Health Heroes Unite 2.0: Communities Leading Change Together
Over the past year, Health Heroes Unite (HHU) 2.0 and the wider Research Engagement Network (REN) partnership have demonstrated what is possible when communities, organisations, health services and researchers work together.
38+
community events
1,460+
residents engaged
13
VCSE partners
12
Community Research Champions
9
Young Community Changemakers
3
major research studies
250+
people to participate in health research
Through trusted relationships, community-led delivery and a focus on the issues that matter most to local people, HHU 2.0 has helped create stronger pathways between communities, health services and research.
Supporting Health Through Community Leadership
Health Heroes Unite 2.0 was built on a simple principle: people are more likely to engage when conversations happen in trusted spaces, are led by trusted organisations and connect to the realities of everyday life.
Across Enfield, partners delivered a diverse programme of activities that explored health, wellbeing, belonging, leadership, community connection and access to support.
A Few of Our Community-Led Programmes
AnthroVision used creativity and storytelling to explore community experiences and perspectives with the SOS programme in St John & St James School. Episodes from one of the outputs, the A Dozen Good Vibes Podcast is live for you to watch.
Start2Care worked alongside care-experienced young people and young adults, supporting personal development, confidence and pathways towards independence.
Enfield Care Leavers Forum created opportunities for care-experienced young people to share their voices, influence conversations and connect with peers as well as hosting a residential for the young people to connect.
Cornerstone Engagement delivered activities focused on confidence, identity, belonging and positive community participation at Bishop Stopford School. The Amplify Podcast was just one of the creative outputs achieved there.
Thrive – Suzanne Simmons-Lewis Consultancy supported young people, parents and the community through educational and wellbeing-focused activities that encouraged reflection, learning and personal growth.
The Reproductive Justice Initiative facilitated important conversations around reproductive health, equity and informed choice.
Wellbeing Connect Services created opportunities for residents to access wellbeing activities, information and support within their communities.
Curate Your Genius supported the programme through creative engagement, storytelling, evaluation, leadership development and community participation activities. Outputs include a Black Health Legacy Roundtable Conversation, production of the various podcasts, Reclaiming the Pavement Youth Documentary and coordination of the Young Community Changemakers content.
Young People as Community Changemakers
A key achievement of HHU 2.0 has been the investment in young people as leaders, contributors and changemakers.
The HHU Young Community Changemakers programme supported young people to explore systems change, community leadership and social action while developing the confidence to influence conversations about the future of their communities.
Young voices were also amplified through creative media projects.
The A Dozen Good Vibes Podcast, created with pupils from St John & St James School, explored health, happiness, identity and the small things that help young people feel good within themselves and their communities.
The Amplify Podcast, developed with young women from Bishop Stopford School, created space for thoughtful conversations about wellbeing, aspiration, community and positive change.
Together, these projects demonstrated the value of creating platforms where young people can speak, reflect and lead conversations that matter to them.
Creative Approaches to Health and Wellbeing
HHU 2.0 continued to show that meaningful health conversations can happen in many different ways.
Building Futures: Safer, Smarter Families brought together young people, families and trusted adults to explore digital wellbeing, online safety, communication and healthy relationships with technology.
What If! encouraged participants to think differently about the future, imagine new possibilities and explore how communities can work together to create positive change.
These programmes sat alongside community conversations, workshops, events and health & wellbeing engagement activities led by Edmonton Community Partnership’s HHU team that helped residents build knowledge, confidence and connections.
Connecting Communities with Health and Research
Alongside community engagement activities, HHU 2.0 strengthened pathways between communities and health research.
Through work connected to Enfield Diabetes, residents were supported to learn more about prevention, management and healthy lifestyles while connecting with local information and support.
Work taking place with young people in the N18 project, helped strengthen community connection, improve access to opportunities and ensure local voices were included in conversations about health and wellbeing.
The HHU programme also supported engagement with research studies via the Research Engagement Network, NCL ICB and a cross-borough partnership, helping residents understand how research works, why representation matters and how communities can help shape future health improvements.
This work contributed to more than 250 residents participating in research opportunities, helping ensure that communities are better represented in the evidence that shapes future services and healthcare decisions.