The Pioneering Care Partnership’s (PCP) Stockton Community Wellbeing Champion (SCWC) project were shortlisted for a Health Award, following work with ethnic minority, refugee and asylum seeker communities in Stockton-on-Tees.
The ‘Health Award’ is a part of the Tees Valley Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Awards, that celebrate individuals or organisations who are committed to promoting health and wellbeing within a wide range of diverse communities.
Amara Iqbal, Development and Engagement Officer, and Caroline Nakachwa, Health and Wellbeing Projects Co-ordinator from PCP, have been using their personal lived experience of living in ethnic minority communities to find out what matters to them. This includes looking at what barriers there are to accessing health and wellbeing services, and what wider determinants are affecting people’s health and wellbeing.
Amara said: “We have been working hard behind the scenes, recruiting trusted members of these communities as champions to support a two-way conversation with Public Health. It is important to us that we pass on Public Health messages and campaigns in a culturally sensitive way to build trust and respect with local people.”
Caroline followed this comment, and said: “Health literacy is often a major issue, and language can be a huge barrier. So, Amara and I have used our own experience, skills and knowledge to support individuals and groups in a variety of ways – making sure everyone feels included and can access health and wellbeing support.
“We have made new connections visiting groups such as Purple Rose at Newtown to make smoothies and talk to people about their experiences of living in Stockton. Amara speaks Urdu and Punjabi so can utilise this in conversations which she did at Purple Rose. We have also translated a variety of health and wellbeing questions into other languages and printed them for a conversation board to take to community engagement events.”
Alongside their work at Purple Rose, the team have collaboratively delivered health and wellbeing tailored workshops to Radio House residents, Better Tomorrow, and other ethnic minority community groups around Stockton.
The SCWC project provides health and wellbeing support, advice and information across Stockton-on-Tees. The project has a network of 124 champions, who ensure voices are heard across all communities.
The awards took place on Friday 18 October at Kirkleatham Walled Garden, and although the team did not win, PCP would like to honour and celebrate the fantastic work that Caroline and Amara do in breaking down barriers for local people in Stockton.
Find out more about the SCWC team here.
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