Ways to Wellness UK

29/08/2025

Looking forward to seeing this fantastic partnership come to life! Very pleased to be involved.

We’re delighted to launch Your Move - a new programme of free weekly football sessions for young people managing long-term or acute health conditions. ⚽

Delivered in partnership with Ways to Wellness UK and funded by The FA’s Journey to Inclusion Fund, these sessions will provide a supportive space to enjoy football, build confidence, and simply have a kick about at St Peter's Sports Hub.

Participants are welcome to bring siblings, friends, or family—whether to join in on the pitch or to support from the sidelines (and even enjoy our café ☕).

We can’t wait to get started and create a safe, inclusive space for football.

👉 Know someone who might benefit? Share this or get in touch with our ED&I Officer Kylla: Kylla.sjoman@northumberlandfa.com

🔗 Read more & register here: https://www.northumberlandfa.com/news/2025/aug/29/your-move

27/08/2025

Lovely to see our team member Lauren getting so hands on with this great initiative in support of one of the families we are working with!

27/08/2025

We were recently involved in providing evidence to a Citizens' Jury convened by Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria to examine a regional response to urgent challenges around the way people in our most underserved communities in particular experience persistent pain.

We are pleased to see the jury's recommendations have now been published, and look forward to seeing how this important work develops.

Visit the Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria website to read the jury's findings in full

Are you passionate about improving healthcare and supporting people living with persistent pain? This is your chance to make a difference.

27/08/2025

Tables and chairs available

10 tables (that fold upright) and 30 blue chairs available.

Please email sam.scotchbrook@durham.gov.uk for more information.

21/08/2025

☀️ This is a quick reminder that our office will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August.

If you have any queries our team will get back to you on Tuesday, 26 August.

18/08/2025

🥳 Last week, we wished Fay Howell a very happy retirement.

Fay has been with us for eight years: first as a specialist link worker on long-term conditions, and most recently on the Persistent Physical Symptoms project.

Her mantra was simple: “there is something to like in everyone.” Fay listened without a script, gave patients space to feel heard, and always found moments of shared humour.

Fay brought empathy and laughter into every interaction, with both colleagues and clients. She has played an important role in Ways to Wellness, and we will all miss her.

Please join us in saying a huge thank you to Fay and wishing her a wonderful retirement!

22/07/2025

Change is inevitable, and the pace of change within healthcare in England is rapid following the publication of the government's ambitions for the next decade in its 10-year plan, Fit for the Future.

We look forward to helping the three radical shifts take root, but there are questions as well as answers.

Read more in our full response to the manifesto

Change is a given in the healthcare landscape, and while that has always been the case, the shifts taking place currently need to go further than ever before. Anticipation was therefore rife for months ahead of publication of the government's 10-year plan for healthcare in England. Now it’s out, t

18/07/2025

🪙 Could you help lead us as our new Head of Finance?

Ways to Wellness is looking for a new part-time Head of Finance to join our small, supportive and dedicated Senior Management Team (SMT) in Newcastle upon Tyne.

➡️ 30 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
➡️ 5% employers pension contribution
➡️ a wellbeing ‘cash plan’ after six months of service, and development opportunities
➡️ primarily in our Newcastle office, from which all team members operate in a flexible, hybrid way

The full-time equivalent salary for this post is £50,000pa (£20,000pa to £25,000pa actual for two to two-and-a-half days a week).

Deadline: 9am, 8 August

Ways to Wellness is looking for a new part-time Head of Finance to join our small, supportive and dedicated Senior Management Team. Robust and sustainable finance sits at the heart of our organisational strategy, ensuring we are well-positioned to continuously achieve our charitable aims, so we ca

17/07/2025

We're thrilled to see the SPACE pilot featured in the National Institute for Health and Care Research Annual Report 2024/25!

In collaboration with Newcastle University and Great North Children’s Hospital, we delivered the SPACE pilot supporting families of children with complex healthcare needs, such as cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

A NIHR-funded evaluation found that:
✅ Families felt less stressed
✅ They were better connected to vital community services
✅ For every £1 spent on delivery, it had a return on investment to families of £2.75

Thanks to the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) North East and North Cumbria (NENC) evaluation, the SPACE pilot secured funding from NHS Charities Together’s Innovation Challenge Fund to extend the project; helping to tackle and healthcare inequalities for children and young people and build a healthier future for all.

📚 Featured in the NIHR 2024/25 Annual Report: https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/reports-and-performance/annual-report-202425/inclusion

📚 Read more about the extension of the project: https://www.waystowellness.org.uk/newsblogs/six-figures-for-project-taking-whole-family-approach

17/07/2025

What could Neighbourhood Multi-Disciplinary Teams (NMDTs) for children and young people look like across the and ?

Ang Broadbridge recently joined the Child Health and Wellbeing Network Huddle with North East and North Cumbria NHS to explore this.

Neighbourhood MDTs for children and young people will provide integrated care that provides timely access to specialist advice, including paediatric and mental health expertise, through primary care-led team working.

The session featured insights from Mike McKean, Consultant Respiratory Paediatrician, Helen Bowyer CYP Commissioning in NENC ICB, Mando Watson, General Paediatric Consultant, working clinically at St Mary’s Hospital, who shared compelling examples of how building stronger connections between GPs, secondary care and schools can create real impact.

One case study showed the powerful role of in supporting children and families as part of MDTs.

We're already seeing similar outcomes in our SPACE Pilot; taking a 👩‍👧‍👧 whole-family approach leads to positive outcomes at multiple levels.

Ang asked a question about scope and membership of neighbourhood MDT models, and called for models to ensure they have VCSE inclusion – highlighting our learning around the value of independent non-statutory roles working alongside statutory partners in building trust, bringing the clinical model back to ‘what matters to me’ and this can help rebalance power dynamics in MDTs too.

📖 Learn more about the SPACE Pilot: https://www.waystowellness.org.uk/space-pilot