#MakingStuffBetter

Gemma Hawtin is a physiotherapy assistant at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. Gemma was recognised as the Advancing Healthcare Awards AHA Overall Winner at a ceremony held in London in October 2020. Gemma and Michelle Lyons, Physiotherapy Assistant at LCH also picked up the NHS employers award for outstanding achievement by an AHP or healthcare science apprentice, support worker or technician, in recognition of their Wheelchair Skills Programme.

We are in conversation with Chris Dickinson who is Head of Commissioning for Children and Families at Leeds City Council. A native North American now living and working in the Leeds. I have worked with Chris throughout the COVID19 pandemic in Leeds, very much as a partnership, on the Clinical Extremely Vulnerable people project in the City for them to receive the support and messaging they need. What prompted me to get in touch with Chris was a tweet he published where he was talking about collaborative commissioning. I was keen to understand what he meant by this and to explore how we can all value the contribution made in the city by the 3rd sector. We talk about the commitment to being a child friendly city and reference the children and young people plan which you can read more about from this link https://www.leeds.gov.uk/childfriendlyleeds/Documents/CMT18-022%20Childrens%20and%20YP%20Plan%2018-23.pdf Chris describes 2 Big Questions towards the end of the episode so sit back and enjoy.

Healthwatch Leeds is the independent watchdog ensuring people's voices are at the heart of shaping health and care services in Leeds. https://healthwatchleeds.co.uk/ How does it feel for me - Joyce Joyce has lived with her husband Edgar on the Hawksworth Estate for many years and is a backbone of the community, always willing to be a listening ear and help others where she can. Living with diabetes, cancer and a heart condition has meant she sees many health and care professionals and has some good suggestions about how things could be better. https://healthwatchleeds.co.uk/joyce-how-does-it-feel-for-me/

Hannah is a public health improvement specialist working at Leeds City Council focussed on older people in the City. Shine Magazine is a new publication from Time to Shine that shares the stories of older people in Leeds. Older people in Leeds have stories to tell. This is the place to tell them. Stories of our lives, memories of our city, stories about how we have coped with adversity in the last few months. Stories to make you laugh, to move you, to make you think. All kinds of stories from all kinds of older people in Leeds. https://timetoshineleeds.org/projects/shine-magazine

Nathan is a Patient Ambassador for South Leeds communities and has a really interesting role as a social prescriber. He is striving to do better every single day for the good of his patients. Social prescribing helps people to address concerns in their life that are having a negative effect on their physical and mental wellbeing. It could be debt problems, housing issues, loneliness…. or anything else. It's tailored to the individual and connects them to services that help them feel better and live healthier lives. Social isolation, emotional issues or wellbeing concerns can cause all sorts of conditions including anxiety, depression, stress and many more conditions. By supporting people it can stop them even needing to visit a GP or go to A&E. This is great for the person and for the NHS!

Montage of our Big Questions

We talk to Chris Jackson from LS14 Trust about community building, COVID response, empowering people, a refurbished home for the organisation and free ice cream. A passionate and engaging conversation with someone working right at the heart of the community in Seacroft, Killingbeck, Swarcliffe and Whinmoor. http://www.ls14trust.org/

David Smith is a trustee at Cross Gates Good Neighbours, just one of the network of Neighbourhood Networks here in Leeds. We learn a little bit more about him and what CGGN get up to around reducing loneliness and isolation, support independence, promoting healthy lifestyles and for folk to try new things so if you are over 60 and live on the Cross Gates side of York Road you can access their services. We talk COVID, bus passes, YouTube and digital inclusion, the new community hub in Cross Gates shopping centre and of course we get to hear David's big question. For more information please visit their website https://crossgatesgns.org.uk/

Peter Thompson is Ping Pong For U in Leeds. He is affectionatley known as "Ping Pong Pete" and we caught up with him to talk about his family history and love of Table Tennis. He has adapted games to make it possible for blind people to play; quadriplegics and autistic people are also playing with real enthusiasm and enabling a wide range of people of all ages and of all abilities to enjoy the greatest game on Earth! Pete tells us some heartwarming stories of how his activities and approach to them are making a difference to the people of Leeds enabling them to move more. We talk about the ambition of measuring smiles! http://www.pingpong4u.co.uk/

