We believe in communities. We believe the people in our communities know the problems within their local area and how these problems have taken hold. We believe that communities not only have the solutions, but also have the skills, motivation and drive to make those solutions a reality and turn people’s lives around. Often the only thing holding them back is lack of funding.

The Healthier Hull Community Fund was launched in 2013 and re-ran in 2016. The fund gave local people the chance to come up with innovative ideas to improve the health of their communities and receive the financial investment and support to make it happen.

We asked community, volunteer and not for profit groups in the city to submit projects about how they would help us realise our vision of “Creating a Healthier Hull” for between £500 and £5000.

Every project had to have one or more of the following aims:

• Improving the health of their community.
• Getting people active.
• Helping people look after their own health and develop self-care.

We helped the groups to develop their ideas, complete the application process and pitch their ideas to the general public and our CCG panel.

We asked local people, from the areas where the solutions came from, to vote for the projects that in their own opinion, would make the most difference. We committed to funding the project if local people thought it would benefit the health of their community.

There was no shortage of ideas or ambition. The projects submitted all aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of the community but also help to tackle social isolation, improve confidence in young people through sport, get people back into employment, and support those on the edges of society.

Watch this video to find out about just three of the projects we funded in 2013-14.

We are delighted to have invested over £800,000 into the fund since 2013. 178 projects received funding and this will support over 60,000 people. That works out at less than the cost of one GP appointment per person.

Groups are required to report on numbers and demographic information of attendees, and let us know what difference their project has made, including asking the NHS Friends and Family Test question. Whilst the full evaluation is currently being undertaken, early monitoring has shown the huge benefit that participants have gained.

The daughter of Margaret, one of the participants who lives in a local sheltered accommodation complex said "I have noticed a massive improvement in my mother after attending Louisa’s movement2music sessions. She can move more freely. Getting up and down is easier and her mood has also improved.”

Another commenting on the High 5 Netball group stated “The sessions are far better than any bereavement counselling I have had.”

The impact the Healthier Hull Community Fund has made to people is impossible to fully quantify. We continue to hear inspiring personal stories of how the smallest acts have made the biggest impact to the lives of those most in need.

Find out more about the projects we funded in 2014 here

The projects we funded in 2016 are available here