Case Study: Connecting Communities in Fleetwood

Healthier Fleetwood is a partnership of residents, health and care providers, charities and voluntary groups, the emergency services, sports and fitness clubs, local authorities, businesses and more.

Our aim is to connect, support and empower the community to make a real difference to people's lives now and boost their long-term health and wellbeing. Joining the growing movement of ‘health creation’, residents are taking more control over their lives, becoming the doers rather than the done to.

Healthier Fleetwood began as an idea in the Spring of 2016. Perhaps it wasn’t even an idea then, just a question: is there a better way to improve the health and wellbeing of people living and working in the Town than just prescribing more medicines and making appointments to see the GP?

Statistics showed residents in Fleetwood could expect to live shorter lives and experience more life-changing illnesses than people elsewhere in the Country and in fact even than those a few miles away on the Fylde Coast. Residents, voluntary, faith and community groups, health professionals, the emergency services, local authority representatives and businesses leaders met and found there was a shared desire that something should be and could be done.

All the time our message is a positive one … we don’t say “stop this, give up that” instead it’s, “try this, get involved with” and you will see the benefit. Along the way we’ve learnt a few things and even had a few setbacks but the desire to make this work remains and now is the time to take the next vital steps.

We’re calling for everyone in the Town to get involved in some way, however small and make a difference. Change your own lifestyle by taking more exercise, join a new group or support others through volunteering a few hours a month to one of the many ongoing projects.

You can visit the Healthier Fleetwood website, like the Facebook page and follow on Twitter to find out more, get involved and keep up to date.