In early 2022, work was undertaken to facilitate the development of the Wellbeing Hub and Lochies School Development in Alloa. Input from the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme has helped to strengthen the development of this work through a Place and Wellbeing Assessment and the subsequent support and embedment report recommendations following the assessment.
Alongside this, the programme has also identified specific actions to strengthen links with other local initiatives and target work to reduce inequalities. Specific impacts include:
- Strong working relationships have been established with key team leaders to provide a strong support system to help effectively facilitate the development of the Wellbeing Hub and Lochies School Development in Alloa, through sharing network contacts and offering guidance around the Programme and the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes
- Contributing expertise to the vision and objectives workshops facilitated by the Scottish Futures Trust
- Fulfilling embedment of recommendations has been welcomed into daily active participation and involvement in the newly established project development meetings
- Being a foundational support and contributing to the collective aim that champions people, place and preventive measures to reduce health inequalities in Alloa
Our story so far
In July 2022, Alloa was presented with an opportunity to conduct a Place and Wellbeing Assessment, aimed at comparing two potential locations for the highly anticipated Wellbeing Hub and Lochies School development. The purpose of an assessment is to consider the potential impacts of a plan or proposal on a place, to help mitigate adverse impacts, enhance positive ones and reduce social and economic inequality. The support received from the Alloa Steering Group greatly contributed to the success of the assessment.
Alloa Steering Group members agreed that taking part in the assessment has been positive:
It was interesting to tease out some of the issues that the assessment asked on and to see the outcomes from it. A constructive example of this is from colleagues in the room who work specifically in a specific area of planning, they hadn’t necessarily considered community planning themes were related to their planning work. This assessment helped us see them through the lens of this particular strategy planning process and look at the themes in that context, we hadn’t done that before.
Really good experience. I suppose from a public health perspective there are different models of health impact assessment and (this) as a rapid place and wellbeing assessment to start to make folk think about the wider context and how we should be delivering services, it worked really well.
Once the assessment report was completed, meetings were scheduled with key contacts to review the report's recommendations and explore possibilities for embedding the recommendations into the project. Over winter 2022/2023, the council recruited new team members to bolster the existing Wellbeing Hub and Lochies School Development Team. Regular check-ins were established with the expanding team, fostering strong working relationships and providing a strong support system. There were conversations about the most effective approaches to adopt, sharing network contacts and offering guidance pertaining to place and wellbeing. By prioritising these check-ins during this challenging phase and gaining a clearer understanding of the team's expectations and requirements, recommendations were identified that could be supported moving forwards. As a result, a consensus was reached, and a proposal was agreed to bring the project to life.
Alloa Project Town was presented with another opportunity to contribute expertise from a place and wellbeing and Alloa perspective, to the vision and objectives workshops facilitated by the Scottish Futures Trust. This involvement allowed active participation in the newly established project development meetings, where continuous support and contributions could be provided on a day-to-day basis.
From the beginning of the programme’s engagement, the entire team and collaborative partners embraced the transformative potential of the Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme. It has been an honour to witness and support the team as they develop a positive understanding of the need for radical action and are eager to embrace new and innovative ways of working.
The team are now entering critical stages of development and in preparation for these next steps, various options have been prepared to embed the Place and Wellbeing Outcomes and further support the team. We are proud to be a foundational support for this project and contribute to the collective aim that champions people, place, and preventive measures to reduce health inequalities in Alloa.
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Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme
The Shaping Places for Wellbeing Programme is a joint delivery partnership between the Improvement Service and Public Health Scotland. This forum is for those interested in our work supporting the role of place to reduce inequality and improve the wellbeing of people and planet.
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Place Network
For those interested in the importance of place as a working approach to delivering national outcomes around improved wellbeing and inclusive growth.