Launch of well-being scheme with pledge for quality of life

More than 100 representatives from the public, private and voluntary sectors will meet at the Shay Stadium in Halifax to develop Calderdale’s first Well-being Strategy.

The focus will initially be on the poorest people in the area, but the strategy will be aimed at everyone who lives and works in the area.

Today’s meeting will centre on agreeing a series of high level priorities to which all the organisations can sign up to.

Calderdale Council’s chief executive, Owen Williams, will set out the process for developing the strategy and will launch an invitation to residents, groups and organisations based, or working, in Calderdale to submit a case for their key priorities. Anyone interested in submitting a proposal will be sent information and, if necessary, offered help to put their suggestions forward.

The event will also include the launch of Calderdale’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) by Calderdale’s Director of Public Health, Dr Graham Wardman. The JSNA aims to improve local people’s well-being by ensuring that services meet their needs. It is designed to inform and drive future investment priorities and help to plan services more effectively.

The JSNA will also put health and well-being data online for the first time. The information will include changes in population and what the major killers are. The data will be provided for Calderdale as a whole and broken down into specific ward areas.

Calderdale’s Health and Wellbeing Board’s chairwoman, Coun Janet Battye, said: “This is an important event for us in Calderdale as we examine the findings of the work on assessing local needs, and begin the process of putting together our future strategy and plans for providing services to help meet those needs.

“We’ve been developing our local Health and Wellbeing Board, and this marks the next step forward. Times may be hard and we need to make sure that we’re all working together for the benefit of local people.”

It is hoped that the Well-being Strategy will be agreed by partners before being considered by Calderdale Council in April next year.

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