On 1 February 2016 RSPH took part in an event hosted by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to showcase the work of the Well London project, in which RSPH has played a key role.

Chief Executive Shirley Cramer CBE joined social entrepreneur Lord Mawson, chair of Well North, and members of the Well London team to hear first hand from residents of the Woolwich Dockyard estate about how the project is improving the health of local people, and putting local communities in the driving seat when it comes to improving people’s health and wellbeing.

Well London invests in local community-led health and wellbeing projects by finding out from local people what they would like to be improved in their communities, and developing programmes that reflect each community's particular needs. RSPH helped create the training programme for Well London volunteers to improve their knowledge of health related topics and give them practical skills to help others in their community improve their health and wellbeing.

The Woolwich Dockyard estate has been working for three years on a series of projects that are starting to have a real impact on residents’ health and well-being. Funded by the Big Lottery, the projects range from a scheme supporting local families to eat healthily, to a community garden, and from a family learning group to a community café.

Shirley Cramer CBE, Chief Executive of RSPH, said: “RSPH has been privileged to be a partner in Well London, which is a pioneer in a new wave of community-based health and wellbeing projects.

“We recognise the critical importance of place-based interventions with communities playing an instrumental role in supporting the public’s health and wellbeing. People living in communities are often best placed to know what they need to support their own health and wellbeing and also what will be most effective in having a significant and sustainable impact. Our role is very much around supporting this by ensuring residents have the right mix of skills, capabilities and confidence to empower them to effect positive change where they live.”

Cllr David Gardner, the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s cabinet member for health, social care and public health, said: “I am grateful to Lord Mawson for visiting the Woolwich Dockyard estate and seeing for himself the great work going on as part of the Well London project here in the royal borough.

“Well London provides a really important framework for local communities covering a range of different services  and the fact that projects across the country are being started using this model is great recognition of the work and success we have achieved at a local level.”

Woolwich Dockyard estate resident, Lydia Pratt, said: “The Well London project helps me know what’s going on in the community and gives me a good opportunity to get talking to neighbours and other people in the local area. The project also gives me a little bit of support with my job hunting as well. Overall it is a good way of keeping in contact with the local community and that’s really valuable – it’s something that we can be proud of as residents.”