July 2025
The Adult Social Care Forum was established in Wolverhampton two years ago and is facilitated by members of staff at the City of Wolverhampton Council. It is hosted by individuals with lived experiences, fostering a safe and inclusive environment.
After attending a session and speaking to its members, it’s clear to see their determination in making this a valuable space for people to share their experiences of accessing adult social care across the city.
During our conversation, one member noted that “Awareness is everything. We don’t know what OneWolverhampton is and why it is important.” These comments highlighted to us the need for greater visibility and clearer communication around local initiatives and services.
OneWolverhampton is a partnership of health, social care, voluntary and community organisations who are working together to improve people’s life chances and health outcomes.
Another key priority of the forum is supporting its carers. Although local authorities offer support, it is often limited to what is required by law and constraints on funding. The forum is currently looking at the bigger picture, identifying how across the city we can offer more meaningful, long-term support.
Following our conversations, a member of our Involvement Team in OneWolverhampton is exploring opportunities for collaboration with the forum and will be attending the meetings regularly.
This partnership would contribute to the growth and sustainability of the group, ensuring that health and care services continue to be shaped by the voices of those with lived experiences.
First Abide is a Christian-based community organisation providing a safe and welcoming space where people can connect, learn, and receive support, focusing on promoting mental health and emotional wellbeing through a variety of therapeutic and community-based activities.
Throughout conversations, members of First Abide acknowledged whilst many services exist within the community and are in high demand due to population growth, they felt more could be done to improve how people are connected to them.
For example, although GPs are aware of additional activities, they were left to find and refer themselves. The group agreed that it would be beneficial for health professionals to have a better understanding of the community-based support options and an improved referral process, especially for those suffering with anxiety around going to community groups.
After a one-to-one conversation with a member, it was clear to see the frustration around lack of access to physical health groups. Although many groups rightly focus on mental health, there are shortages of physical health groups across the city and if there is, then awareness isn’t out there. Both physical health and mental health connects and should be treated fairly across Wolverhampton and beyond.
The insights gathered from this session will be shared with the OneWolverhampton team to inform ongoing work and discussions. All attendees will be kept updated on progress, as well as any future opportunities to participate in related involvement and engagement activities. They were also introduced to our ‘Get Involved’ database and shown how to sign up to receive updates on upcoming events and ways to contribute to shaping local services.
Wolverhampton libraries offer a distinctive, lifelong service that is highly valued by our communities, including by those who may not actively use them.
Their approach is guided by six strategic aims, forming the core offer for everyone who lives, works, or studies in Wolverhampton. These include:
- Supporting reading and literacy
- Promoting learning and skills development
- Expanding access to digital services
- Promoting and supporting health and wellbeing
- Providing access to high-quality information
- Broadening engagement with arts and culture.
The one barrier in which the group faces is people/organisations coming to talk about their services and how they can use this safe space to raise awareness on health promotion within Wolverhampton. After identifying this, we are able to connect the founder of the group with teams at the NHS Black Country ICB to gain further information.
During our conversation, members of the group highlighted that as they grow older, they have become increasingly mindful of conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s and expressed a desire for better access to information, advice and guidance. They felt as though libraries could serve as a central hub for this kind of support. One individual commented that “We need to know more about prevention and how to help ourselves.”
We recently met with the Community Advisor Manager from Walsall for All. Walsall for All CIC is a community-driven organisation working to promote cohesion, inclusion, and wellbeing across Walsall.
As part of their community work, they have several Community Advisors who are also part of the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB) primary care ambassador’s programme, aiming to improve healthcare outcomes and patient experience in primary care settings.
Our Involvement Specialist contacted Walsall for All to talk about potential case studies for a report on creative health to demonstrate how it makes a difference to people’s health and wellbeing in Walsall.
The manager spoke about a 12-week creative health walking project. First Step Together is an initiative which ran from 8 May to 2 August 2025 and was designed in response to Walsall’s 2024 Integration consultations.
