We have been informed by NHS Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care Foundation Trust (ICFT) that funding for our Tameside Community Wellbeing Programme will end on 31 March 2024, including:
- Tameside’s Social Prescribing service – Closes on 31 March 2024
- Community Development – 50% reduced capacity building support for community groups in neighbourhoods
- Community Wellbeing Grant Investment for community groups – Closed
The Social Prescribing service has successfully delivered support to over 9,000 people over the last 6 years, with 94% of our clients reporting improvements in their health and wellbeing after working with the service.
Our Community Development offer has worked with hundreds of local groups, no doubt including yourselves, to make sure there is a vibrant community offer to support people’s wellbeing in Tameside, and our grants have helped to sustain and grow this.
As I’m sure you will understand we stopped taking new Social Prescribing referrals from 26 January 2024, to ensure we can support those we are currently working with and manage the closure of our Social Prescribing service as smoothly as we can.
We are in the process of re-designing our Development offer to ensure we can continue to support our members to set up, grow and sustain their groups, and will be focusing on bringing grant investment into the borough to support our members this year. Please continue to contact us as normal in the meantime.
This change does not affect our services in Oldham or Rochdale.
We are aware that we are not the only Voluntary, Community Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisation in the borough to be affected by funding cuts directly or indirectly. We are working with local and Greater Manchester partners to mitigate the risks for local people and communities and to lobby for the importance of prevention support and investment in the local VCFSE sector.
If you are also worried by this, please do not hesitate to contact us directly with your experiences or concerns at info@actiontogether.org.uk
Yours sincerely,
Anna Hynes
Tameside Director
Action Together CIO