Healthy Communities Together
New ways of working together for fairer health in Gloucestershire
The HCT co-lab is a development programme for people from different walks of life keen to collaborate with others in Gloucestershire to grow fairer health. We are pleased to say we are now taking applications. Read on to find out more about the programme and details on how to apply.
All the information about the HCT co-lab and how to apply is on this page. If you know you want to apply please jump straight in using the big yellow button! Otherwise you can read all the content or skip to relevant information using the links underlined in the first section.
We are aware that some company firewalls are restricting access to the online form so please download the form and once complete email to colab@creategloucestershire.co.uk.
ABOUT THE HCT CO-LAB
Introduction / What is the HCT co-lab? / Who are HCT Gloucestershire? / Why are HCT investing in the co-lab?
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
What are the benefits of participating in the HCT co-lab? \ What are the specific skills will you learn?
KEY COURSE INFO
What are the costs? \ What is the time commitment \ Who is the programme for? \ Course location \ Key dates
ACCESS & INCLUSION
Support funds
MAKING YOUR APPLICATION
What we’ll ask you in your application \ Who can apply? \ How to apply
ABOUT THE HCT CO-LAB
Introduction
The HCT co-lab is a development programme for people from different walks of life keen to collaborate with others in Gloucestershire to grow fairer health.
The first HCT co-lab programme will run from September 2024-March 2025. It will include a combination of face to face and virtual group sessions and an offer of one to one coaching, shadowing or mentoring.
By health we don’t just mean the absence of disease or infirmity but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. Health requires the right building blocks to be in place - stable and good quality jobs, housing, health, social care and education as well as active communities and access to the natural environment – these all contribute to how we can stay well and withstand life’s shocks and challenges.
Unfair and systemic differences exist in the care that people receive and the opportunities they have to live healthy lives. Some people are dying years younger than they should as a result. Changing this in Gloucestershire can’t be done by a single person, organisation or sector so success comes down to how well we can work together.
What is the HCT CO-LAB?
The HCT co-lab will be an opportunity to increase your understanding, skills and confidence in “working well together”. You will grow a new network of peers drawn from across the system who are curious to explore how to develop agile, creative and collaborative responses that level out differences in power.
Who are HCT Gloucestershire?
Healthier Communities Together (HCT) is a group of partners from different sectors in Gloucestershire. Our resources come from the Healthier Communities Together Programme which is funded by National Lottery Charities Board with support from the Kings Fund.
This is a national programme based on 3 core beliefs:
Outcomes for communities (especially reducing inequality) are better served by VCSE sector and statutory bodies working in equal partnership towards a shared agenda.
Investment is required to support the participation of VCSE organisations as equal partners.
Effective and sustainable partnership working is an active learning process that benefits from expert support to work differently through shared leadership of change.
HCT Gloucestershire was set up just after Covid 19, which drew attention to and exacerbated existing health inequalities. HCT brings energy, ideas and resources to better understand the root causes of why our current system only produces some health benefits to some people.
We hold events and support activities that demonstrate what can be achieved when people pull together across sectors and connect assets and resources more effectively.
Promoting fairer health across a wide system is messy, chaotic and hard to control or predict. It requires ongoing attention as variation is inevitable as things change.
HCT funding has given us space and time to grow trust which is fundamental to navigating this complexity. We have developed a structured process to listening deeply to different ideas and views. Practicing working in this way together has changed our behaviours and increased our capacity to organise differently and influence in our 'day jobs'.
“A system isn’t just any old collection of things. A system is an interconnected set of elements that coherently organise in a way that achieves something.” Donella Meadows
Prioritising relationships between people and sectors has led to better ways of working and better places to work. Our vision is that this enjoyable way of working together will become the norm in Gloucestershire – not the exception.
Why are HCT investing in the Co-Lab?
We have designed the ‘HCT co-lab’ as a space for a cohort of people to explore how they might work differently together. Our hope is that the HCT co-lab will seed a further peer group working for fairer health. What this looks like will depend on the ambitions and energies of the people who take part.
HCT has a stewardship group that includes community and public sector leaders who will support co-lab participants with opportunities that include mentoring, coaching, core gifts and shadowing.
Based on learning from this first co-lab we will explore if and how to run further cohorts.
ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
What are the benefits of participating in the HCT co-lab?
The HCT co-lab will:
Offer you time to grow a creative and safe space in which to think about the root causes of the health and well being challenges that matter to you.
Give you the opportunity to better understand how your organisation/sector is viewed by other perspectives in the system.
Increase your knowledge of how different sectors contribute to fairer health and the specific ambitions, resources and constraints they face.
Deepen your capacity to listen deeply so you can better notice when needs and ambitions shift.
Tools to design solutions that are agile and creative.
Grow confidence to face into differences and find solutions that enable power levelling.
Discover a new peer network across Gloucestershire with people committed to working for fairer health.
What are the specific skills will you learn?
The HCT co-lab is for participants who wish to develop their personal practice to enable collaborative and co-created ways of working. This programme is based on the Catalyst Chords curriculum developed by nowhere and Create Gloucestershire.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn and develop skills that:
Teach us how to think together
Transform how we meet
Encourage the best of ourselves to turn up every day
Develop ability to be able to hold discomfort and difference
Build deeply human and nourishing cultures
Participants will be encouraged to try out these skills during the sessions and between sessions in their communities or work
Part of our learning will be the impact of this combination of new learning materials applied within this collaborative, sector specific environment; which is currently unknown.
