Heart Health project wins prestigious award
An initiative that has helped community groups in Wirral tackle cardiovascular disease (CVD) has won a prestigious health award.
The Health Creation Alliance has awarded its Health Creating Community Connector of the Year title to One Wirral CIC, in partnership with Make It Happen Birkenhead, for their Community Hearts programme.
Funded by Wirral Council via the Step Up fund, Community Hearts aims to embed CVD prevention into everyday life by working through trusted local food networks. The programme funds a Health Coach and supports volunteers to deliver blood pressure checks, cooking workshops, and health conversations in familiar community settings, making heart health accessible and empowering for all.
The Step Up fund is a collaborative programme that has provided up to 20 organisations with a £10k grant and £5k training grant from UK Shared Prosperity Funding. The goal is to develop new or existing programmes to address a number of health and wellbeing issues including cardio-vascular disease, fuel poverty, violence reduction and employment support – all aligned to Wirral’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
CVD is one of the UK’s leading causes of premature death, and Wirral faces particularly high rates.
Since its launch, Community Hearts has directly supported more than 500 residents and reached 1,500 more through social media and community events including pop-up health checks at social supermarkets, Healthy Community Cooking sessions, and peer-led initiatives like a weekly cooking group at Autism Together.
This award is richly deserved and helps to spread the message across our communities that heart health is vitally important and not to be ignored.
CVD disproportionately affects the most deprived communities in Wirral and across the country. Community Hearts targets these communities directly.
We are incredibly proud of Community Hearts and the people who make it work every day. We know that heart health is not equal across our communities, and too often the people facing the most challenges are also those least likely to access traditional support.
That’s why this programme is built on trust, relationships and familiar spaces. By working alongside local food organisations who are already at the heart of their communities, we’re making conversations about heart health feel comfortable, welcoming and accessible.
This award recognises not just our team, but the volunteers, partners and residents across Wirral who are taking positive action together to reduce health inequalities and improve heart health for all.
The award was presented at a ceremony in Manchester.
We recognise that our community in Birkenhead are subject to unfair and avoidable differences in health due to social and economic factors. It has been a privilege to be part of this impactful project, which has had such a meaningful influence on the community.
By being a trusted partner, we have delivered sessions that enabled our voluntary team members to work alongside community members, helping them access vital information about food, its nutritional value, and how it supports the body and its functions.
The team have used information and recipes from the British Heart Foundation to deliver Heart Health Brunch sessions weekly, as well as plugging Health Checks and national campaigns too.
For more information about the Health Creation Alliance and the awards, see Homepage - The Health Creation Alliance
To find out more about community hearts, email Onewirral.cic@nhs.net.
