News from Bolton at Home
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More awards recognition for Bolton community wellbeing scheme
A community project that’s encouraging Bolton residents to get the right support to look after their health and wellbeing has been nominated for a second award.
The ‘Peer Navigators’ project was shortlisted at the prestigious Tpas Awards 2019 in the Excellence in Community Action category.
The Tpas awards recognise housing organisations that demonstrate excellent engagement with their tenants.
While it narrowly missed out on winning the prize at the Tpas ceremony on 29 March, the scheme won plaudits in December 2018 when it won an Excellence in Health Creation Award.
Piloted in Johnson Fold since March 2018, the Peer Navigators have so far helped 212 local families access support from community projects and public services, as well creating new groups to encourage healthy eating and better mental health.
Three Bolton at Home tenants - Bernadette Kelly, Sara Fearns and Shelley Butler - have gained long-term employment as Peer Navigators to help and encourage their neighbours to get the right support.
Lisa Bradley, Community Development Officer for Bolton at Home, said: “We recruited the Peer Navigators because they are the ones who know their neighbours best.
“Their role is to listen to people in the community and understand local issues. They can then support individuals to access appropriate services, promoting self-care and positive behaviour change.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that our navigators are getting the recognition they deserve for the work they have done to engage with our tenants.”
Managed by Bolton at Home, in partnership with Bolton Council, the Placed Based Integration (PBI) Team and Bolton Community and Voluntary Services, the Peer Navigators have focused on four themes – families and food, employment, environment and women’s wellbeing.
So far, they have helped organise drugs awareness talks for parents and children and developed a crèche facility alongside women’s wellbeing groups to allow more women to attend them.
A healthy lifestyles group, promoting healthy eating and positive mental health, has also been set up in direct response to requests from people who wanted to lose weight and boost their confidence.
There have also been cookery demonstrations using fruit and vegetables from local food growing sites.
We are looking to expand the Peer Navigators in other communities within Bolton and believe it has the potential to lead to better long-term health and wellbeing, as well as creating employment opportunities for navigators.
Well done again to Shelley, Bernadette and Sara who are pictured above.