A wealth of health

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Long Term Conditions Hebrides has used the Community Wellbeing Exchange to buy in mental health-promoting services from social enterprises to help them support people with long term conditions in the Western Isles.

Long Term Conditions Hebrides (LTCH) is a community organisation in the Western Isles of Scotland which aims to enhance the life experience and wellbeing of people living with a Long Term Condition (LTC) and their carers.

In 2022-23, LTCH took part in the Community Wellbeing Exchange, which provided them with £1000 to spend on a menu of activities and other services provided by social enterprises which support mental health and wellbeing. For more on the Community Wellbeing Exchange, read the summary at the bottom of this article, or click here to visit the website.

LTCH used the funding to purchase Mindful Creative Craft Packs from Inverness-based social enterprise, Red Chair Highland, as well as four sessions of online Reiki provided by Glasgow-based social enterprise, The Wee Retreat.

Impact

Long Term Conditions Hebrides reported that the community wellbeing helped reduce social isolation

The Mindful Creative Craft Packs were used at LTCH’s monthly face-to-face sessions with around 15 participants at each session. They enabled members to enjoy a general sense of well-being and to try new activities. By sending packs out before meetings, they helped reduce the social isolation felt by less-mobile members. 13 members took part in the online Reiki, and LTCH reported that they felt supported and connected throughout. Moreover, as the activity was online, it was accessible, enabling participants to join-in from their own homes.

LTCH have reported that the activities provided through the Community Wellbeing Exchange have aligned well with their own aims and approaches. They added that the providers have been welcoming and inclusive, as well as helpful to deal with throughout.

The social enterprises also benefit from taking part. The Wee Retreat has stated that the Community Wellbeing Exchange has provided a fantastic opportunity to connect and work with new groups and lay great foundations for future collaborations.

What is the Community Wellbeing Exchange?

The Community Wellbeing Exchange aims to help address ongoing mental health and wellbeing challenges faced within local communities. It does this by providing community organisations with £1000 to spend on mental health-promoting activities and other provision from social enterprises. A menu of activities is provided which community organisations can book from.

The Community Wellbeing Exchange enables community organisations to purchase mental health-promoting activities and other provision from social enterprises.

The programme is a partnership between Social Enterprise Scotland, Scottish Communities for Health and Wellbeing (SCHW) and Community Health Exchange (CHEX), and is funded through Scottish Community Alliance’s Pockets and Prospects fund.

In practice, the CWE is a small virtual market place for social enterprises that offer mental health services to find new business, and for community anchor organisations who wish to provide mental health services to their community, an opportunity to find new, not for profit suppliers.

This year’s programme saw 20 community anchor organisations being able to access activities and services from 40 different social enterprises across Scotland. This included both virtual and face-to-face sessions for staff, volunteers and community members. They included counselling, mindfulness, mental health first aid and a range of outdoor activities.

Community Wealth Building in action

Despite relatively small amounts of money- circa £8k per year- the impact of the CWE has been significant. It has enabled money to be recycled around the sector locally, as well as creating partnerships and networks that have sustained beyond the commissioned piece of work. The approach is meaningfully regenerative and distributive, by supporting the social foundation to strengthen local wellbeing economies and networks.

Find out more

Note: This case study has been adapted from one that was contained in the Scottish Community Alliance’s submission to the Scottish Government’s Community Wealth Building consultation.



Members of Long Term COnditions Hebrides taking part in Creative Sessions using Mindful Creative Craft Packs from Red Chair Highland.