Health and Social Wellbeing Forum

The North Belfast Health and Social Wellbeing Forum was set up by North Belfast Partnership in 1999 to facilitate bringing together interested groups throughout North Belfast to develop a cross-community health and social wellbeing forum.

The Health and Social Wellbeing Forum provides a platform to discuss health issues across North Belfast and prioritise areas of work which need to be addressed. Forum members include community representatives, key inter-agency initiatives and North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust. The Forum has taken the lead in setting up a number of health related projects in North Belfast, including Community Action on Mental Health, RADICAL and PIPS.

Community Action on Mental Health.

The primary focus of this initiative is “Empowering the community to take action on stress” with the overall aim of improving mental health and emotional wellbeing in North Belfast. Funding was secured through Belfast Regeneration Office for a three-year project in partnership with North and West Belfast Health and Social Services Trust and North Belfast Partnership.

For further information on Community Action on Mental Health, please contact Laurence Wright on 02890751489.

RADICAL (Responses to Drugs and Alcohol in Communities and Lives)

The Health and Social Wellbeing Forum identified drug and alcohol misuse as an area of work that needed explored in North Belfast. A Drugs Strategy Working Group was formed (now called RADICAL) and research was carried out in four areas in North Belfast with the end result producing the “Blotting It Out” report. The research highlighted the need for dedicated workers in this field and funding was secured from EDACT (Eastern Drugs and Alcohol Co-ordination Team) and Lloyds TSB Foundation for two full-time posts. The RADICAL Forum are now working towards a North Belfast Drug and Alcohol Strategy.

For more information on RADICAL please telephone Catherine or Emma on 028 9035 1003 or visit www.radicalnb.com.

PIPS (Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm)

In 2003 the Health and Social Well-being Forum became increasingly concerned at the escalating spiral of incidents of suicide and self-harm in North Belfast. PIPS was formed as a result. The name was originally chosen because it was recognised that although statistics were an alarming and driving factor, they should not obscure the individual experience of tragedy. “PIP” was the nickname of one young person who died in this way and was chosen to personalise the project and keep a focus - that it is about real people and their suffering all of whom have a name.

The aim is to raise awareness and to educate; provide support for those left behind and those at risk; and to encourage the community to develop a co-ordinated strategy in partnership with all this whose responsibility, work or simply genuine concern, is the emotional health and wellbeing of people.

Funding was secured through Urban II Discretionary Awards to train seven people to deliver ASIST training (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) across North Belfast. This has led to the delivery of a number of two-day ASIST workshops, funded by Springvale Executive Programme Funds. The objectives of the two-day ASIST workshops are to develop the confidence and skills of individuals so that they can intervene where there is a risk of suicide or self-harm, competently assess the risk and refer the individual to others who can provide more intensive help. To date over 200 people from North Belfast have attended ASIST workshops.

To find out more about PIPS please contact Jo Murphy on 028 90752990 or visit www.pipsproject.com.

The Forum was also heavily involved in the “Save the Mater Hospital Campaign” in October 2002. The campaign arose as a result of proposals published in June 2002 to downgrade the Mater Hospital from an acute hospital to a local hospital. The Partnership organised a series of public meetings across North Belfast to raise

awareness among the public of the consequences of the implemented proposals and encouraged people to write to their local MP, MLAs and councillors to register their opposition. The campaign also included a cross-community cavalcade of over 100 campaigners to Stormont with the petition of 60,000 signatures to retain acute services at the hospital. The campaign proved a major success when the Health Minister announced the decision to retain the Mater’s acute services for “a considerable period”.

For further information on the “Save the Mater Campaign” please contact Jo Murphy on 028 90752990.

Click here to download a copy of minutes from the Health and Social Wellbeing Forum’s last meeting.

Minutes of meeting on 9 May 2005