Walworth Wellness

Walworth Wellness is a collective for social activities to implement to local people.

Within the initial proposal, the plan was set that John, Betty and Elaine would each take forward a social activity to implement locally . The three activities included:
1. In partnership with Southwark Playhouse, John worked to support any volunteers that offered their time to gain experience working in a local theatre.
2. At the Trunk in Walworth, Betty offered a range of creative sessions which ran once a week for 6 weeks. The sessions included: soap making, creating scrubs and creams, balloon crafts, decoupage and many more.
3. Elaine ran taster sessions to volunteers, educating them about gardening and allowing them to experience creating their own potted plants.

Due to initial delays, the start of the project was moved back to April/May 2022 and the project increased from a total of 2 months to now a total of 3 months which spanned the planning, organising and implementation of the social activities. Nevertheless, it should be noted that:
- The delayed start to the project did not affect the budget of the project.
- The three social activities offered also stayed the same.

Why did you think your project was important to address health and wellbeing in your community?
There is growing demand for holistic approaches to tackling community health and social issues which, as a result, has seen an increase in alternatives that offer non traditional methods to help address these concerns.

One of these methods is social prescribing, which enables community members to receive a non clinical prescription to their health concern. It enables GP’s and health care professionals to refer people to a range of local services which connects them to community groups and statutory services for practical and emotional support. Following the impact of Covid-19, where society has had an increased desire to tend and maintain good health on the one hand, whilst many have become medical sceptics on the other, social prescribing offers an alternative to addressing health issues whilst relieving financial pressure from the NHS. It places the emotional, practical and health needs of the individual first. In light of this, many community organisations and groups are beginning to offer holistic methods to hopefully address and sustain community health and wellbeing.

What's something that's surprised you in this process?
For Elaine’s plant potting sessions, the initial proposal set forward that these would take place in a local outdoor gardening space whereby the referred individuals would plant, pot and learn the skills required for cultivation. Nevertheless, as Elaine states due to “increased workload, organisational changes, and a later timescale” she did not have enough capacity to spend a dedicated amount of time searching for this local space.

However, with the time she did have, Elaine did attempt to search for a local spaces to hold her sessions: Walworth Gardens, who did not have any volunteer openings only short courses, and St Peter’s Church’s space was not available either. Elaine also attempted to look at other spaces but deemed them not suitable for the work she wanted to do for the project.

Despite the challenges that Elaine faced throughout the planning process of her sessions, she remained enthusiastic and motivated to complete her project given the time, resources and capacity she had.
Elaine was able to make “an improvised programme of planting seeds which included flowering and vegetable seeds for two volunteers who were new to the experience”.

What change would you like to see so that more people can be empowered to make decisions on the issues that affect them?
There are various social determinants of health that can impact an individuals well being; Walworth Wellness sought to use social prescriptions as an alternative route to tackling and addressing community ill-health. The story told throughout this report highlights how through these alternative routes, wellbeing can be improved. Participants felt better, they felt more confident and were interested in participating in novel activities. In light of the insights gathered from this project, Walworth Wellness are seeking to expand the scope of their social prescriptions framework by seeking further funding. The team are in conversation with local stakeholders i.e., Notting Hill Genesis to determine what ‘next’ looks like for the project.

To note: Jennifer joined the creative craft workshops, but unfortunately in her personal life she was experiencing difficulties with repairs in her property. Jennifer mentioned that each week she was gaining further motivation for the sessions as she felt she had a safe space to discuss her concerns within the group. Overall, she enjoyed the workshops and at the end she felt more confidence to speak to her landlord about her repair case. We also signposted specialist lawyers to support Jennifer’s case.