An alliance of independent Wellbeing providers recently brought together a group of influential Lancashire leaders from across the public, private and third sectors to discuss how wellbeing must be prioritised in the county to help the economy bounce back quicker.
It was clear from the attendance list that there is appetite to focus on health as an economic driver. “I was intrigued to know what it [Wellbeing Lancashire] was all about, but the more I’m learning and hearing the more it’s triggering lots of needs I can see in Lancashire.” Steve Fogg, Chairman Lancashire Enterprise Partnership.
The aim of the Wellbeing Lancashire Alliance is to work with all the sectors in the county to provide a co-ordinated approach to delivering wellbeing that reaches individuals, businesses, organisations and communities.
With a high number of stakeholders at the table already invested in health and wellbeing, where does Wellbeing Lancashire fit? “The aim of Wellbeing Lancashire is not to duplicate great work that is already being done, we want to be the wifi that brings it all together, and supports in the delivery.” Jason Kingston, Partner at Cube Thinking.
“If businesses are in need of support, can we #askforhelp from Boost,[Lancashrie County Council Business Support Program], where is the best place to signpost them to get help?” Annette Weekes, Managing Director, PDS Engingeering.
“During coronavirus, we have repositioned our entire Boost service to give business leaders a place to turn through our #AskForHelp and #BoostYourRecovery campaigns. Understanding wellbeing is crucial right now, given the huge changes we have all made in our working lives over the past six month. We want to work with businesses who care about their people and are keen to make a positive difference to wellbeing.” Andrew Leeming, Boost Programme Manager, Lancashire County Council
“Action is required now, we’re talking about realtime problems. Young people 16-24yrs are receiving extended work placements, but where is the support for their wellbeing.” Pete Alger, Director, Inspira.
A recent article in the Economist informs us that the the world faces a mental health tsunuami, like nothing seen since the second world war. ‘the world should take the collective mental damage of covid-19 seriously. Steps to reduce it cost little, and can benefit not only individuals but also society more broadly.’
Wellbeing is not a new concept, there are many providers out there, across all sectors, who have been doing great work over a number of years. “We have been developing and delivering digital tools to support health and wellbeing for a number ofyears, but the pandemic and impact of lockdown has made the need for reliable, accurate information – a single version of the truth – and digital devices, tools and the skills to use them, more pressing than ever – this can only happen with a collective effort across public, private and third sectors.” Linda Vernon Digital Lead (Empower the Person), Lancashire and Cumbria Integrated Care System
“I’m seeing a huge need for wellbeing services in businesses. In a Navigate the Nonsense employee survey we have just completed, one third of people claim they’re suffering with their mental health. When asked how they are feeling 30.9% said they were struggling.” Steve Smith, Managing Director Anthem Engagement/NWEEG
“We already have the data, we need to analyse it to understand the real problems people are facing so that we can find the solutions to solve them.” Mike Wilson, Lead Consultant, Anthem Engagement.
“We also need to look at how the pandemic is affecting the young people in our communities. Students going into year 11, have already missed nearly two terms in the classroom and face further time away; if they have to quarrantine. At the moment the focus is on catching up academically, but they also need careers experience and support with their mental health.” Stuart Graham, Deputy Career Hub Lead, Inspira
“Lancashire Mind has a schools programme to help teaching staff and students in managing their mental health, but we’ve found it difficult to engage schools, particularly through the lockdown.” Tommy McIlravey, CEO Lancashire Mind
“Communication is key, being able to reach the audiences with the right messages; signpost them where they need to go to get help.” David Bennett, Director, Creative World
“I totally agree, we have to get the right information to people, in a place that can be trusted. Especially when there is so much misinformation on the internet. Wellbeing Lancashire needs to be a place where you can get relevant, current and trusted information.” Emma-Louise Fusari, Founder In-House Health
“Will Wellbeing Lancashire just focus on businesses and occupational wellbeing?” Linda Vernon
“Not just businesses. We believe that by targeting individuals, communitites, organisations and businesses Wellbeing Lancashire will have a bigger impact; they are all interlinked.” Cheryle Britton, Founder, YOLO Wellbeing.
“Discussion like this provides an umberella view in this field [of Wellbeing].There is a new strategy being written for the University [of Central Lancashire] that will focus support for research that has a significant Wellbeing benefit as its key outcome. It is key for Universities to break down silo’s and coordinate its activity for the benefit for the Wellbeing of the wider community in mind.” Professor StJohn Crean, Pro Vice Chancellor (Research, Innovation and Enterprise), UCLan
“We are looking to align strategy across multiple stakeholder groups, define a collective why across the county, increase engagement in preventative delivery and cultivate an agile and dynamic wellbeing provision to respond to the future challenges we face economically and psychologically.” Lee Chambers, Founder Essentialise
There is conclusive evidence available that supports the need for wellbeing services to support economic performance, just look at the NHSA Health for Wealth report. “The why for wellbeing is there, we’ve got to be able to convince people and we’re using and sharing our learnings through a vehicle like EPIC (engage, promote, innovate and collaborate), which can be used to suport this work. But you need a call to action, a pledge that businesses sign up to, a commitment to a minimum offer. And if you don’t sign up to it, then shame on them. Work forces are already under a lot of pressure; we need to see a transformation, a commitment from organisations to do something to make a difference.” Talib Yaseen OBE, Executive Director of Transformation, Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care System. “When will things start happening, because businesses need this now.“ Annette Weekes
“When I joined Wellbeing Lancashire it was because there is the energy to do something different. To be dramatic and get action, action, action and to be able to deliver. That’s what we’re about.” Celia Gaze, Founder and Managing Director, The Wellbeing Farm and the North West Centre for Business & Team Building
The Wellbeing Lancashire Alliance left the table last Thursday, 10th September, with the support of the attendees and a mission to start making things happen. To stay updated with the progress of Wellbeing Lancashire follow us on Linkedin Wellbeing Lancashire.
