Additional £5 million National Lottery funding boost for 11 expert partnerships tackling health inequalities across England

Partnerships in England working to reduce health inequalities and improve the lives of local people have been given a boost, thanks to almost £5 million of National Lottery funding.

11 partnerships – in Dudley, Greenwich, Hyndburn, Kent, Northamptonshire, Scarborough, Sheffield, Tower Hamlets, Bolton, Halton & St Helens and Staffordshire - have been awarded up to £450,000 each to continue improving links between health and care services and promoting the role of the voluntary sector and the value of cross-sector partnerships.

Awarded by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, these latest grants mark the second phase of the Health Equality programme, through which an initial £700,000 in development funding was awarded last year to place-based partnerships to build and progress ideas and solutions to tackle local health inequalities.

The 11 partnerships cover the breadth of England. In Scarborough, the SeeChange project will use National Lottery funding to tackle health inequalities by empowering and encouraging local groups and individuals to try new ideas, create new spaces, services or activities that contribute to local health service delivery.​

The funding in Scarborough will also be used to create a formal voluntary sector alliance to ensure the voices of local charities and community groups are heard in decision making processes, along with a cross-sector partnership made up of health and voluntary organisations and local businesses to improve the health and wellbeing of the local workforce.

In Tower Hamlets, the Flourishing Communities project will use £450,000 to support and engage with women from ethnic minority communities to tackle health inequalities. The project will focus on the key role the voluntary sector can play in supporting black and minority ethnic communities to engage with health professionals and identify and create solutions to the health and wellbeing challenges experienced by these communities.

Phil Chamberlain, England Director at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “We are delighted this funding will support 11 expert partnerships across England to continue engaging with local people and developing solutions that support equal health outcomes and allow communities to prosper and thrive.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, these partnerships will use their local expertise to bring about real change, promoting the role of the voluntary sector and empowering communities to take a leading role throughout the process.”

This latest National Lottery funding comes after Integrated Care Systems - 42 partnerships that bring together NHS, local authority and voluntary sector groups to plan and deliver joined up health and care services - were formally established as statutory bodies in England earlier this year.

The National Lottery Community Fund distributes money raised by National Lottery players, who raise more than £30 million each week for good causes across the UK.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk

Full list of the partnerships awarded National Lottery funding through the second phase of Health Equality funding: