South Leeds community projects invited to apply to next round of Third Sector Health Grants
NHS Leeds South and East Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has launched a second round of Third Sector Health Grants to deliver its ambitious plans to improve health and wellbeing, prevent ill-health and ultimately enable local people to lead healthier lives.
Earlier this year, Leeds South and East CCG, the organisation responsible for funding and managing health services in the local area, invested £1 million to improve health and wellbeing in a bold grant scheme managed and assessed by the city’s largest independent grant-maker, Leeds Community Foundation. The programme has already provided £600,000 to 24 community and voluntary projects, to develop a range of services to support and involve local people in activities around the areas of health and wellbeing.
Andy Harris, Clinical Chief Officer of NHS Leeds South and East CCG and a GP in East Leeds, said, “We have ambitious plans to transform the health of people in the South and East of Leeds. We are delighted that we have already been able to support a range of projects that are working hard to help address some of the key health challenges in the South and East of Leeds, including mental health, social isolation and obesity. We also know that these projects will help to reduce pressures for GPs and A&E services. We are delighted to be announcing the next round of grants.”
A first round of grants, totalling approximately £600,000 was announced just last month, with 24 organisations receiving grants varying from £5,000 to £50,000. Schemes include:
- Health for All, who will help existing third sector organisations to recruit, retain and support volunteers to enable them to respond to the needs of the area.
- Rags to Riches , which is expanding its women’s sewing group in Middleton to support those with mental health difficulties.
- The Cross Gates & District Good Neighbours Scheme, which, working with local GPs, will be setting up a new outreach programme to identifying older people at risk of isolation.
- Community Matters are introducing a specialist children’s worker to attend parent and toddler groups to support parental mental health, weaning, good nutrition, exercise and provide wide ranging health and wellbeing support for infant and parents.
- Wheatfields Hospice, who will be working to build capacity to better support patients in the last years of life.
- The MarketPlace, who will provide fast access short-term crisis counselling for young people presenting with an emotional/mental health or practical crisis.
All applications were reviewed by an independent panel, which included members of the public.
The programme will continue to offer small grants of £5,000 which will fund new, innovative ideas to improve community wellbeing, as well as larger grants of £50,000, which will develop programmes that demonstrate they can help meet the specific health and wellbeing priorities of the Leeds South and East CCG population. Activities being targeted in this latest round include tackling alcohol addiction, providing support for those with mental health concerns and addressing the healthcare needs of children and infants.
Chief Executive of Leeds Community Foundation, Sally-Anne Greenfield, said:
“We are delighted to be able to welcome and invite new applications from groups. We would particularly love to see more innovative applications from smaller emerging projects working in the outer communities of the South and East of the city that offer unique alternatives and innovative health solutions to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities.”
The NHS Leeds South and East CCG Third Sector Grants scheme is now open for grant applications until Wednesday 5 November. Details regarding the applicant briefing session, guidance and application forms are available to download from www.leedscf.org.uk/third-sector-health-grantsse
To provide applicants with more information about the latest programme, Leeds Community Foundation will be hosting an interactive briefing session for anyone interested in applying on Thursday 15 October from 9am-12pm at Old Broadcasting House and will discuss the key eligibility criteria, impact measurement and spending constraints.
This post was written by Kirsty McKinnon using our Create an article for South Leeds Life page.