When we began the Northern Network project back in September 2022, our early research showed us there was a need for us to explore the links between Social Prescribing and Green Community Hubs.
And so, in January this year, with support from Natural England, we formed the Cheshire and Merseyside Green Social Prescribing Group (pictured below), to help demystify the social prescribing landscape from the perspective of the region’s green activity providers.
The group’s intention was to discuss the realities of the problems or issues that they faced, in order to find solutions and explore ways of improving green social prescribing across the region.
One of the first acts of the group was to formally commission Capacity to support their collective efforts and to help them research the sector and collate their findings.
The report ‘The Missing Link for Green Social Prescribing’, which is published today, is the culmination of their work.
The Northern Network’s Project Manager Sam Marine explains:
“The Group initially came together to discuss social prescribing, and to look for solutions to shared problems in this area. In their first meeting, it was decided that quality research was required to better understand the routes to funding prescribed green activities.
“We’ve been delighted to work with Capacity who have guided us through a research process, including facilitating workshops and carrying out surveys and interviews. The resulting report clarifies our findings and sets us up with a number of recommendations going forward.”
About the Report
The report covers a wealth of fascinating findings across: Social Prescribing; Grant Funders; Primary Care Networks; Commissioners; Integrated Care Systems and Boards; NHS Trusts; Personal Health Budgets; and Sector Resources.
It also sets out a number of practical recommendations for individual organisations including:
The value of marketing your offer to the Personal Health Budget audience.
From a green social prescribing activity provider’s perspective, if you do wish to attract people who hold Personal Health Budgets, you will need to market your offer to individuals, as they are their own budget holders.
Recognising the significance of “Place.”
“Place” and “Place-based approaches” are important across the health system, as the providers within that Place respond directly to the unique needs of that specific population.
Building relationships with your VCSE infrastructure organisations.
Green social prescribing activity providers should know who their local VCSE infrastructure organisations are and seek to build a relationship.
Building relationships with regional social prescribing networks.
Opportunities for partnerships and funding will often be shared through specialist social prescribing networks.