This project aimed to increase wellbeing, physical activity, and community connection among newly arrived women and children and took place across Palfrey Park, Pleck Park, King George's Playing Fields, Bloxwich, and Walsall Arboretum. It was led by six trained Community Advisors with lived experience.
Children in CueSports CIC is the UK’s first community interest company dedicated to creating pathways into cue sports for children and young people, offering free snooker and pool sessions for Wolverhampton residents aged 12 to 16.
Their mission is to support children who are most vulnerable to social isolation, grooming, exploitation, gang involvement, and county lines activity. Through engaging activities in a safe, inclusive environment, they provide a positive alternative where young people can build confidence, develop new skills, and find a sense of belonging.
As part of their ongoing work to support children, they are currently working to overcome challenges around increasing referrals and strengthening relationships with local stakeholders. Therefore, we recently attended a session to get an intel into how we could support.
We spoke with a mother who regularly brings her son to these sessions as an opportunity to build new social networks and to improve their English, which isn’t their first language. Having only moved to the UK from Ukraine in 2023, she felt sometimes it is challenging and her son lacks confidence when speaking English. To help both the mother and son connect with other health and wellbeing opportunities, we shared our contact details so she can reach out for additional support.
In addition to this, another parent shared how valuable these sessions have been for their children having been able to access affordable half-term activities and low-cost snooker coaching. Not only has this helped them develop new skills, but it also provides them with meaningful family time.
It was also mentioned how children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) particularly enjoy these sessions as it helps them regulate their thoughts, feel at ease and be themselves, offering a safe and inclusive environment.
Prior to this conversation, we introduced the founder of this group with colleagues at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and they have been able to access a wealth of resources and contacts for local stakeholders.
Bloxwich Community Partnership is a registered charity, working together, supporting and enhancing the wider community in Walsall for over 40 years. They offer a wide range of services, activities, leisure and cultural opportunities from their two community centres.
We recently contacted the partnership to speak to colleagues about case studies for creative health, in which Bloxwich Community Partnership prides itself in. There are various of groups based at the Stan Ball Centre to help with health and wellbeing of Walsall residents, including:
- Tai Chi
- Yoga
- Seated exercise
- Art club
- Computer club
- Healthier futures – a new class teaching people how to cook healthier food using an air fryer
- Wellbeing afternoons.
They also have a community pantry and allows residents to pay £2 per week for food and household goods at a low-cost price.
Recently, our Involvement Specialist was given a tour of the new facilities, in particular their new ‘Home Hub’. Residents can visit the centre to learn about new digital devices and also bring their own devices for assistance.
During the visit, we also learnt more about the Feeding our Futures project which allows Bloxwich Community Partnership to purchase air fryers and give lessons on how to use them. At the end of the course if the individual is competent, they would be allowed to take the air fryer home.
Following on from these conversations, these projects will be included in the creative health report which details case studies of health and wellbeing activities being delivered across the borough.
August 2025
Healthwatch Wolverhampton serves as our local champion for health and social care, ensuring that the voices and experiences of the public are heard and shared with NHS leaders and other decision-makers.
They have played a pivotal role in supporting our involvement and engagement work around Integrated Neighbourhood Teams. As a valued partner, they kindly reached out to their volunteers, inviting them to contribute their insights to this important initiative.
During these conversations, participants were encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences in response to the following questions:
- Which local health, social, and community care services are you currently using?
- When accessing multiple services, how well do you feel they communicate with each other?
- How would you like to see local services shaped in the future?
One attendee shared their experience with their medical practice. Their GP referred them for physiotherapy and talking therapy, but they weren’t told when it would start. It ended up taking almost eight months to get a phone assessment. During the long wait, no one from the service checked in. The only advice given was to go to A&E if they felt suicidal.
Once therapy began, they were asked if they preferred phone or in-person sessions. They had nine sessions but didn’t find them very helpful. They then decided to stop therapy because it wasn’t helping, no other support was offered.
Attendees agreed the waiting period for care needs to be reduced and when waiting is unavoidable, they feel there should be more support in place. During the waiting period, individuals expressed a desire for some form of ongoing communication from their GP as any felt that once a referral is made, they’re left feeling forgotten.
