Barnardo's to help improve children's physical and mental health through launch of new Collaborative

CHESHIRE and Merseyside's Integrated Care System (ICS) has joined a Collaborative with the UK's largest children's charity, Barnardo's, and the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE) to improve the health of children and young people in the area and ensure they have a say on how services are run in their communities.

The NHS authority for the Region will be working with Barnardo's and the UCL IHE over the next 3 years to devise and co-design a Children and Young People's Health Equity Framework. This will set out new and innovative ways to overcome the barriers which can prevent children and young people from having a basic level of physical health and mental wellbeing.

The 3 organisations will work together to develop new tools, resources and programmes to provide practical solutions to ensure children and young people in the Region are not held back by social and environmental factors which can affect health. This includes income, housing or educational status.

Rukshana Kapasi, Director of Health for Barnardo's, said:- "We are delighted to be launching this pioneering Collaborative to address the barriers which people face in order to achieve good physical and mental health. We have long known that poor health at a young age can have a negative impact on people's opportunities in later life. The current pressures on the NHS, alongside the cost of living crisis, is just making matters worse. Through this Collaborative, we hope to identify and provide practical solutions to these issues in a way which embeds the voices of children and young people into all we do. We look forward to helping to ensure that children and young people can any overcome negative circumstances they may be born into and enjoy happy and healthy futures."

Barnardo's champions children and young people to ensure they have the best possible start in life by offering services throughout the UK which are tailored to meet specific needs. Cheshire and Merseyside's ICS was chosen by Barnardo's out of 16 applicants from across the country to be part of its new Collaborative.

In Cheshire and Merseyside, over 67,0000 children under 16 live in low income families. In some parts of the Region, this can be up to 20% of all the children and young people who live in that area. In addition, a high number of children qualify for free School meals due to their incomes – in some areas this can be double the average for England.

This inequality has a huge impact on physical and mental health including poor educational attainment, high rates of childhood obesity, high hospital admissions for asthma and many children going into care.

Raj Jain, Chair of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board, said:- "We are excited to be working with Barnardo's and the Institute for Health Equity to tackle the unfair and unjust differences that are behind poor health and limited life outcomes for the children, young people and families in our community. Working with our young people will ensure that the people in the Region are able to experience happier and healthier childhoods to put in place strong foundations for later life."

Kath O'Dwyer, Chair of Beyond (Cheshire and Merseyside's Children's Transformation Programme) and Chief Executive of St Helen's Council, added:- "The health inequalities experienced by our population are long standing. They have been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing impact of the Covid Pandemic, especially as our population experienced longer lockdowns so children were out of formal education for extended periods of time. This Collaborative places the child's voice at the centre of our work to create a legacy to improve young lives and their chances in later life. By using their insight, we can target resources and develop effective ways to benefit the populations who are most in need."

The Collaborative, which brings together senior stakeholders from across the healthcare sector 1, will be chaired by Professor Sir Michael Marmot. He is the Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity and has been a leading authority on health inequalities for more than 50 years.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot said:- "Long term increases in child poverty, the cost-of-living crisis and the unaffordability of childcare all work to make a healthy childhood more elusive for some families. Within these circumstances, committed action by and Integrated Care Systems at a local level will make a difference to children's lives now as well as their prospects for the future. Our aim is to provide evidence of what works so that it can change practice and improve health and well-being of all our children."

For more information visit:- Barnardos.Org.UK and look for Children and Young People's Health Equity Collaborative.
 

A special Eurovision recruitment fair will showcase job opportunities and careers in Liverpool City Region’s £5bn visitor economy. Around 45 employers will highlight a wide range of jobs at the 1 March 2023 event at ACC Liverpool - including security workers, receptionists, porters, chefs, food and beverage roles, baristas, housekeepers and supervisors. Interviews for temporary and permanent roles paying up to £30,000-a-year will be held at the fair and job offers made on the day to suitable applicants. The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has joined forces with the Department for Work and Pensions, Liverpool City Council and Growth Platform to stage the recruitment drive which is aimed at filling vacancies in the tourism and hospitality sector as the City Region gears up to welcome around 100,000 extra visitors for Eurovision. Employers hope the opportunities created by the once in a lifetime music event will inspire people to consider a career in the diverse and vibrant visitor sector.

The Liverpool City Region visitor economy is worth £4.98bn a year, providing more than 50,000 jobs locally, in:- museums, theatres, venues, restaurants, hotels, bars, shops and transport. In 2022, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, unveiled a £4.5m, 2 year strategy with a raft of urgent interventions and longer-term measures to help the industry return to full health after it was devastated by the Pandemic. In October 2022, Be More; a new, all in 1 training and careers portal, complete with an AI powered app; was launched to connect residents with employment and opportunities. The Be More site currently has more than 2,500 vacancies listed while the website Adzuna lists around 1,000 positions across the City Region in retail, hospitality and travel and tourism.

The Eurovision recruitment fair will take place between:- 11am and 4pm, at ACC Liverpool, and is the 1st in a series of careers roadshows across the city region, including mini recruitment events and a campaign to raise awareness of the of the hospitality and tourism economy in Schools. Mini recruitment fairs are planned in:- Halton, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.

Job seekers will also be able to sign up for training courses to improve their chances of finding work in the sector. Janet Nuzum, Visitor Economy Sector Manager at Growth Platform - Liverpool City Region Growth Company, said:- “Undoubtably the Eurovision Song Contest is an exciting opportunity for the Liverpool City Region visitor economy sector. Not only will people across the globe be watching this iconic event but we expect 100,000 extra visitors staying and enjoying our fantastic region. What this event gives us is an opportunity to highlight the significant role that hospitality plays in making sure visitors have an exceptional time when they are here. That is why we, alongside our partners, are hosting this recruitment fair; we want people to be a part of this vibrant sector and help our businesses fill their vacancies and find the talent they need. For employers wanting to find new employees for all types of roles, this recruitment fair is a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of and I would encourage businesses to get involved and register your interest.”