Organisations and charities which support people across north Cumbria are coming under significant financial pressure to continue their work.
A report by Cumbria CVS found that the vital support was at risk of disappearing if better funding was not found for charities and community groups.
The 99-page report, Passion, connection and community: Person-centred neighbourhood health in north Cumbria, investigated social prescribing – a non-clinical approach that connects people to activities and support to help improve heath and wellbeing.
Often provided by third sector organisations, Cumbria CVS said they face increasing difficulties financing the vital work they do – often relying on short-term, piecemeal funding.
It added: “This leaves them regularly on the brink of hardship, with their employees facing redundancy and the people they work with being left potentially without support.”
The report has been published to help it build a case for funding and highlight work that has been carried out in the county.
It has recommended creating a strategic plan for protecting health and welling roles, improving data collection,
Carolyn Otley, CEO of Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service, added: “The report doesn’t shy away from the challenges; it’s hard to find funding for all that great work, both social prescribing roles, and the wider support that link workers connect people to.
“I hope that this report tells your Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations’ stories, and in doing so, makes your work more visible to partners across they system, kick starting conversations about how we take a more joined up, sustainable and person-centred approach as we begin to explore what neighbourhood health looks like in practice.”
Dr Jenny Benson, of Cumbria Community Foundation said: “VCFSE organisations are key to tackling health inequalities across north Cumbria. Through social prescribing, these organisations receive referrals from primary care and community services.”
“Trusted by communities and rooted in lived experience, they support individuals whose health is shaped by isolation, poverty, mental ill-health, trauma and long-term inequality.
” Social prescribers increasingly rely on these organisations to deliver the preventative, relational and community-based support that keeps people well and reduces pressure on our health services.
“However, VCFSE organisations cannot deliver this work without financial investment, and the report highlights that the lack of sustainable funding is often the main limiting factor for VCFSE organisations being able to support people referred to them through social prescribing.”