Karl supports the ongoing development of the Local Care Partnerships (LCPs), promoting a strong and effective presence from the third sector in each area for Volition Forum Central. Forum Central is a network of health and social care third sector organisations in Leeds delivered by the partnership of: Leeds Older People's Forum and Volition-Leeds (the Mental Health, Physical and Sensory Impairment and Learning Disabilities Forum) Volition was first established in 1987 as the ‘Leeds Voluntary Sector Mental Health Forum'. In 2004 the charity changed its name to ‘Volition-Leeds'. In 2017 Volition merged with the PSI-Network – which was the key Leeds Third Sector infrastructure group working in the field of physical and sensory impairment. In 2020 we merged with the Learning Disability Forum called Tenfold. Having been known as PSI-Volition after the first merger, following consultation with all members a decision was taken by the board to be known as Volition in April 2020.

Tim is CEO of Leeds CCG. He is passionate about reimaging commissioning in the context of models of value-based healthcare and the development of integrated networks and partnerships. This has led to a strong commitment in distributive approaches to leadership both within systems and teams. He is also interested in exploring how strategy harnesses and adjusts to the fast-moving digitally driven world we all now live in and how we can develop community assets to support health outcomes. Tim first started working in the NHS as a primary care service improvement manager; looking at older people and medicines management. This followed work in the charity sector for Age Concern and as a Priest in the Church of England. In the NHS he then worked in a number of general management roles including; clinical governance and quality assurance, risk management and corporate governance, programme management, strategy, and planning. Before coming to Leeds he was the Director for Strategy, Planning, and Corporate at Stockport CCG acting as the Programme Director for the Stockport Together partnership – a national Vanguard site.

Addressing poverty, financial exclusion and the poverty premium one person at a time! Trust Leeds is growing the movement of Self-Reliant Groups to help people to save, share, make and sell together for the benefit of themselves, their families and their communities. Trust Leeds also provides micro-finance for enterprising people who have great ideas and small businesses but who don't have access to loans from family and friends of mainstream lenders. Liza is particularly inspired by the work of Glasgow-based charity Wevolution, and Pontypridd charity Purple Shoots. Following a degree in languages at the University of Leeds and roles in the media and public relations, Liza spent six years as Head of Development at Leeds Playhouse. Building on her external relations and fundraising skills, Liza was appointed as the founding Chief Executive of Emmaus Leeds. Working with her Trustees, allies and supporters across the city, she raised £3million to establish this community and social enterprise which walks alongside people who were homeless and provides a home and work in return for their skills and commitment. Having fledged this start-up enterprise in 2006, and inspired by the work of the Leeds Community Foundation, Liza moved to Cardiff to run the Community Foundation in Wales. Over ten years she led significant growth, setting up the world's only national community endowment fund, achieving million pound philanthropic gifts, and pioneering innovations including Philanthropy Week Wales and the Micro Venture Philanthropy Fund. Awarded an honorary Doctorate from Cardiff Metropolitan University for her work in promoting philanthropy, Liza is an experienced Trustee and governor and her volunteering roles have included: Trustee of Wales Council for Voluntary Action; Governor of Park Lane College Leeds; Member of Glas Cymru (Welsh Water); Director of Social Enterprise Leeds; and a panel member for two micro-finance loan funds. Liza has recently been appointed to the Boards of Emmaus Leeds and Opera North. You can find Trust Leeds at https://www.trustleeds.org.uk/ and https://twitter.com/Trust_Leeds

In this episode we welcome Hilary Brockway who has a unique perspective on Local Care Partnerships from both a 3rd Sector point of view and a Primary Care Network view. Hilary is the Primary Care Network Manger from LS25/LS26 Local Care Partnership but relatively recently moved into this role from Age UK Leeds. We will hope to explore her involvement in Local Care Partnerships from both of these angles. Since the NHS was created in 1948, the population has grown and people are living longer. Many people are living with long term conditions such as diabetes and heart disease or suffer with mental health issues and may need to access their local health services more often. To meet these needs, GP practices are working together with community, mental health, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services in their local areas in groups of practices known as primary care networks (PCNs).