There’s also a strong need for a central source of information, advice, and guidance during the waiting period, somewhere people can turn to for support without having to repeatedly ask for updates or follow up themselves.
Following this conversation the insights will be used to shape our Integrated Neighbourhood Team (INT) work to inform ongoing work and discussions around how each neighbourhood will work. All attendees will be kept updated on the progress of this initiative through Healthwatch, as well as being giving the opportunity to attend and support a future INT workshop.
As part of our health prevention work across the city, we visited the cancer teams monthly stall at Bilston Market, where they raise awareness of cancer and offer mini health checks and advice.
During our time at the stand and hearing real-life examples, one lady expressed her concerns about her elderly neighbours lump in her abdomen and explains she refuses to get it checked by a GP. She has had the lump for over six months and is feeling negative about seeing her GP due to her practice moving, living alone and having no access to transport. After speaking about the health risks associated to this lump, the lady is going to discuss this further with her friend and help her see a GP to get checked out.
Not only are the conversations just around cancer, but it’s also around other ill-health prevention too. A 74-year-old gentleman attended the stand for a general health check and enjoyed a conversation. He explained his experience of having a heart bypass 23 years ago after experiencing four heart attacks. After his care, he is now healthy and has regular monitoring and enjoys seeing his family and having company.
Details of the stand were shared with the Women’s Health Coproduction Group, NOWT (Navigating Our Womanhood Together) to explore future opportunities for health promotion and advocacy within the local community.
You can find the stand just inside the indoor market on the second and fourth Thursday of each month from 9.30am until 11.30am.
For further information around our work with Macmillan, please visit the ICB website.
The Way Youth Zone – located in the heart of Wolverhampton – provides a safe and welcoming space for children and young people to spend time after school. It offers engaging activities, a fun environment, and trusted adults to talk to.
As part of the work our Involvement Team are undertaking to gather insights from residents regarding their awareness of the ‘Waiting Well’ service for when people are waiting for their ADHD/Autism assessments and what they know about the Home | Wolverhampton SEND Local Offer, we visited The Way during one of their Saturday clubs.
To help support this work, we knew The Way were able to help us with their expertise with working with SEND children and young people and their families/carers and help us facilitate an important conversation.
Recognising the unique experiences of families and children with young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), The Way dedicates every Saturday to creating an inclusive and supportive environment by running a calm and welcoming session specifically for SEND families – a space to connect, unwind, and enjoy meaningful activities in an understanding setting.
Speaking to parents and carers during the session, they shared their experiences of health services across the Black Country. They explained their children had completed the assessment autism, but one of the ongoing challenges is knowing where to access appropriate support and activities. It was clear that much of their understanding has come through self-research, particularly when trying to find respite opportunities that also accommodate their other children – highlighting the difficulty in accessing inclusive parent/carer activities due to childcare limitations.
They found this session particularly valuable, as it provided an opportunity to connect with other parents and guardians across the Black Country, as well as engage with staff and volunteers who were able to offer information, advice, and guidance on available support groups and activities.
To help address these concerns, both parents were signposted to the Wolverhampton Information Network (WIN), which offers a centralised resource for accessing information on local activities and services.
After speaking with parents and carers, we connected with colleagues at The Way to gain an understanding on what they think needs to improve across the Black Country. One colleague specifically expressed connections with social prescribers and to build stronger relationships with other stakeholders across the borough. She believed that fostering these connections would enhance The Way’s overall offer and broaden its impact on children and young people.
To support this request, we will be sharing this information with our place-based colleagues across the Black Country to explore potential collaborations.
The Way have also been invited to be part of OneWolverhampton’s ‘effective pathways’ and ‘accessible information’ task and finish groups. As well as being introduced to our training hub, where they have been invited to attend some upcoming lunch and learn sessions for the three personalised care roles and their upcoming conference in October.
A colleague from the WorkWell initiative has also approached The Way to arrange a possible collaboration to get young people into employment. We also invited several colleagues to the OneWolverhampton Involvement and Engagement Group meeting in November to help strengthen connections.
