Coventry Health and Wellbeing Awards

With a successful awards ceremony running for three consecutive years Coventry’s Health and Wellbeing Awards will be going ahead again in 2022.

The awards celebrate the hard work that goes on across Coventry throughout the public health system to improve health and wellbeing, and to reduce health inequalities. They recognise individuals who go above and beyond to make the city a better place and share great practice and new ideas. Excitement is building across the services and people are already planning their nominations. Do you have what it takes to win a trophy in 2022?

The 2022 awards will be in the following categories:

• Innovator of the Year – we’re looking for new initiatives or ideas that have had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens
• Digital Innovation of the Year – we’re looking for new uses of technology that have had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens
• Simon Morgan Participation Award – we’re looking for examples of how clients or service users have been involved in decision making or the running of services
• Social Value Contribution – we’re looking for examples of how services are run in ways which promote the social and economic vibrancy of the city and help improve the local environment
• Partnership Award - we’re looking for examples of services working with other agencies which has a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens

The popular Health Hero award will also be returning. We want to recognise volunteers that are making a difference to the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens working alongside organisations in the Public Health sector.

New for this year is the Covid Recovery Award to recognise the way that services have restored provision and adapted to lessons learned during the pandemic. You can nominate a service, team or an individual who have improved service delivery for our local population. It might be hard to choose just one example, so please nominate as many times as you would like.

The year 6 relaxation programme was developed by School Nursing Assistants was the Innovation of the Year in 2020. The programme teaches mindfulness and relaxation techniques to children aged 10 or 11, developed following surveys with pupils which highlighted high levels of anxiety.

The session aids 10 – 11 year olds to explore some mindfulness and relaxation techniques and helps them to recognise why it is important to allow their body and mind to relax. It includes physical stretches and ways to release tension in our bodies and a beautiful relaxation story at the end.

The session takes an hour to deliver making it sustainable to offer the session to all primary schools across the city. The School Nurse Assistants deliver the session to the year 6 pupils and leave behind resources for their teachers to enable them to continue doing small relaxation activities for the rest of the academic year.

Following the initial piloting of this innovation, the session was offered city wide from last year and has been in high demand since. Due to the current Covid-19 measures the team has now commenced sessions via Microsoft teams, delivering to children that remain in school through the pandemic. The feedback from teachers and pupils has been fantastic and the session’s popularity and target audience continues to grow with the increasing demand.

The programme was developed following feedback from a citywide questionnaire with primary school children. The data from these questionnaires is then used to complete a true and accurate health profile for each school, as well as allowing the School Nurse to identify any individual physical or emotional health needs and introduce new support.

Other examples of good practice highlighted included:

• Active Kids, which is a new, fun exercise session at Moat House Leisure Centre for children which also teaches simple healthy lifestyle messages
• The Hepatitis C Test and Treat roadshow which helped some of our most vulnerable people be tested and receive treatment for this virus quickly, simply and on their own terms
• A new group called 'Together We Can' which offers assessment and play experiences for young children with developmental delay and is a collaboration between health visitors and the SEND team.
• The IRIS project which trains primary care practitioners to better understand domestic abuse, respond safely to victims and refer to support. In the project's first year staff from 25 GP practices were trained and then referred more than 90 victims to specialist support

Are you doing things a little differently? Have you had a creative idea that has been adopted by your service? Has your innovation had a positive impact on people who use your service or other Coventry citizens? If so the Innovation of the Year award could be yours. Nomination yourself, you have to be in it to win it…..

At the 2020 Health and Wellbeing Awards the Digital Innovation Award went to Paul Woods from CGL Coventry.

When Covid restrictions started in March 2020 Paul very quickly transferred the service’s entire programme of group meetings onto MS Teams which could be accessed by Facebook and Whatsapp or by following a download link on a mobile phone. Service users, volunteers and members of staff were consulted and after a very short series of phone calls, online chats and meetings a whole new timetable was put together including a women’s group, various SMART groups, Peer support, Family groups and an innovative behavioural therapy group named Re-Wire.

The new Facebook pages allow service users to send anonymous private messages where staff members can quickly be made aware of any urgent treatment issues. All this – and the creation of private peer support groups on Facebook - has led to a huge increase in the number of people now engaging with CGL and is being considered for a possible national roll-out.

The judges were impressed with the speed of work, the inclusion of service users in ensuring sessions were run on accessible platforms and the innovative use of a good number of both social media and desktop IT applications.

