Blog | Middlesbrough Voluntary Development Agency

Full of hope for 2022

10 January 2022 - 5:29pm

It’s a new year and a fresh start. Like many people, I can’t help but become reflective at this time of year. It feels like some things just won’t go away – Covid-19 seems likely to be a feature of our lives for the foreseeable future. There is always a lot of hot air in the media that seems at odds with our lived reality.

Minority communities, people with learning disabilities and Annual Health Checks – what next?

3 November 2021 - 1:52pm

If you’ve been following my series of blogs about this project you'll know I was getting excited about a forthcoming ‘Roundtable’ meeting which I had organised for commissioning staff and community groups and leaders, to come together to discuss and agree what needs to happen over the next few months.

The desktop research report which I wrote initially was considered as a good starting point, but the consensus was that action needed to be guided at a local level. Those around the table agreed with the themes I had outlined:

People with learning disabilities are either hidden or visible - my lessons learnt so far

14 October 2021 - 9:55am

I'm getting some useful insights into engaging communities who are sometimes ignored as I reach the halfway point in my piece of work to identify the barriers which those with learning disabilities from minority communities face in accessing Annual Health Checks (AHCs) at their GP surgery.

You can read the background to this piece of work MVDA has been commissioned to do on behalf of NHS England here: Changing the poor take-up of annual health checks by minority communities

Changing the poor take-up of annual health checks for minority communities

28 July 2021 - 4:46pm

After the lockdown I am back at MVDA working on a project to encourage the take-up of Annual Health Checks (AHCs) by those with learning disabilities from ethnic minority communities in Middlesbrough and Stockton-On-Tees

The project’s aim of getting more people from different communities to attend their GP surgery for a check-up would seem straightforward, but this belies and points to structural and individual barriers against this happening.

How do we build networks for change?

21 April 2021 - 1:35pm

LocalMotion is a collaboration of six major UK grant-making trusts who have chosen Middlesbrough as one of six places to work with people and organisations to create long term systemic change. I've been supporting the initiative since last year, and am keen for more people to be involved.