South London Listens - October Update
Hello,
Since the South London Listens community summit on 16 June, we have been hard at work turning our pledges into reality.
As we prepare for the launch of our action plan, we wanted to get you up to speed with everything that has been happening behind the scenes.
For more information about South London Listens, or to get involved please get in touch.
Best,
The South London Listens team
New Taskforce Meets
The South London Listens Taskforce has been established to oversee the implementation of our pledges. It will be co-chaired by Ann Beasley CBE and Sir Norman Lamb and includes community leaders, representatives from South East and South West Integrated Care Systems and key NHS and local authority decision makers. Its first meeting will take place on 18 October
Mental Health Champions
The Mental Health Champions project is a cornerstone of South London Listens and we need your help. Sign up now and share with your colleagues, family and friends to help shape the project, and be first in line to receive special training to help those from mental ill-health.
NHS Charities Together
We are delighted that NHS Charities Together has recognised the importance of this work by awarding South London Listens £350,000. This new funding will support the launch of the mental health champions project across south-east London to train hundreds of mental health leaders, develop over 100 mental heal and wellbeing hubs and provide support for schools.
This funding will also help launch two new projects to bolster parental mental health. We will be working to support vulnerable parents with young children and trialling a new programme for fathers in Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon.
Thanks to separate NHS Charities Together funding in South West London, we will also be rolling out our champions programme in Kingston and Richmond, and tackling digital exclusion in Merton.
Living Wage Progress
At June's community summit, South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust pledged to become a Living Wage employer. The Living Wage ensures staff get paid enough money to meet their everyday needs. Since June, the Trust has made significant progress with their last remaining subcontracts and is aiming to be fully accredited by the end of this year. This will mean all Trust staff and those subcontracted by suppliers will all be paid the London Living Wage.
We ❤️ our communities
Listening to our communities and co-creating solutions together is at the heart of South London Listens. We know there is incredible work already happening across south London on all four of our priority areas which is why over the next few weeks we will be working with Healthwatch to map community and voluntary sector activities and understand where we can work together to create lasting change.