Cost of living support
Colchester City Council is providing support for residents facing the cost of living crisis.
Colchester City Council is providing support for residents facing the cost of living crisis.
Date issued: 23 July 2020
The findings and recommendations will help the councils, the Alliance and other partners develop the support needed by vulnerable communities and is particularly relevant as the councils and the Alliance look to help communities recover from the impacts of Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown.
Chairman of the Alliance, Mark Jarman-Howe, said: “The commissioning of this research reflects the commitment of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance to tackling inequity through addressing the wider determinants of health, and building our understanding of and engagement with the rich store of community assets to be found in even the most deprived areas.
The findings will help shape our priorities over the coming years and will have wider resonance and benefit to other areas of the country as well.”
The report’s lead author, Dr Oonagh Corrigan of the ARU, said: "While these groups were all set up ostensibly for a purpose, for example a bowls club or a school uniform exchange club, we found that these purposes were often of secondary importance to the users.
“The social aspect was an overwhelming benefit, allowing users to build relationships with like-minded people and feel a sense of belonging."
Colchester Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities, Wellbeing and Public Safety, Cllr Mike Lilley, said: “We are committed to supporting all of our residents. However, we had major concerns about some of the health and wellbeing statistics for our area and we needed to get to the bottom of as to why and what we could do change them.
“The report confirms to me that further supporting community assets is the right approach - however, there is still much more we can do to further enhance what is on offer for those in our communities who obviously need and benefit from them. It provides a lot of food for thought.”
Cllr Lynda McWilliams, Tendring District Council’s Cabinet Member for Partnerships, added: “It is important we offer support for individuals from across the board.
“We need to work together; the health service, local authorities and voluntary groups, to help people – our residents – in the best way we can, and this research is a valuable tool to help us achieve this.”
A copy of the report is available at: https://www.aru.ac.uk/research/ageing
Page last reviewed: 23 July 2020
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