The WLGA Community Wellbeing Coaches programme, developed in partnership with Newydd Housing Association as a pilot across Barry, has been shortlisted for a Welsh Housing Award. Community Wellbeing Coaches will be up against four other programmes in the ‘Empowering and involving communities’ category at the Welsh Housing Awards 2011 ceremony tomorrow in Cardiff.
The programme aims to recruit Community Wellbeing Coaches from the community, targeting those with barriers to employment, who are then trained to inspire and help their friends, families and neighbours to lead healthier lives. Community Wellbeing Coaches act as a crucial link between communities and professionals and work closely with individuals to set realistic goals to improve their health.
Maria Uren, Policy Officer, Heads of the Valley Initiative, WLGA said:
“I am delighted that the Community Wellbeing Coaches programme has been recognised by the Chartered Institute of Housing and is up for an award at tomorrow’s event. The programme makes an important contribution to the national agenda of health improvement and tackling health inequalities by promoting and supporting people to develop healthier lifestyles in the context of their own local communities.”
“The pilot across Barry has been running for 4 months and has been evaluated from the outset meaning we are already able to demonstrate outcomes. Over 50 people have been referred to the programme and have completed Personal Health Plans. There has also been an increased take up of services such as smoking cessation. The next steps are to continue to work with Registered Social Landlords to roll out the project and to evaluate the programme to demonstrate its impact.”
For more information about the Community Wellbeing Coaches programme visit: http://www.communitywellbeingcoaches.com/information-for-professionals
For more information about the Welsh Housing Awards 2011 visit: http://www.cih.org/events/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/events/data/Welsh_Housing_Awards_2011