Other examples of good practice highlighted included:

• A young people’s social media ‘takeover’ by Positive Choices. Young people promoted online topics of conversation and they also managed the responses to people posing questions.
• The introduction of ‘ChatHealth’ to help parents/carers to have quick and easy conversation by text with qualified health visitors. Being launched immediately before the COVID outbreak, ChatHealth quickly came into it’s own – receiving more than 350 messages in its second full month.
• New "What’s app" video consultations, breastfeeding ‘cafes’ through Zoom and a virtual fitness session for new mums to ensure people can continue to access support from SWFT’s infant feeding and stop smoking in pregnancy services.

Have you developed a Digital Innovation this year? Are you using technology in a new way that is having a positive impact on the people you are supporting? Are you using technology to improves outcomes for individuals? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you could be in contention for this year’s Digital Innovation Award? Don’t miss out on your chance to win, nominate yourself.

The day has finally arrived! Nominations are now open for this year’s Coventry Health and Wellbeing awards.

The awards are returning for a third year running and will once again celebrate the hard work that goes on across Coventry throughout the public health system to improve health and wellbeing, and to reduce health inequalities. It recognises individuals that go above and beyond to make the city a better place and will take place on 29th September.

Due to the unpredictable nature of the ongoing pandemic decisions are yet to be made on whether the event will take place virtually or face to face.

Partners are being reminded that when nominating, they CAN nominate themselves! There has never been a better time to shout about success and achievements!

You can make a nomination into any of the categories here. The 2021 awards will be in the following categories:

• Innovator of the Year – we’re looking for new initiatives or ideas that have had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens
• Digital Innovation of the Year – we’re looking for new uses of technology that have had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens
• Participation Award – we’re looking for examples of how clients or service users have been involved in decision making or the running of services
• Social Value Contribution – we’re looking for examples of how services are run in ways which promote the social and economic vibrancy of the city and help improve the local environment
• Partnership Award - we’re looking for examples of services working with other agencies which has a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens

The popular Health Hero award will also be returning. We want to recognise volunteers that are making a difference to the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens working alongside organisations in the Public Health sector.

This year we have a new category, the Covid Heroes Award to recognise the work of teams, staff and volunteers from public health-commissioned services to support local residents.

If you are looking for inspiration have a look at last year’s awards and what they were for awarded for.

For any question about the awards or nominations email: covhwbawards@coventry.gov.uk

#CovHWBAwards21 Good Luck!

Coventry’s Health and Wellbeing Awards are a chance to celebrate the work of services, staff and volunteers working within the Public Health family and showcase examples of great practice.

Last year we received 91 nominations highlighting great examples of how clients are involved in the running of services, how teams collaborate with other agencies and new innovative ways of working. Visit the council website to see some of last year’s winners.

And after a year like no other we will be taking the chance to say a massive thank you to all staff and volunteers who have stepped up to help promote the health of our communities and support some of the most vulnerable members of society.

We welcome nominations from all our public health services. The window for nominations is open between 7 June and 16 July 2021, with winners announced on 29 September.

Due to COVID-19 there are some changes coming to this years award ceremony. The awards will still be going ahead however it will now be done virtually. The closing date to nominate has now been extended to the 31st May and the date of the awards ceremony is now taking place on the 29th July. This is now going to be held virtually through Microsoft Teams. All attendees should receive an invite to the event prior to the day of the ceremony. On the day you can join using the link and please turn your webcams off and microphone muted unless instructed otherwise. This is to improve connection stability and reduce background noise.

We will still be awarding certificates and trophies just like last year but we will be delivering these in a different method, yet to be finalised. Next year we hope to go back to the same format as last year but we hope you still enjoy the virtual awards this year.

The day has finally arrived! Nominations are now open for this year’s Coventry Health and Wellbeing awards. The 2020 awards will be in the following categories:

Innovator of the Year – we’re looking for new initiatives or ideas that have had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens

Digital Innovation of the Year – we’re looking for new uses of technology that have had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens

Participation Award – we’re looking for examples of how clients or service users have been involved in decision making or the running of services

Social Value Contribution – we’re looking for examples of how services are run in ways which promote the social and economic vibrancy of the city and help improve the local environment

Partnership Award - we’re looking for examples of services working with other agencies which has a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens

The popular Health Hero award will also be returning. We want to recognise volunteers that are making a difference to the health and wellbeing of Coventry citizens working alongside organisations in the Public Health sector.

If you are looking for inspiration have a look at last year’s awards and what they were for awarded for. This year’s winners will be revealed at the Awards event on 6^th July. All shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend. Get your nominations in to be in with a chance of attending. Good Luck!

In 2019 the award for Social Value Contribution went to Coventry Healthy Lifestyles Service (HLS), who have been working closely with The Canal River Trust to support regeneration of the Canal Basin in the city. The service works with professionals and communities across Coventry to support people to make healthy lifestyle choices.

