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1 Executive summary

                                                      Blueprint for a Healthier Scotland

“The Blueprint is currently being updated.  The updated version will be sent out to all SCHW organisations and key national bodies this year. Copies of the current version can be obtained on request or by accessing the link below”.

On the 13th November 2023 Scottish Communities for Health and Wellbeing (SCHW) invited 60 people who value the power of communities to improve health and wellbeing to come to a “Big Get Together” at the Byres Community Hub, University of Glasgow to:

 Exchange experiences of community-led health in action

 Hear new evidence of how it makes a difference

 Discuss what we can do ourselves to increase our impact

 Challenge government, the NHS and others to move beyond rhetoric to support community-led action

This event explored how we can move from rhetoric to action with insights from partners in our network, Glasgow Caledonian University, the Scottish and Northern Ireland SPRING programmes and the Scottish Government’s Place and Wellbeing programme. Workshops provided platforms for active discussions on innovative community led approaches and structures for securing health and wellbeing improvement across Scotland.  We hope that the outcomes of  ‘The Big Get Together’ will engage and interest community organisations, national and local decision makers and influence action that moves way beyond rhetoric and makes a big difference to the quality of life of many people throughout Scotland.

The themes of the workshop were:

 Why local democracy matters, what can be done to improve it and what impact it might have on our sector?  

 The future of Social Prescribing: exchanging ideas and experience of how it works in communities and how this should be developed.  

 Proving it: how to gather and use convincing evidence of what works.   

 Responding to the cost-of-living crisis.

 Community led approaches to supporting mental health.

 The role of community led health improvement in health reform.  

The “Big Get Together Feedback Report” on the outcomes of the workshops at the Big Get Together is available at  (Report attached)

SCHW, which today comprises 89 community organisations, plans to support the Scottish Government by facilitating a dynamic new approach to the delivery of vital national health and wellbeing priorities – tackling inequality, loneliness and isolation, and reducing mental illness. The key to unlocking many of those seemingly intractable problems which exist at the heart of our most disadvantaged communities lies in those communities themselves.  Our approach complements the traditional medical model.

We engage across the policy spectrum from education to employment and from community development to community buy-out. Delivery is measured in terms of high value services, support and motivation for individuals, families, and communities – and overall astonishing value for money. With Scottish Government support we aim to mobilise over four years, 100 community-led organisations, more than 800 staff, 4,800 volunteers and make direct contact with over 500,000 end-users. This will build and sustain the heart of those groups which are needed to enable their communities to respond to local opportunities and so trigger very significant increased direct investment in health improvement. We are acutely aware of Scottish Government investment in the third sector and of how that sector itself functions.

This document demonstrates that our proposals fit well in this context. Our strategy implies an annual investment of a modest 4% of national resources for health improvement (representing just 0.2% of total Primary Health Care funds) directly into communities utilising SCHW's established expertise. We have an enviable track-record of working with community-led groups, co-ordinating multi-organisation projects, establishing effective partnerships and setting high standards of accountability, quality management, review, evaluation and reporting.

                                                                                                                                 Far reaching /...

100 Organisations

800 Staff

4800 Volunteers

500,000 End-users

This far-reaching blueprint shifts power from established agencies to grass-roots health groups. It releases an army of volunteers and vast supporting resources utilising low-cost administration. And it promises potentially huge returns. Reduced NHS spending, identifiable health improvements and stronger partnerships between primary health care services and the communities which they serve, all wait to be seized by government as outlined in Outcomes on P14.

This is a low-risk opportunity to make a dramatic impact in ensuring the delivery of current priorities and policies in the following areas:

• the Community Empowerment Act;
• the Integration of Health and Social Care;
• the Mental Health Strategy
• the National Strategy to tackle Loneliness and Isolation;

• the Fairer Scotland Action Plan.

. . . and our two Policy Context sections explain how.

Read the full Blueprint here: Blueprint for a Healthier Scotland

Scottish Communities for Health & Wellbeing

Communities with the Power to Build Health     

Communities play a crucial role in tackling health inequalities and in promoting

health and well-being.

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen an outpouring of mutual aid and volunteering.

This has often been most effective where there are already local organisations whose central focus is on improving the health of their communities.

Scottish Communities for Health and Wellbeing (SCHW) is a partnership for all community led organisations who share that central focus on health.

We are currently 89 organisations from all over Scotland.

We are independent organisations, rooted in our communities.

We often play a key ‘anchor’ role in communities, building capacity for wider action, not focusing on only one issue or group.

To read the full article go here: Communities with the Power to Build Health  

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