23/09/22: Groups receive £324,000 to tackle health inequalities in Breckland

More than £300,000 will be invested in projects in Breckland to help tackle health inequalities, particularly those exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. A total of £324,000 has been allocated to eight projects, including those which provide support with mental health, heart disease, and alcohol abuse. The money has been released by The Breckland Health & Wellbeing Partnership, which is chaired by Breckland Council, includes Public Health, the Integrated Care Board, representatives from the voluntary sector and other NHS services.

Successful awards have been issued to projects including Norfolk Libraries, Active Norfolk "All To Play For" project, Thetford's Charles Burrell Centre, the GYROS charity which offers wellbeing support for migrants and people who don't speak English as their first language, MensCraft, Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board which will deliver a community support worker for Watton, and the Creative Arts East "Our Day Out" programme. The partnership has also agreed to fund a pilot scheme to provide social prescribing services to secondary care, which will be provided by Breckland Council.

Cllr Alison Webb, Executive Member for Health & Communities at Breckland Council commented: "I am delighted to announce this funding support which will help make a real difference tackling mental health and social issues affecting our community. Since the pandemic everyone has struggled in some way, this funding will go a long way in providing support to help residents through local recovery initiatives."

Sam Watts from the Active Norfolk All To Play project commented "We are absolutely delighted to have received this funding which will enable us to deliver this unique project across Breckland. Elsewhere in Norfolk this project, which uses football to bring men together, has been hugely successful in directly engaging and supporting men that are struggling with their mental health, enabling them to connect and crucially get better access to the health and wellbeing support."

Tim Allard from MensCraft Pit Stop project commented "We have seen a massive need to expand our service from Dereham and expand our activities in Watton and Thetford. This new funding will enable this expansion to take place and help more people. The Pit Stop brings men together through informal activities such as board games, walks, talks and creative arts, building connections, friendships, and a real sense of belonging."