Our annual Health and Wellbeing Day event, organised by our brilliant Integration Team, aims to encourage health and wellbeing service use and raise awareness within the local community.
We want to say a huge thank you to our staff and volunteers for organising and supporting the event and making sure the day ran smoothly, particularly to our Integration Team Coordinator Anjali who was instrumental in making the day such a success.
Thoughts on the Day
Written by our Volunteer Dee
On the 22nd of May, ICM held our annual Health and Wellbeing day, an event which I had the honour of attending. Held at Burlington Baptist Church, the venue was bustling with life and energy, and there was a deeply welcoming and joyful atmosphere as patrons perused the stalls. We were thrilled to have over 30 different organisations join us from the Health and Well-being Sector, including local GP surgeries, pharmacies, local charities, partners and much more!
We were also joined by the NHS Be Well Bus, which provided free health checks and advice to over 70 of our attendees. The event saw a turnout of over 175 people, including our new
Mayor, Councillor Elango K Elavalakan, who delivered a speech, very kindly commenting that “Ipswich Community Media is a really important organisation and it contributes so much to the wellbeing of our great town.”
Many guests commented positively that they felt heard and seen by the services, that the
day was informative, and that the networking opportunities were extensive, with several
visitors walking away with further intentions to contact the organisations involved.
“Excellent venue, well attended, very well looked after at the event. Great opportunity to
network, and get the message to hard to reach young people” – Participating organisation
“Fantastic event hosted by ICM as always!” – Visitor
We’re delighted to have made an impact on the people we saw pass through on Health and
Wellbeing Day, and are so thankful to those who stopped by our Henna and Plant stalls to
help support our work.
We hope everyone involved had a wonderful time, and we look forward to seeing you again
at our next event!
Health and Wellbeing at ICM
We believe everyone should have equal access to Health Services and support. According
to the NHS, people living in areas of high deprivation, and those from Black, Asian and
minority ethnic communities are the most at risk of experiencing health inequalities.
Our annual Health and Wellbeing day is one way we try to break down barriers to accessing
Health Services within the local community, both by making people aware of the services
available locally, and by bringing the services to them.
The most important part of our work is fostering connection, said best on the day by Cad (ICM Director, and founder of The Hive), "I'm interested in meeting people who are here who've come for all different reasons and some people have come bravely for the first time. I found a woman outside, an Afghan woman, and she didn't even know about it. I brought her in and that was nice for her to see other people and to connect up so it might begin her journey of connecting."
However our Health and Wellbeing Day is, as it says, just a day, whilst we are committed all year round. Some of our other activities include:
- Our Maternity Project, which supports migrant women from the Westgate Ward area
of Ipswich, aiming to increase connection, communication and engagement, while
building trust in local maternity and health services.
- We collaborate with local projects to provide translations for their services, such as
recently collaborating with Suffolk GP Federation and 'Very Important Invitation' to
make Cervical Screening more accessible to our diverse Ipswich community.
- Our English for Health course, which teaches people how to speak, read and write
English in order to increase confidence and wellbeing, and promotes understanding
around personal health and health services.
Feedback on the Event
We were joined on the day by a whole host of brilliant organisations who provide vital health and wellbeing services in and around Ipswich, and we have been so pleased to receive so much wonderful feedback from them.
Susannah - Active Lives/Active Gardens
I think you really do generate an amazing sense of community. I think there's been a wonderful turnout of people in organisations holding stands, but also it's been incredibly well attended by people who live in the area and beyond, so that's absolutely fantastic.
Kimya - Cancer Support Suffolk
What's been lovely is they've actually been happy to feel the lumps in my breast model and in my testicles model, and I've had some good chats with them about doing breast checks. And lots of people have taken information about the different cancers and also about our charity. So it has been a very, very successful event.
Wendy - Multiply Suffolk
It's been absolutely brilliant. We have been able to meet lots of organisations. There's been lots of interaction. The buzz, the atmosphere has been incredible. It was really good to share all of our enthusiasm around helping people of Suffolk and our services on offer.
Lizzie - St Elizabeth Hospice
The event has been wonderful. I attended last year, and this one is so much busier, with more organisations, and more people, so it's been a really lovely day, chatting to loads of different people about the different things we do at the hospice.
Get Involved
Health and Wellbeing is a vital part of the work we do at ICM, if you have an event you think we should attend, run a service you think we should know about, or otherwise want to be involved in this area our work, get in touch at hello@ipswichcm.org.uk
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