Community Health Champions receive awards for changing lives in Sheffield’s most vulnerable communities

On 6 November an Awards Ceremony ‘We are the Champions!’ was held to reward community members in some of the least healthy parts of Sheffield who have been changing lives, and giving hope and health back to our most vulnerable residents.

The Health Champions are all volunteers working to make positive changes to the health of people in their communities, and the awards will be presented by Councillor Gail Smith, who is keen to recognise this pioneering work.

Many of the Champions themselves have come from challenging backgrounds, and have found new hope through the scheme. Claire, a Health Champion in Parson Cross says “I didn’t get on at all in school. Through being a Health Champion I have accessed training and I now run a weekly walk, I do risk assessments, and also take a group of people to the gym every Friday morning. I look much better, eat better and feel better.”

There are currently over 70 Health Champions working across the city organising activities such as walking groups, healthy eating activities, group activities such as dancing or swimming for older people, families, and other groups identified by the champions themselves in their communities.19 Champions received awards for contributing 100 hours or more of volunteering on the programme.

The Health Champions model is proving to be a pioneering and effective way of reaching people and making a real positive difference within the target communities, and the project will be expanding over the coming months to recruit a further 100 Champions and increase the scope of the work across the city.

The project is managed by the Sheffield Wellbeing Consortium, a consortium of over 40 voluntary and community sector organisations across the city, funded by the Big Lottery and the Sheffield – Let’s Change4Life programme, and overseen by Sheffield City Council’s Health Partnership Team and NHS Sheffield.

More News