You will find the application form at the bottom of this page.

Introduction

The NHS in North West London is launching its winter community funding campaign aimed at promoting health messages, information on services and routine winter vaccinations. With the winter season approaching we want to help our communities to stay well and know how to get the right help when they need it.

This campaign focuses on the following key areas and messages:

• Vaccinations for adults: Information on the annual flu and COVID-19 booster vaccinations to help protect ourselves and our communities
• Flu vaccination for children: Emphasising the importance of the nasal spray for children to help prevent the spread of flu.
• Navigating health services: Providing information on where to seek help for various health needs, including GP services, NHS app, 111 online, 111 phone service and pharmacies.
• GP access: Offering guidance on how to access GP services to ensure timely and effective medical care.
• Self-care: Sharing general winter health messages to encourage staying warm, active, and connected during the colder months.

A significant amount of communication activity will be undertaken by the local NHS this winter to help share these messages effectively.

We also want to understand barriers and motivations, enhance community engagement, and provide targeted support to improve health outcomes. By collaborating with local community groups, we aim to make better use of their trusted positions to share information and gather valuable feedback.

What we are looking to fund – how you can help

We want to reach as many people as possible in NW London. We know that using word of mouth and trusted community organisations are powerful and effective means of informing, building understanding and hearing feedback.

We are looking for organisations that can have conversations with people, who can share the messages, verbally and through conversation with families and communities. We will provide simple messages and an information sheet to support this.

(We are not looking to just fund leaflets being handed out.)

Application expectations

Applicants are required to demonstrate how they will:

• Engage in meaningful conversations with community members to share key health messages.
• Collect qualitative feedback on the community’s motivations and barriers regarding vaccinations.
• Reach diverse groups, including those in high deprivation areas, ethnic groups seldom heard, new residents, homeless individuals, asylum seekers, people not registered with a GP, children and parents, and pregnant women.
• Provide detailed reports on their activities, the number of people reached, demographic information, and the qualitative feedback collected.

Successful applicants will be expected to provide monthly reports outlining their outreach activities and the qualitative insights gathered. This feedback is essential for understanding the challenges and motivations of different community groups and for improving our future health campaigns.

By including these elements, we aim to ensure a thorough and inclusive approach to health communication and community engagement this winter.

Funding

With our funding we are looking to commission a small number of groups/organisations in each borough across NW London to help us with our outreach work.

We are ideally looking to provide up to £3.5k per organisation but will consider higher bids if you are covering multiple areas and/or groups.

Our aim is to have organisations ready to start their work from mid-October 2024 through to February 2025.

Please specify on your application if you can specifically support children and young families, in addition to our outreach to adults, we are also looking for organisations who can support us with information on the children’s flu nasal spray.

The closing date for initial applications will be 9 September 2024 – with a view to advising on successful bids with-in two weeks of that date.

Who we want to reach – audiences and demographics

Whilst we want to reach as many people as possible, we know there are groups and areas where we need a greater focus.  These include:

• Areas of high deprivation where there are often poorer health outcomes
• Ethnicities who would consider themselves seldom heard
• Those who are new to NW London and/or the UK
• Homeless
• Asylum seekers
• People not registered with a GP
• Children and parents (especially around the children’s flu vaccination)
• Pregnant women (especially for vaccination messages)

How we will support you – training and resources

If you are successful in your funding bid, we will invite you to a webinar where we will talk through our key messages and share our existing resources with you.

We anticipate being able to provide a small volume of printed materials, in different languages, to support your conversations if this is required.  This does not need to be factored into your funding plan.

You will also be provided with a point of contact for any queries that arise during the project.

How will we measure your success – reporting and evaluation

We will provide up to 50% of the funding upfront.  You will then be required to evidence the activity you have undertaken and provide a monthly report outlining how many people you’ve reached, demographic information and verbatim feedback you’ve heard during your outreach work.

Templates will be provided and we will keep this as simple as possible to ensure that the majority of your time is focussed on outreach and delivery.

The remaining 50% will be paid upon successful completion of the work.

Please use this link to submit your bid for winter community funding