Volunteering for Health: Test, Learn and Innovate Programme

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Northamptonshire Community Foundation has opened the second and final round of its Volunteering for Health Test, Learn and Innovate Programme.

Grants of £7,500–£10,000 are available to small, local VCSE organisations in Northamptonshire to pilot new or adapted volunteering models that improve health and wellbeing and tackle health inequalities.
The fund particularly encourages community‑led approaches, increased volunteer diversity, and projects supporting under‑represented groups through volunteering in health and care settings.
Deadline: 18 May 2026, with projects expected to start from July 2026.

Introducing the New Toolkit, Strategy and Charter from Volunteers for Health, Northamptonshire

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Good Practice Volunteer Management Toolkit
We are pleased to share our new Toolkit, created to help local organisations strengthen their volunteering and increase their impact.
The Toolkit is free to access and designed for organisations of all sizes across Northamptonshire.
Access it here.
 
Volunteers for Health Strategy Launch
The new Volunteers for Health Strategy for Northamptonshire sets out a shared approach to strengthening volunteering across the county. It focuses on improving access, inclusion and volunteer experience, based on feedback from partners and volunteers. Read the full strategy and download the summary here.
Volunteers for Health Charter
Volunteer Charter developed by the Volunteering for Health (VfH) Northants Steering Group, sets out a shared framework for volunteer engagement across our system, supporting consistency, inclusivity, and strategic alignment with ICS ambitions.
The Charter outlines our collective values, commitments, and expectations for volunteers and organisations, and alongside the VfH Strategy Document, and the Good Practice Volunteer Management Toolkit, it will support the VFH’s delivery of its strategy.
We invite you to look at the attached summary and full Charter, and to consider how it can support your organisation’s volunteer practices. Your endorsement and engagement are key to building a unified and impactful volunteering system across Northamptonshire. View it here.
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For more information please contact Project Lead, John Soto – john.soto@voluntaryimpact.org.uk

Volunteers for Health – Year 2 Conference

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Sign up via eventbrite – here 

Community Mental Health Prevention and Wellbeing Grants (organisations with income greater than and less than £100,000)

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West Northamptonshire are launching two funds:

  • Community Funding Grants Framework (CFGF) for larger VCFSE organisations with an income of over £100,000; and
  • Community Investment Business Case (CIBC) for smaller VCFSE organisations with an income of under £100,000.

Each route has an allocated budget of £106,500, bringing the total available funding to £213,000 over the period from May 2026 to March 2028.

The CFGF grants will offer a minimum award of £20,000 for projects running over a 23-month period, while the CIBC route will provide smaller grants of between £2,000 and £7,000 to support a community‑led, place‑based approach that builds on existing local strengths and actively involves residents in identifying and addressing priorities to improve mental health and wellbeing.  

Projects funded through these funding routes will need to address one or more of the following five priority areas:

  • building emotional resilience and positive mental wellbeing.
  • improving mental health awareness and reducing stigma.
  • supporting active lives and healthy lifestyles.
  • reducing loneliness and social isolation.
  • suicide prevention for high-risk groups.

To request the application form and guidance, please email communitygrants@westnorthants.gov.uk stating which grant you are interested in (greater than £100K or less than £100K).

All applications must be submitted by 31 March 2026.

NHFT meets the VCFSE 28th January 2026

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On the 28th  January 2026, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) Executive and Operational Directors met with the VCFSE to begin a discussion on how closer connections can be forged around the issue of Neighbourhood health.

The event was organised by SAWN (the Infrastructure Partnership of West Northamptonshire) and chaired by the VCSE Assembly; it set out how  NHFT currently works and where the touchpoints with the VCFSE could be now and in the future.

Our Aspire colleagues from North Northamptonshire were also in attendance.

The Presentations from the session can be downloaded below:

  • NHFT presentation explaining the NHS 10-year plan.
  • Exploring the NHS 10-year plan – this presentation places the VCFSE and NHFT in a county context and explains what “Place” and “Neighbourhood” mean.
  • Mental Health Northants Collaboration (MHNC) presentation – referring to an example of how a collaboration between the VCFSE and NHFT developed.

Table discussions focussed in on how NHFT and the VCFSE could work in a more streamlined, focussed, and effective manner, and what the key priorities for Neighbourhood working should be.

The event was held at Kings Park Conference or Action Centre and was attended by over 60 Individuals.

The table notes for this event will be compiled by VIN in due course and circulated to all attending delegates.

SAWN will be looking to build upon this event with a further West Northamptonshire gathering in Spring 2026.

Russell Rolph, the CEO of VIN, states:

It was great to see NHFT come out in force at Director level to showcase their work. There was a real willingness from NHFT to work with the VCFSE and value them as true partners. I hope we can build upon the momentum we have created and look forward to a further gathering, hopefully around April of 2026. This will be West Northamptonshire-centric as our Infrastructure Partnership (VIN and SNVB) supports over 1660 community organisations across this geographical area. I would like to personally thank all NHFT who made the effort to communicate, engage, and understand in a refreshing inciteful manner.

STOPPING SMOKING

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Stopping Smoking Information Support and Signposting

Stop Smoking Information

Northamptonshire Suicide Prevention Strategy

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The all-age, county-wide Northamptonshire Suicide Prevention Strategy and Action Plan 2022-2025 is due to come to an end this December 2025. There will be the development of new West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) and North Northamptonshire Council’s (NNC) Suicide Prevention and Self-Harm Strategies and Action Plans, with a proposed launch in April 2026.

 

These Strategies and Action Plans will underpin the county-wide Northamptonshire Suicide Prevention Steering Group.

 

To support the development of these new documents, a county-wide approach is being taken, led jointly by WNC and NNC Public Health Teams.

 

During November and December 2025, there will be 4 online workshops (2 hours each), with each workshop focussing on 2 of the national suicide prevention priorities.

 

The online workshops will allow time to reflect on what has been achieved locally for these priority areas to date and discussion time to explore potential objectives and actions to address future areas of focus. These discussions will need to be aligned with current resource and system to ensure the development of achievable action plans.

 

The below table highlights the priorities each workshop will focus on:

 

Workshop  Priorities 
1  Priority 1: Improving data and evidence to ensure that effective, evidence-informed, and timely interventions continue to be developed and adapted.
Priority 3: Addressing common risk factors linked to suicide at a population level to provide early intervention and tailored support.
2  Priority 2: Tailored, targeted support to priority groups, including those at higher risk, to ensure there is bespoke action and that interventions are effective and accessible for everyone.
Priority 5: Providing effective crisis support access sectors for those who reach crisis point.
3  Priority 4: Promoting online safety and responsible media content to reduce harms, improve support and signposting, and provide helpful messages about suicide and self-harm.
Priority 6: Reducing access to means and methods of suicide where this is appropriate and necessary as an intervention to prevent suicides.
4  Priority 7: Providing effective bereavement support to those affected by suicide.
Priority 8: Making suicide everybody’s business so that we can maximise our collective impact and support to prevent suicides.

 

If you are interested in attending any of the online 4 workshops, please respond to this email by COP Wednesday 15th October 2025 with your name, email address, and the workshops of interest.

 

You will then be sent the relevant workshop meeting invitations.

 

Please note that a pre-reading document will be shared ahead of the workshops with essential and recommended reading. This is to ensure attendees have a good understanding of the work area and to help maximise discussion time within the workshops.