George Floyd has touched us all. Recent events have cast a spotlight on the devastating impact that racial inequality and racism has on both individual people, local communities and our society as a whole. It has brought to the surface our own varied personal experiences of discrimination and the impact of inequality, leaving us feeling emotionally raw.
We pledge to use our platform as an organisation to practically build community connections, stand alongside our Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues across the social prescribing community and oppose all forms of hatred and prejudice. We will work with our partners to promote inclusion and equality, every day and at every opportunity.
In practical terms, this means we will help to develop innovative partnerships which provide support and funding for local communities, prioritising support for those communities most impacted by health inequalities and COVID-19. We will raise the profile of social prescribing and share the excellence of local community groups in bringing people together, reducing loneliness and helping to build resilient, tolerant communities.
As the first trustees of NASP, we launched our first strategy just three months ago, with the following opening line: “We want people to be able to live the best life they can. A life that is defined by them. Not one that is limited by the place in which they live, who they are, or the resources available to them.”
Social prescribing presents a major opportunity to break down barriers and enable people to talk about and connect to what matters to them. It cuts through institutional hierarchy and connects people at a human level to community support, with the help of social prescribing link workers, regardless of who they are, or the resources available to them. It reaches across cultural divides and ensures the focus is on what matters most to people.
Only by working together will we be able to achieve real change, reduce health inequalities and build inclusive communities, where everyone is supported to live their best life.
------------------------------------
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard,
Phoebe Vela-Hitchcox,
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson,
Jonathan Badyal are NASP Trustees.