Who is the programme for?
We know that almost all aspects of our lives can have an impact on our health. With that in mind, we're aiming to bring together people from a variety of sectors to mirror this truth. You might work in health and social care, housing, environment, education, justice, a community setting or in any space between these groups. In selecting participants our intention is to bring together the most diverse group of people we can, to encourage difference and explore a variety of perspectives and experiences together.
As we want to create fair health we anticipate that applicants for the HCT co-lab will be curious, patient and committed to building trust that is needed across all sectors of the community.
KEY COURSE INFO
What are the costs?
All participant fees will be fully funded, so there will be no course costs to an individual or organisation.
What is the time commitment?
There is an introductory virtual session on July 2nd 2024 between 9.30am and 11.00am.
From September 2024, there will be a series of 6 virtual half day learning sessions and 5 monthly face to face gatherings – running up until March 2025. All course commitments have been scheduled to fall on a Tuesday.
Course location
Sessions will be held virtually or in person within a suitable Gloucestershire location.
Key Dates
The HCT co-lab programme will run between July 2024 and February 2025.
There will be a welcome session held on 2nd July 2024 followed by 6 virtual 3.5 hour taught sessions covering the topic of personal practice; starting in September.
In addition there will be 5 facilitated face to face full day sessions; with networking lunch provided.
Welcome session for all held on 2nd July 9.30am – 11am
ACCESS & INCLUSION
CG recognises that there are people whose background and experience is under represented within the creative, cultural and leadership sector, both in Gloucestershire and nationally, including women, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people, disabled people and people who are deaf and neurodiverse.
We believe that discrimination or exclusion based on these, or other characteristics or circumstances, such as age, caring or dependency roles, gender or gender equality, partnership status, religious belief, sexual orientation, socio-economic background or other distinctions represents a waste of talent and potential.
We are therefore particularly keen to hear from people in under-represented groups who are interested in applying.
Support Fund
The support fund is intended to offer financial support which contributes to the additional costs you might have in order to attend the HCT co-lab.
In assessing requests to the Support Fund CG will consider the extent of the need and how far our contribution will go in helping to meet that need.
1. Caring Support Fund is for participants with caring responsibilities, and who would incur additional costs by attending the HCT co-lab. This includes but is not limited to caring for children or elderly parents. A contribution of up to £50 per day is available.
2. Access support Fund is for participants who require adjustments and would incur additional costs by attending the HCT co-lab, for example costs of PA support.
We will ask you to outline on the application form what your support costs are. We may also ask you to confirm that you would not be eligible to claim for, or do not already pay these costs from another source. We cannot fund the everyday costs you already pay as a result of your circumstances.
Please note the budget for the Support Fund is not large so CG will need to work out how big a contribution it can make based on the number of requests for support costs.
For any more information or if you have any questions, please contact: colab@creategloucestershire.co.uk
MAKING YOUR APPLICATION
Who can apply?
✅ You can apply if you are 18 years and over and live, work, volunteer or study in Gloucestershire
✅ You can attend the core sessions held between July 2024 and March 2025
✅ You want to work in new ways and with different sectors to develop fairer health
We are you proactively looking for cross sector representation. Do you represent one of these sectors?
Health
Social Care
Housing
Education
Justice
Environment
Voluntary and community sector
Independent artist, freelancer, academics, community leaders, community members
If you have any questions or would like to have an informal chat about whether this course is for you please contact Tracey, Programme Lead on: tracey@creategloucestershire.co.uk
What we’ll ask you in your application
Q1. Please tell us a bit about what you are currently doing in Gloucestershire. This can be within employment, volunteering, and cover various sectors including housing, environment, education, justice and social care. You may also find yourself working between agencies and communities and we welcome you to apply to join this cohort. We also want to encourage artists, academics, community leaders, community members and the voluntary and community sector.
Q2. Why are you interested in becoming a participant on the HCT co-lab?
Q3. What networks are you interested in developing and why?
Q4. What qualities and skills are you interested in developing?
Q5. What changes are you keen to see happen across Gloucestershire in support of fairer health?
Q6. What agencies and communities are you working with and between?
How to apply
There are 3 ways you can apply for HCT co-lab:
Audio/film. You can submit a film or audio (max 3 minutes) via this google form.
Printed form. Contact colab@creategloucestershire.co.uk if you would like a downloadable form to print at home and send by post.
Deadline: Deadline for applications is midnight 26th April 2024.
Supported by
References
1. A Matter of Life or Death. Published March 2022 by Health Foundation. Page 9.
2. The Constitution of the World Health Organisation 1948. (https://www.who.int/about/accountability/governance/constitution)
3. The Kings Fund. 2022. (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/what-are-health-inequalities)
4. A Matter of Life or Death. Published March 2022 by Health Foundation. Page 14.
5. Public Health England Briefing Note - Addressing health inequalities through collaborative action. September 2021. Page 4.
6. A Matter of Life or Death. Published March 2022 by Health Foundation. Page 15.
7. Thinking in Systems. Donella Meadows 2008. Pg 11