Exeter CVS Wellbeing Hub receives national recognition for health innovation
The team behind a new health & wellbeing hub aimed at some of Exeter’s most disadvantaged communities has this week been selected by the prestigious King’s Fund to address a national conference on Public Health and Housing.
Exeter Council for Voluntary Service is developing former Exeter City Council offices at Wat Tyler House in King William Street into a multi-agency wellbeing hub aimed at supporting people with multiple and complex needs in their recovery, and to play a fuller part in their communities. The hub will feature a specialist GP practice, a mental health outreach team, substance misuse recovery workers, a housing advice team, community learning tutors, volunteering advice staff, and the city’s Street Homeless Outreach Team.
The King’s Fund – a charity and think-tank that works to improve health and health care through innovation and policy development – has now announced that the team behind this ambitious new project will address their October conference on themed on health in housing. The project was selected for its innovative approach in bringing together a range of services from across public, private and voluntary sectors to meet the needs of people with very complex lives.
One judge wrote, “This is a good, solid piece of work illustrating how, by working together agencies can begin to take an holistic approach to deal with the complex needs of the homeless. The service is new, but the enthusiasm contained in the project abstract is palpable.”
Chief Executive of Exeter CVS, Simon Bowkett, said, “We are thrilled for this project to have been recognised in this way, and it is a credit to the leadership and collaborative spirit shown by all partners.
“To see such a diverse team of Devon County Council’s Public Health department, Exeter City Council’s Housing Team, Devon Doctors, Devon Partnership Trust, Working Links and so many local charities and organisations come together to work to address one of Exeter’s most pressing challenges has been a privilege. This recognition is a great honour, and shows that Exeter CVS is leading the way in demonstrating how innovative community infrastructure can support local public services to tackle the growing needs in our communities.”
Exeter CVS have employed a local Exeter architect, Ivan Jordan, to transform Wat Tyler House – Exeter City Council’s former offices for poll tax collection – into a warm and welcoming space that will accommodate a whole array of services.
Mr Jordan, who will be joining the presentation team at the King’s Fund Conference said, “I have relished the opportunity to develop this community space into something that will draw people in, and hold them in the services that they need to recover, and where they can start to feel a part of community life again. It has been a unique task for me, because it involved an eight-week consultation with the people who will use services here, and with the staff, volunteers and commissioners of those services.
“This has been a collaborative process of co-design from the start, and to have not only our project, but our design process recognised in this way is a great honour. I am passionate about seeing public buildings and spaces owned and working for local people, and hope that what we are doing here can become a template for developing public assets in the future – locally and nationally.”
The first phase of the wellbeing hub is due to open in October of this year, with the second and final phase due for opening in March 2016.
To find out more about the work of Exeter CVS in developing the hub visit www.exetercvs.org.uk/wellbeing/hub
