Sharing financial wellbeing support for staff, patients and communities across south London

South London Listens was created as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which as we all know inflicted huge physical and mental pressure on everyone. The programme was about creating community capacity and resilience – enabling community groups to support each other, and allowing anchor institutions like large NHS Trusts to build lasting links with the communities they serve.

This was always about more than Covid – this was about creating a model in south London in which we can support each other through any number of societal pressures. In fact, when we celebrated the launch of our Community Hubs in Kingston, talk of Covid was already being overshadowed by financial concerns.

That’s the strength of this model. The connections, the links and the channels are created – and while we can’t solve every problem, we have a wider reach and can perhaps prevent someone from struggling in isolation.

March was Debt Awareness Week and the Programme was pleased to be able to run a series of webinars with the Money and Pension Service. We were fortunate to be able to run two staff and one community sessions across south London.

We know that it is more important than ever to start conversations about money and financial wellbeing. Talking openly about money can have a huge impact on tackling money worries and is important for our health and relationships.

Central to the webinars were MoneyHelper – which is there to make your money and pension choices clearer. They cut through the complexity, explain what you need to do and how you can do it. You can find a range of tools available to better manage finances - from pension and debt advise to monthly budgeting tools.

Keep an eye out on our news section for more opportunities and events the Programme is organising.