This project came about when they met with The Canal River Trust and discussed how they could work in partnership to support their clients and the local community to get more active in the area. They wanted to offer gardening sessions with the help of the Canal Trust and their own staff to support clients to get out, be more active and connect with others.

The small project has grown, and Vagdia & Holms Chartered Architects have joined HLS and The Canal Trust in the group, which they have named Project Garden Associates. They have also developed strong links with the Mental Health Team at Swanswell Point.

This has meant the Canal Basin community garden has had well-needed love and attention, while providing people with the opportunity to get outside and learn a new skill. Under the guidance of The Canal River Trust the volunteers have been able to take ownership of maintaining the garden and watch as their hard work develops into a beautiful space that can be enjoyed by the community. There are going to be more developments taking shape in the near future to include the whole community as well as plans to make the area safer.

The team are passionate about helping people make changes that have wider positive impacts on family members and even children and were thrilled to have won the Social Value Contribution Award:

Karen Wagstaff told us “It’s amazing to have won this award, our journey is just starting, but it is offering up lots of opportunities to work with other organisation and potentially other projects along the canal. The work we are doing in the community is really going places and it is going to get bigger.

Is your organisation doing things that promote the economic vibrancy of the city? Are you helping to improve the local environment? Does the way you deliver your service provide a social benefit to the city? Are you helping to make the city a more vibrant place? The Social Value Award could be right up your street. Nominations open next week.

South Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT) were the Innovators of the Year in 2019. They picked up their award for the Bump and Buggy programme. This is a free service, designed for mums and mums to be who want to take care of their body, health and mental wellbeing during and after pregnancy.

The programme is part of the existing Coventry Family Health and Lifestyle service that works to deliver services designed to reduce the risk of obesity among children by supporting families. It was co-developed with mums and mums to be in the community to have a say in the type of exercises that they would like to do, to keep the sessions varied, and offers exercise and nutrition support in a fun and relaxed environment.

The sessions are run city-wide within different settings including, family hubs, leisure centres, church halls and community centres. The sessions combine ante and postnatal exercise that can be adapted to cater to all levels of fitness whilst encouraging new friendship groups and the chance to exercise and talk. They allow mums to bring their babies/children along without the worry of cost or organising childcare.

Kerry Harris collected the award because of her creative influence and role within the community to improve and mental wellbeing in motherhood through physical activity and friendship.

Kerry said “It has been a positive and enjoyable journey, encouraging mums, listening to their experiences during and after pregnancy, and giving them confidence to get out the house to the park (in all weathers) with their baby and help to improve their mental wellbeing. The group has allowed new friendships to be formed; the ladies have set up WhatsApp groups and have stayed in touch with each other outside of the sessions”

“It is so much more than an exercise class, it allows the ladies to interact with each other, share concerns, give advice and support each other through motherhood.”

Are you doing things a little differently? Have you had a creative idea that has been adopted by your service? Has your innovation had a positive impact on people who use your service or other Coventry citizens? If so the Innovation of the Year award could be yours. Nominations open on 3rd February, you have to be in it to win it…..

At the 2019 Health and Wellbeing Awards the Digital Innovation Award went to the Healthy Life Styles Team at ICE Creates for their Best You app. Best-You is all about inspiring people to create new habits and break old ones, building resilience and wellbeing by allowing users to self-care alongside involvement with the lifestyle service coaches.

The platform supports user tracking and goal setting around making specific lifestyle changes, like healthy weight or reducing alcohol, becoming smoke free or improving mental health over a measured period. Coventry as a city, measured and recorded a behaviour change on Best-You at over a tonne of weight lost in just one month alone.

Stuart Jackson, founder of ICE Creates, was thrilled to win the Digital Innovation Award and believes giving back to the community in a way that helps people build their resilience and become the best versions of themselves is of the highest importance.

“We believe Best-You is ahead of the curve in helping our population make change happen for themselves and are very excited about the impact so far. It can be used by individuals, groups and workplaces and unlike most other social media platforms there is no advertising on the app. For individuals this tool has improved overall health, mental wellbeing and quality of life. Hundreds of people have lost weight, quit smoking, got more active and cut down on their alcohol consumption by using this tool. In the long-term this means we can also help individuals to reduce the risk of diseases and conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and COPD.”

Have you developed a Digital Innovation this year? Are you using technology in a new way that is having a positive impact on the people you are supporting? Are you using technology to improves outcomes for individuals? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you could be in contention for this year’s Digital Innovation Award? Don’t miss out on your chance to win, come back here on 3^rd February to nominate yourself.