The Stour Health and Wellbeing Partnership

The Stour Health and Wellbeing Partnership is a community-led partnership set up to support residents in Shipston and the neighbouring villages to live longer and better.

It began in December 2019 and became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in November 2020. The Partnership has developed strong working relationships with over 50 organisations and individuals involved in the area, including: Warwickshire County Council, Warwickshire Public Health, Healthwatch, Stratford on Avon District Council, Shipston Town Council, VASA, South Warwickshire Hospital Foundation Trust, Timebank, Friends of Ellen Badger Hospital, Shipston Medical Centre, Barnardo’s and a wide variety of other groups and organisations in the Stour area.

The purpose of the Partnership is: ‘To improve the health and wellbeing of all residents in the Stour area through better partnership working’

The Partnership’s vision is: ‘To bring together in partnership organisations and individuals across the Stour Valley to support every resident at all stages to have a better quality of life and live longer by improving health and wellbeing’.

The Partnership aims to develop and implement a comprehensive health and wellbeing strategy focused on the recommendations of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and other surveys. Members are in the process of prioritising the health and wellbeing needs of the Stour community and developing proposals, projects and initiatives to address those needs. COVID and its aftermath have added to the challenges facing the Partnership and the community.

The Partnership works through an Executive committee which is comprised of the chairs of five Work Streams - Mental Health, Children and Young People, Healthy Ageing, Transport and Environment and Climate Change – and representatives of other organisations. The Executive Committee is responsible to a Board of Trustees. This Board is registered with the Charity Commission.

There are already early signs of the benefits which will be achieved from partnership working examples include the revival of the Shipston Dementia Friendly Committee and the launch of the `Dr Sue Pritchard Memorial Challenge’