Podcast: 1,000 voices: building health from the ground up in Sheffield’s North East

Our latest podcast looks at an ambitious, community-powered programme to tackle health inequalities and improve population health in North East Sheffield.

The North East Neighbourhoods programme was set up by South Yorkshire ICB to tackle health inequalities in Sheffield’s North East by building on the areas strength: a flourishing and diverse community and voluntary sector.

The ICB saw the sector as a central component to delivering a community-powered, preventative approach to health and, from the start, local people and organisations have shaped the work.  Four community leaders from local organisations sit on the programme board, and they played a key role in conversations with nearly 1,000 local people about what matters most to them. This community engagement directly influenced the programme’s priorities and the design of small, medium and large grants which have since been distributed.

New Local has worked alongside the ICB and the programme board since inception. We helped design programme governance, develop a theory of change, and co-create an evaluation framework which we tested with funded organisations. Today, grantees are delivering a wide mix of projects — from allotments projects and outdoor play to women’s theatre — all of which build on their understanding of the communities they work with to achieve health and wellbeing outcomes. An interim evaluation is now drawing together the early learning and stories of change.

Join our mailing list