Darnall Well Being was visited by a group of senior civil servants in September 2024.
They visited our organisation in Darnall on their way to a workshop at Magna. The civil servants took the time to listen to the experiences of a number of our volunteers and service users, as well as hearing from members of our team and Board, as well as partner organisations. We were able to share with them our experience as a community anchor in the area since 2000, giving an overview of our delivery approach, our co-location with GP practices and the collaborations we are involved with in the city.
Thank you to volunteers and service users Noushaba, Saada, Kevin, Dave and Zoyah for coming along to share their stories – and to Jean, who really captured how we are embedded within the community when she said “Darnall Well Being is like family for me. I’ve helped a lot of people through you helping me”.
We’re grateful also to our partners Rob Copeland at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, Sanjay Nijhawan at Working Win and Donal Farrell, a local GP, for joining us to talk about why what our organisation does matters to social capital, cohesion and health. The visitors were particularly struck by Donal saying “I spent 7 years at medical school learning about disease, but I’ve learned more about health and wellbeing here than in any of my training.”
Helen Sims (Voluntary Action Sheffield) and Mark Gamsu (Citizens Advice Sheffield & DWB Trustee) joined our CEO, Lucy Melleney, in summing up the session, focusing on what central government could do towards infrastructure investment; trusting local leadership and existing solutions to act as a catalyst for change, bringing people together with consistent engagement, trust and connections.
The civil servants were really energised by hearing about the lived experience direct from local people and our team, and felt that the session acted as a perfect articulation of the power of assets like our organisation in delivering real change in health and wellbeing. They also told us that it was helpful to have so many different angles shared with them, and that their visit prompted lots of discussion on the train home.
We’d like to thank all of the civil servants for their time and engagement with the session! Our visitors included:
- Clara Swinson (Second Permanent Secretary, Head of Mission Delivery, Cabinet Office)
- Jo Farrar (Chief Executive, NHS Blood and Transplant)
- Joanna Key (Director General, Regeneration, Housing and Planning, MHCLG)
- Jonathan Marron (Director General, Regions Group, Department for Education)
- Lucy Chappell (Chief Scientific Adviser, DHSC)
- Mark Chivers (Director General, Government Property, Cabinet Office)
- Matt Thurstan (Chief Financial Officer, MHCLG)
- Matthew Style (Director General, Secondary Care and Integration, DHSC)
- Pete Benton (Director General, Health, Population and Methods, Office for National Statistics)
- Vicky Elliot (Joint Head, Leadership College for Government, Cabinet Office)
- Emily Middleton (Director General, Digital Centre Design, DSIT)
- Laurie Brennan (Head of Policy & Partnerships, Sheffield City Council)