Health Challenge Valleys Network

The five Healthy Living Projects across the Heads of the Valleys Area have formed the HEALTH CHALLENGE VALLEYS Network. The Network are working towards ensuring that the services they offer to communities across the area are sustainable, linked with strategic partners and are being delivered as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The agreed aim for the Network;

    To provide a systematic regional network to co-ordinate and maximise health improvement and promotion work across the Heads of the Valleys area - whilst continuously adding value to local priorities and the Heads of the Valleys strategic Programme.

An in-depth evaluation report of Network activity until August 2008 has been undertaken - demonstrating successes and difficulties that the individual networks have encountered under the health living network scheme. The report includes statistics demonstrating interventions delivered, and case studies from service users and development workers. The report concludes with a set of proposals agreed by the Network - detailing how they consider their work can best be taken forward to ensure it is sustainable, and continues to impact on the health and well-being of those describes as the worst off in society, whilst also making the vital links to strategic documents such as Health Social Care and Well-being Strategies, Children and Young People plans, Local Development Plans, Community Plans and the HoV Strategic Programme.

                                                The Future...................................

The Network is currently focussed on securing long term, sustainable funding to continue its impact on health improvement and promotion work across the Heads of the Valleys area.

Network membership is however, not exclusive. It is envisaged that this site will facilitate expansion of the Network to include the 'Wider Public Health Workforce' - those professionals and organisations whose work improves health and well-being at a community level.  Expansion of the Network will allow for a raised awareness of the activities ongoing at a community level - which impact on health and well being. It will also allow for more effective working between professional groups who will become more aware of the roles of their colleagues. The Community Health Improvers pages provide a range of innovative examples where professions - not traditionally associated with work together, or are developing these links, to tackle the health inequalities that exist across the area.