The Race Equality Foundation is a member of the Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Alliance (HWA) alongside 19 other member organisations. The HWA works closely with NHS England and Improvement, Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to amplify the voices of the voluntary sector and those they represent, to promote equality, reduce health inequalities, inform national policy, and forge a stronger working relationship between the voluntary and public sector.
The Foundation has developed and represents a wide-ranging and far-reaching network of VCSE organisations led by and working with black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. These links, and the organisations in our network, have played a part in taking forward or informing the current priorities of NHS England, PHE and DHSC. In past iterations of the HW Alliance the Foundation’s work has supported the NHS Long Term Plan’s commitment to improving mental health services and the subsequent Advancing Mental Health Equalities taskforce. These relationships have also been key to delivering the ground-breaking review of evidence and practice that was published in 2019 on Mental Health and Racial Disparities or the community based blood pressure testing for African Caribbean men. Many of these activities involved HWA members too, including Friends, Families and Travellers and Faith Action among others.
Similarly the response to COVID-19 has benefited from these strong and diverse connections. We gathered intelligence and worked with system partners to take action; surveying a range of VCSE organisations, like Nubian Life, publishing the findings and sharing with HWA colleagues. This intelligence informed discussions at the Dementia Programme Board and secured funds to improve support available to black, Asian and minority ethnic people living with Dementia.
Links to projects and products
Racial Disparities in Mental Health: Literature and evidence review
Better support for black, Asian and minority ethnic people living with dementia
- You can register for the HWAlliance newsletter
- Follow the work of the Alliance, by searching #HWAlliance on Twitter
- You can contact the Alliance by email too.
