Webinar – Social Prescribing VCSE perspectives

NHS England is seeking to build its engagement and understanding of voluntary and community sector experiences and perspectives on social prescribing, to enable more effective partnerships and maximise social prescribing’s contribution to the ambitions of the Long Term Plan and relevant Universal Personalised Care Actions.

For social prescribing to fulfil its potential, there need to be strong relationships and close collaboration between the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE) and local health and care systems. There is still more to do to build these partnerships consistently across the country.

National Voices has been commissioned by the NHS England Personalised Care Group to work with the VCSE sector to explore the critical issues that need to be addressed to enable effective social prescribing and to develop suggested solutions.

What are the aims of this project?

The project will explore the local conditions that enable effective social prescribing, drawing on the insights and expertise of the VCSE sector. It will explore the issues that need to be addressed at a whole system level and identify what is needed to build community assets and capacity.

What we have planned

There will be a range of opportunities to get involved in this project, including local workshops, online events and roundtables.

We are presently organising a series of practitioner workshops to surface key enabling conditions and practices that support effective social prescribing at a local level, and critical issues for local and national systems to address in order to create/encourage these conditions. The workshops will focus on practical issues and lessons from local partners.

The workshops are taking place in the North East (Newcastle), South West (Exeter) and Greater Manchester (Manchester) and are open to VCSE organisations working on a local or regional basis. The events will be a key opportunity to share experiences of being involved in social prescribing and to discuss issues, challenge and what is working well.

If you are interested in attending please do not delay in registering as spaces are expected to book up very quickly.

If there is no event in your area you can still participate through online events and surveys. We will be sharing details of these other opportunities to engage very soon.

Project team

Aimie Cole is a National Voices Associate and consultant specialising in health and community. She has deep knowledge and experience of social prescribing, including work for the Richmond Group to capture learning and good practice from social prescribing stakeholders in the South West.

Dan Jones is a strategy consultant and National Voices Associate. He has over 20 years’ experience in co-design, workshop facilitation, strategy development and stakeholder engagement. With Kate Jopling, he led a government review on addressing the barriers to older people volunteering and participating in their communities.    

Kate Jopling is a policy consultant and National Voices Associate. She has a background in ageing, and has worked extensively on loneliness and social prescribing, including work for the British Red Cross on connecting communities to tackle loneliness and social isolation. 

Get involved

Please drop us a line if you have any questions about our work on social prescribing or if you are keen to get involved: membership@nationalvoices.org.uk