Welcome to the latest THCVS Health and wellbeing bulletin. We would like to promote the opportunities to be involved in influencing priorities and contributing to service design. Please do promote the surveys to residents to encourage them to get involved in developing programmes.

Serious violence needs assessment

Tower Hamlets local authority is currently working with colleagues from the police, probation services, youth justice services, fire and rescue services in order to develop a strategic needs assessment on serious violence in the borough, as part of the serious violence duty which commenced nationally in January 2023. This is to be followed by development of a strategy that will be reviewed annually.

Serious violence is defined as “any violence and exploitation affecting young people under the age of 25, domestic abuse and sexual violence (of all ages). Within the context of these types of violence, it encompasses homicide, grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, personal robbery, threats to kill and violence against property caused during the commission of one of these offences”.

There are a few aspects in which we are keen to highlight within the needs assessment e.g. what the voluntary and community sector organizations have in place in terms of provisions or interventions to prevent or reduce serious violence. Furthermore, any local data on the communities’ views, perpetrators or survivors around violence, safety and current provision.

Contact Viknesh.akilan@towerhamlets.gov.uk or Carmel.Black@towerhamlets.gov.uk – if you can help regarding this or if you have any questions. Find out more

Have your say on sexual and reproductive health priorities 

Improving your sexual and reproductive health is one of the key priorities cross local authorities in North East London. The Local Authorities of North East London (NEL) are in the process of a developing North East London (NEL) Strategy for Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Their vision is to: 'work collaboratively with residents and partners from across the spectrum of integrated sexual health in order to deliver high quality, easy-access and equitable provision across the whole of North East London, with the prevention of illness and the promotion of healthy relationships at the core of all activity.'

Completion of this short survey will help to establish whether the identified Sexual Health Priorities meet your needs. NHS NEL would appreciate your input and would like to hear your feedback.

This survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete. It is confidential and anonymous.NHS NEL will read every response and comment and make sure that the strategy is informed by your views. The survey will close on the 31st July! Click here to take the survey.

LGBT+ Awareness CPD Training opportunity with elop

Monday 18 September / 10.00am to 12.00pm

elop's LGBT+ Awareness Training is CPD Certified and rated as a very good course, offering a high level of CPD content. It will give your staff the knowledge they need to understand, support and achieve positive outcomes for the LGBT+ community. It is also a useful addition to your staff induction to ensure that new staff can support LGBT+ service users with confidence.

The 2-hour online workshop includes a presentation, group discussion and a Q&A session and will give participants an understanding of:

• Gender identity and the non-binary spectrum
• LGBT+ terminology
• The challenges faced by LGBT+ individuals and the impact of discrimination on health and wellbeing
• Gender neutral language and pronouns
• What it means to be an ally
• How to make your workplace more inclusive
  

Cost per person: Corporate and Statutory - £55 / Individuals and Charities - £40. To book, please email training@elop.org.

MOPAC – Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Grassroots Fund 2023 to 2025

Applications Open: Wednesday 12 July until 12 noon on Wednesday 30 August 2023

The MOPAC Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Grassroots Fund is managed by the London Community Foundation on behalf of MOPAC.

This £3,000,000 Fund is part of the Mayor’s commitment to build a safer London for everyone and comes as recent incidents across the UK have highlighted the growing epidemic of VAWG and the need for more to be done to achieve the Mayor’s ambition of eradicating VAWG, and to ensure those most vulnerable during the cost of living crisis have access to the help they need. Find out more

Exciting career development and funding opportunities for mental health staff and researchers

Deadline: Monday 7 August

NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North Thames has opened 3 new funded opportunities: research internships, career development fellowships and springboard grants.

Anyone working in or with mental health services across the North Thames region can apply, including staff from NHS Trusts, local government, public health, social care or community care organisations, charities and the voluntary sector. They would particularly like to see applications from staff who are currently under-represented in research, including those working in East London and Essex, people from minoritised backgrounds, and those working in areas of mental health and social care with limited opportunities to engage in research. Find out more

Interventions that impact loneliness

Deadline: Tuesday 15 August

The Public Health Research (PHR) Programme wishes to commission research on interventions aimed at reducing loneliness. Although social isolation and loneliness often come together, they are conceptually and empirically distinct from each other. This call is primarily interested in intervention aimed at reducing loneliness. The PHR programme is predominantly interested in interventions that are likely to have impact on populations at scale, addressing health inequalities and the underlying wider determinants of health. Click here to find out more and apply.

2024 GSK IMPACT Awards and new GSK Health Inequalities Programme

Applications are now open for the 2024 GSK IMPACT Awards and new GSK Health Inequalities Programme which will support smaller charities.

The new GSK Health Inequalities Programme supports small charities with total annual income between £20,000 and £150,000.  Up to 15 charities will receive up to £10,000 in unrestricted funding plus access to free training and development valued at £2,700. Deadline: Monday 14 August 2023

The GSK IMPACT Awards are funded by GSK and provide core funding and free training for charities doing excellent work to improve people’s health and wellbeing. Up to 15 awards will be made, ranging from £4,000 to £50,000, plus free training and development valued at a further £9,500. Deadline: Friday 1 September 2023