We are pleased to have supported Sporting Family Change with a grant, in order to explore and evidence a social prescribing project that enables isolated people to get out of their house and get moving.
Sporting Family Change reported:
Sporting Family Change have continued to deliver this new project focused on social prescribing in the Radstock and Westfield area in response to increased demand and approaches from local social prescribers.
The focus of this project is to support local vulnerable families from Radstock and Westfield, many of whom have complex health issues and are living on low or no income. They often have previous mental and physical health conditions, which have deteriorated significantly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, have gained weight due to inactivity caused by three lockdowns and are highly anxious about leaving their homes, often experiencing panic attacks. These are the local people who’ve been disproportionately affected by Covid 19.
When the Covid pandemic began, Sporting Family Change was one of the few organisations who continued to engage with individuals on a face-to-face basis, respecting Government guidelines on social distancing.
All sessions were provided free in a safe and supported environment to be as inclusive as possible. In some cases, a 2 hour session was offered giving the individuals we work with the best experience and opportunity to improve their overall wellbeing. Allocating more time to one individual was always offered in response to and after an assessment of need e.g a 2 hour session meant the trusted relationship between SFC staff member and individual could build quicker, so more could be achieved facilitating greater impact. In these cases we saw the individual fortnightly rather than weekly. In addition, for those who were ready to progress, we could take them on longer supported walks to increase their physical fitness whilst giving them more time and opportunity to discuss their concerns and allay fears. All said they would never have left home without the 1:1 support and that the emotional support was the biggest factor in changing their behaviour.
The funding has continued to enable SFC to become more organisationally resilient and increase our capacity. We have also leveraged in other funds to enable the project to be delivered across B&NES as well as participated in local networks, specifically lobbying for future funding. The B&NES Active Travel Social Prescribing bid mentioned below is an example of this and has made us aware of how our project delivery fits with other local providers to avoid duplication.