There isn’t funding that is awarded specifically to deliver socially prescribed activities, but there are some funding and grant opportunities if you are a community group and looking to support your cause further. Your local CDO can help by referring you to the VCS Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership Team if this is something you wish to look further in to.

The VCS Shropshire Infrastructure Partnership Team can help you with this. You will need to contact your local CDO who can make a referral to the service and then they will get in contact to arrange a scoping meeting. The team can help with a number of topics including funding and grant applications, volunteer brokerage, training, and general advice and guidance. For more information, click here.

If you want to reach more people and connect with the community further, then your local CDO is the person who can support you with this. They have great connections in the local area and have an extensive knowledge of what’s happening in the community. They are great to help you build local relationships, introduce you to fellow groups and organisations, and provide a platform for you to shout about what you do! If you are interested in this then get in touch with them via email with the reference ‘Social Prescribing’. For connections in the North of the county email: info@qube-oca.org.uk or for any other area, email: enquiries@community.org.uk

Social Prescribing engages people from all walks of life. They may be lonely and isolated, wanting to lose weight, feeling low or just want to get back into community activity. The service helps with all matters of concern, with the overall aim of helping to improve an individual’s health and wellbeing through social activity that suits their needs and requirements.

If your group or activity becomes a social prescription, the individual will be referred to you via the pathway that you specify when you complete the quality assurance process with your CDO.  This could be a phone call to you, an email, or through an online booking system. Chat to your local CDO for more information about what would work best for your offering.

Becoming a socially prescribed offering will include a quality assurance process which your local CDO will support you with. It entails completing some paperwork that demonstrates you have all the right measures in place to work with the public and in your field of work. Once this has been completed and verified by your local CDO, you would be ready to receive referrals through your chosen method of contact.

If social prescribing isn’t the right direction for you right now, then we can happily add your offering to the Shropshire Local Directory to act as a signposting opportunity for the HLAs to suggest to the individuals they are working with. For more information click here and scroll down to the section that is entitled; ‘How do I add a service, activity or group to this directory?’.

The volume of referrals made to your group or activity will depend on your capacity and the need from the service. You will remain in control of how many people you welcome through social prescribing, and there will be a good level of communication between you and the HLAs to ensure capacity isn’t overwhelming. Your local CDO is also a great contact to keep in touch with, because they can communicate any changes or adaptations you wish to make, as well as work with you to provide invaluable reporting information about the demographic of person coming along to your group or activity. This can be helpful when applying for funding or for your own reporting needs.

Should you be successful in becoming a quality assured social prescribing activity, the CDOs have a process to notify all the HLAs that there’s a new activity available to refer to.

You may also choose to add your group or activity to the Shropshire Local Directory. The directory is used by the public, the Healthy Lives Advisors, the Local Authority and Healthcare Teams.

You’re also welcome to attend our Community Connector meetings which take place every 6-8 weeks, throughout the County. They’re a great place to promote what you do, build local networks, and meet others who are involved in Social Prescribing. Contact your local CDO for more information.

If you are delivering a local group or activity and are passionate about seeing people in the community make improvements to their health and wellbeing, then there is so much to gain! Social prescribing enables organisations like yourself, to offer your activity to people that it will really make a positive difference to.

Whether you want to increase your reach, know more about local groups, receive support to strengthen your offering or promote your group through our extensive network, then connect with your local CDO and we can work together to strengthen our local community!

Not necessarily, in many cases a social prescription could be made into the activity or sessions you already provide. You may consider tailoring an activity especially for social prescribing referrals and we’d be delighted to discuss this with you. With the support of your local CDO we can create your bespoke referral pathway, for example speaking with the individual prior to them attending your group, or having a specific referral form.

There really isn’t a ‘typical’ social prescription, it’s about connecting people to local groups, organisation and support that will help to improve their health and wellbeing. There are hundreds of different offerings that we socially prescribe into; from gym sessions, library activities, yoga classes, money management and craft groups, to falls prevention programmes, reading support, digital skills, social groups and walk and talks. The more variety we have, the more we can appeal to each and every individual who is on a social prescribing journey back to health.

The volume of referrals made to your group or activity will depend on your capacity and the need from the service. You will remain in control of how many people you welcome through social prescribing, and there will be a good level of communication between you and the HLAs to ensure capacity isn’t overwhelming. Your local CDO is also a great contact to keep in touch with, because they can communicate any changes or adaptations you wish to make, as well as work with you to provide invaluable reporting information about the demographic of person coming along to your group or activity. This can be helpful when applying for funding or for your own reporting needs.