptonshire Health & Care Volunteering was one of 15 partnerships across the UK to successfully bid for funding. Partnerships are made up of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations, NHS Trusts, integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities (LAs) and NHS charities. In Northamptonshire the partnership is led by Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire and includes Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), Mental Health Northants Collaboration (MHNC), Northamptonshire Community Foundation, Northamptonshire Black Communities Together (NBCT), Northampton General Hospital, Kettering General Hospital, and wider stakeholders across health and social care.

Grants were awarded to applicants who were able to demonstrate how they intended to break down barriers, test new models and develop guidance and best practice that can be shared across the NHS and beyond.

With this funding, the partnership intends to embed volunteering into health systems at a strategic level, increase the capacity and capability for volunteering and improve the volunteer experience, and improve the diversity of the volunteer workforce by reducing barriers to volunteering for under-represented communities and testing new models of volunteering.

Russell Rolph, CEO of Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire said:

“I am delighted that Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire is part of a partnership collective which has achieved Volunteering in Health funding. We all know the importance of volunteering, and within health, and at this current time, it’s even more vital. I look forward to working with our Funder and a range of differing organisations across many sectors. The idea that we can bring volunteering skill and knowledge into health, and potentially chart a career in healthcare for volunteers is exciting.”

The grant will be paid in instalments over the next three years, until the end of June 2027. Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire will receive an initial payment for the development phase, with an ambition to begin delivering the programme by March 2025.

Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said:

“Volunteers, as partners with our skilled staff, make a significant contribution across NHS and care services and positively impact the lives of many people.

 

“There are currently more than 300 ways that people can volunteer for the NHS, ranging from running a hospital radio show to helping combat loneliness. This programme will further harness the power of volunteering for the benefit of patients, staff and communities.”

 

Search ‘NHS Volunteering’ or visit volunteering.england.nhs.uk/volunteer to find out more about how to become an NHS volunteer.

A View from the Turret- Connect Northamptonshire enters its final year

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For those of you who don’t know, Connect Northamptonshire is a VIN managed programme funded by the Lottery Community Fund. The principal aim of Connect Northamptonshire is to embed the VCSE into the Integrated Care System, the biggest transformation in health and social care for decades: And why is that so important?

Apart from it being prescribed in the NHS Long Term Plan and every other piece of guidance issued since, the use of the VCSE in Health and in Place is compelling. The VCSE lives, works, and invests in local communities, can deploy rapidly and intuitively around health inequalities whilst costing less. The idea that prescription is required to work with the VCSE I find strangely perplexing. Both Health and Local Authorities cannot deliver the change that the Integrated Care System demands without us. As someone once said: It’s as plain as the nose on your face.

Connect Northamptonshire has moved mountains to ensure that the VCSE is involved with statutory partners, has built relationships across all sectors and is now running a series of Pilot Projects on Health Inequalities which puts the VCSE at centre stage. These Pilot Projects will demonstrate that commissions can be dealt with differently and are more engaging and targeted as a result. The programme has adopted a Test and Learn Approach, and in the final months of the contract VIN will be vocalising what they have achieved and why placing the VCSE at the heart of commissions is vital.

I cannot commend my Alliances Manager, Claire Neilson, highly enough for her tireless work and enthusiasm in this regard, across a complex and difficult landscape.

My question (and indeed it should be everybody’s question) is what happens when the contract ceases in August of 2025?

Will it be another case of a legacy so hard gained so easily lost?

I have run and attended several conferences or partnership forums on Health Inequalities throughout 2024. What I hear consistently is a lack of legacy within the County, a lack of learning from what’s been achieved.  I have a simple solution:

Retain the Alliances Manager Post past August of 2025 and continue with the programme of embedding the VCSE at System and at Place. I am not precious where that post sits, but to lose it would create a hiatus which could undermine the momentum that Connect Northamptonshire has built. If the Integrated Care System is predicated upon the 10-year NHS plan, then embedding the VCSE could take a further 2- 4 years. The cost of continuing the post is unlikely to be met from the Community Fund but it could easily be achieved within Health and Public Health, or a combination of both, and the value of a bespoke and focussed resource would be worth the investment.

Think about how we commission services. If learning is important, then commission differently. The Kings Fund report on how to tackle Health Inequlaities says exactly that. Top slice commissions to include the right and correct level of market intelligence and use the Insights Library to land bank the data. In this, the VCSE becomes an assured independent broker, and that journey could be delivered through the Alliances Manager if they remain in post.

My plea is always the same. If the Integrated Care System is about anything, its an opportunity to do things differently. Let’s not miss the chance.

 

Energy and Money Adviser / Trainee Adviser

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To deliver an holistic energy advice casework service to fuel poor households, including:
 energy efficiency advice,
 resolution to billing problems,
 benefit advice and casework
 grant applications to write off fuel debt
 basic debt advice.
Please see the Job Description for full details

Celebrating the contribution of older people in our communities  

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Following on from our very successful Healthy Active Ageing event in April 2024 we are delighted to announce the formation of the Healthy Active Ageing Network in Northamptonshire, coinciding with the celebration of International Day of Older People on October 1st 2024.

The Healthy Active Ageing Network are a core group of stakeholders who have a professional role and/or interest in promoting the health and wellbeing of older people, and especially in reducing any health inequalities that they might experience. The network contributes to the shared ambition of Move Northamptonshire (A Framework For Active Lifestyles In Northamptonshire), and to the ‘Live Your Best Life’ Strategy – specifically ambition 3 ‘Opportunity to be fit, well and independent’.

The Healthy Active Ageing network  will be working with Professor Sir Muir Gray to develop a local programme aimed at promoting healthy ageing in our community.

Sir Muir Gray, is a physician, academic, and health system innovator, who has held senior positions in the NHS, and has overseen national health screening and NHS RightCare programmes.

This initiative will enable us to share national and international best practice across our local networks, and coordinate our efforts to make Northamptonshire a great place to live and be active.

Older people make invaluable contributions to our communities in numerous ways, and we want to celebrate this as part of International Day of Older People 2024.

We will be inviting people to Be Active – physically, cognitively, and socially” across Northamptonshire, and to share their stories about what healthy active ageing means to them.

Join us in celebrating and supporting our older population to live healthier, more active lives!

Contact Connect Northamptonshire’s Alliances Manager, Claire Neilson (claire.neilson@voluntaryimpact.org.uk) to talk about opportunities to get involved!