Project Stevenage, Legacy and Resilience.

We partnered with local charities and Stevenage Borough Council and were successful with our funding application to Hertfordshire

Community Foundation.  This project was developed as the impact of the outbreak of the COVID-19 health pandemic in 2020 clearly demonstrated on the big health inequalities and racism.   On behalf of the ethnic community, we were committed to raising awareness of the health inequalities faced by the communities prior to the outbread of COVID-19 and the uncertainities of services being appropriate and trusted by us.

Due to the lockdown our meetings were held via zoom, which was a new way of working that we had to become familiar with and had no idea of how it would change our way of working in the future.  The first workshop was held in February 2021.

As part of the grant, we organised these workshops including health professionals, professionals in education, communities, local people and public agencies.  The workshops covered the issues and barriers of low take-up of vaccines, mental health not addressed due to poor access to services.  The flyers and screenshots of the zoom meetings are shown. 

It was vital that the COVID-19 messaging were delivered by health professionals from ethnic communities.  We need to hear directly by people who look like us, highly qualified in their specialisms and were recognised by their peers.  They were able to share their knowledge, own experiences and skills to reassure the audience and whose questions were answered honestly and integrity.

The attendees included the Borough Council Leader and CEO, Director of Public Health, East & North Herts NHS Trust, Equality Lead and BAME Health Network, Assistant Director of Communities & Neighbourhoods, Culture, Wellbeing and Leisure, Children/Young People and Churches Together.

We ensured that door was kept open with public health and health professionals throughout this desparate and traumatic time for our people/patients.