Natural support has an important role to play in public health. The government's support for the campaign to end loneliness suggests that natural support and enabling local people to understand and share their individual skills to the benefit of local people can have an important role to play in natural community lead approaches to public health and wellbeing. One example of this is the Totnes Community Spirit Group.
In June 2009 Skills for Care developed and published 'only a footstep away?'. This exciting and inspiring report opens up the discussion of how we can begin to contribute in a very practical way to the vision of the current government policy aim for citizen involvement in a 'Big Society'. It builds on previous work and sets out a path and ideas for further development of innovative and new ways of working.
The findings in this report and the ideas that are discussed have inspired a small community group to look at how to put these principles into practice in the local community neighbourhood of Totnes, a small market town in the heart of the South Hams in Devon. Their aim is to build and develop social capital at grass roots level and hope that the learning from the project can then be adapted and used across the country.
Totnes has a wealth of people living in the community that are already empowered, inspired and involved in local initiatives such as the 'Transition Town Totnes', the local 'Time Bank' scheme, a community garden/plant share scheme and a wide range of local community, church and voluntary groups such as 'Totnes Caring' that are working hard to ensure local people are at the heart of building a strong and sustainable community in the Totnes area.
The group aspire to increase awareness of the importance for developing a natural (unpaid) network of support for vulnerable adults and older people; by and for individual members of the public living in the Totnes area; and to develop the neighbourhood skills and community leadership skills that will facilitate this. These approaches can only contribute to the health and wellbeing of local people and subsequently local public health.
Further information can be found on Skills for Care's website in the Neighbourhood & community skills section.