We are joined in this episode by Martin Lee from Active Leeds. This is part of Leeds City Council and is the health and fitness provision for the people of Leeds. Active Leeds has a vision for Leeds... to be the best city to be active in with a mission to be passionate about enabling active and thriving communities and delivering positive experiences through a friendly and supportive team. Active Leeds has two delivery teams, the Facilities Team oversee and support the delivery of the city council leisure centre facilities and all the services and programmes delivered within them. Managing 17 facilities, operating 22 pools and 12 gyms where they deliver a weekly programme of activities including 400 fitness classes and over 9000 private swim lessons, currently catering for over 20 000 health and fitness members. Martin leads the Development Team which has a focus on reducing inactivity and increasing the level of physical activity in Leeds. One of their aims is to reduce health inequalities by working in our most deprived communities and with under-represented groups. Projects that we will hear about include: Leeds Girls Can, We are Undefeatable and Love Yourself.

For this episode we are joined by two people from Feel Good Factor which is a registered charity based in Chapeltown and has been since 2003. http://www.fgfleeds.org/ Feel Good Factor (FGF) is an organisation that supports people to improve their health and wellbeing. but working with communities all across Leeds providing activities, projects and services to improve access to health opportunities for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Welcome to Angela Goodyear who is the Operations Manager at Feel Good Factor and Preeti Tyagi who is a Family Health Co-ordinator. They tell use about the project they are working on to support families impacted by the requirement to shield as a result of COVID-19.

Wellbeing starts with people; our connections with family, friends and colleagues; the behaviour, care and compassion we show one another; the environment we create to live together. We all have a part to play in Leeds being a healthy city with high quality services. The Health and Wellbeing strategy is about how we put in place the best conditions in Leeds for people to live fulfilling lives – a healthy city with high quality services. Everyone in Leeds has a stake in creating a city which does the very best for its people. This strategy is our blueprint for how we will achieve that. It is led by the partners on the Leeds Health and Wellbeing Board and it belongs to everyone in the city. Tony Cooke has over twenty five years of NHS, third sector, local Government and academic experience as well as a lifetime promoting equality and social mobility from Leeds to London and back again.

What is Employment and Skills Leeds? Employment and Skills Leeds is part of Leeds City Council. We work with a range of partners to support you into work, training (including apprenticeships) and education opportunities. The core of our work is supporting local communities, including Leeds's most deprived areas, engaging organisations, schools, colleges and universities and delivering a range of support, careers guidance and employability services. We also work with employers to help recruit, retain and develop a skilled and inclusive workforce and contribute to the city's economic growth, and work with organisations supporting young people who may be NEET (not in employment, education or training) https://employmentskillsleeds.co.uk/

Claire Irving is the Communities Director at the East Leeds Project. Claire lives in the People's Republic of Harehills, where she was Director of Shine from 2008-10. She has also been influential within the city's visual arts scene, as co-founder, in 1999, and inaugural Chair of Leeds Visual Arts Forum, and as a Board member of East Street Arts from 1997-2009, including as Chair from 1999-2009. Claire is passionate about working with communities, and has worked with various groups, through theatre, visual art, food or music, for over 25 years. Throughout this time she has encountered a plethora of talents, nuances, passions and wonderful shared stories which have allowed her to co-create community situations that are by the people, for the people, with the people. Along the journey one thing always stands out for Claire: conversation. She believes it is the key to unlocking community. That, and a good cup of tea. https://eastleedsproject.org/

In this episode we here from Fran Etherington from the Old Fire Station in Gipton. A building that has been renovated and given a new lease of life as a community hub providign a base for several local charities along with spaces available to hire, a cookery school and a cafe for the whole community of East Leeds, and wider, to enjoy.

Local Care Partnerships (LCPs) is the term used in Leeds to describe our model of joined-up working to deliver local care for local people; working in and with local communities. Local Care Partnerships build on Leeds City Council's strong history, NHS and third sector (community organisations) staff working together. Some meet together due to historical ways of working in that geography. Recognising the city's diversity, they are tailored to local need and the features of that particular community. This podcast aims to create a platform to feature activity happening in Local Care Partnerships hearing the diverse voices of people involved.