Building happier, healthier, friendlier communities
Open a door to a world of opportunities
Edberts House is the name of our charity and also the name of our very first community house.
We care about connection – connecting people to one another, connecting people to good support, and connecting people to decision makers. There is an emphasis on helping people to be 'independent', however at Edberts we feel wellbeing is not based on an ability to be independent but an ability to live with healthy interdependence. Creating connectedness is therefore at the heart of all the projects we develop, working with children, young people, and families.
Our story began 10 years ago with a small group of local people in East Gateshead wanting to see change on their estate. 10 years later we were described by the national personalised care lead for NHSE as demonstrating national leadership through our work, which was also cited as an example of good practice in the Marmot 2020 review.
We have three community houses on estates where statistical indicators show levels of deprivation in the top 5% of the UK. Currently, we are developing a fourth community house at Highfield. Our community houses are staffed by experienced community development workers who support steering groups of local residents to plan, design and deliver activities, groups and learning opportunities for everyone. All of our community houses are safe spaces where local people can pop in for a cuppa and chat. Sometimes local people are seeking support and they know, and trust, that our staff will help them to access this. With the support of our volunteers, and partners, we have engaged over 2000 individuals through our community houses. Our local GP surgeries were impressed by the impact of our work on their patients: they reported that they were more articulate in their appointments and came to the GP less frequently. As a result, we developed our Community Linking Project, which has received national recognition and was influential in the roll out of social prescribing as a mainstream NHS Primary Care offer in 2019. Vulnerable patients presenting at surgeries in Gateshead with non-clinical issues are now referred to our Link Workers, who sit as part of the Practice Team and part of our Edberts Community Development Team. They access medical notes, therefore we can combine the best of clinical and community expertise to meet the needs of people and link them to services best able to support them.
We know no one organisation by itself can help local people to make the changes they identify as important to their lives and to their community. Therefore, we work proactively with an extensive range of statutory, voluntary and community partners to build happier, healthier, friendlier communities.
Edberts House is the name of our charity and also the name of our very first community house.
We care about connection – connecting people to one another, connecting people to good support, and connecting people to decision makers. There is an emphasis on helping people to be 'independent', however at Edberts we feel wellbeing is not based on an ability to be independent but an ability to live with healthy interdependence. Creating connectedness is therefore at the heart of all the projects we develop, working with children, young people, and families.
Our story began 10 years ago with a small group of local people in East Gateshead wanting to see change on their estate. 10 years later we were described by the national personalised care lead for NHSE as demonstrating national leadership through our work, which was also cited as an example of good practice in the Marmot 2020 review.
We have three community houses on estates where statistical indicators show levels of deprivation in the top 5% of the UK. Currently, we are developing a fourth community house at Highfield. Our community houses are staffed by experienced community development workers who support steering groups of local residents to plan, design and deliver activities, groups and learning opportunities for everyone. All of our community houses are safe spaces where local people can pop in for a cuppa and chat. Sometimes local people are seeking support and they know, and trust, that our staff will help them to access this. With the support of our volunteers, and partners, we have engaged over 2000 individuals through our community houses. Our local GP surgeries were impressed by the impact of our work on their patients: they reported that they were more articulate in their appointments and came to the GP less frequently. As a result, we developed our Community Linking Project, which has received national recognition and was influential in the roll out of social prescribing as a mainstream NHS Primary Care offer in 2019. Vulnerable patients presenting at surgeries in Gateshead with non-clinical issues are now referred to our Link Workers, who sit as part of the Practice Team and part of our Edberts Community Development Team. They access medical notes, therefore we can combine the best of clinical and community expertise to meet the needs of people and link them to services best able to support them.
We know no one organisation by itself can help local people to make the changes they identify as important to their lives and to their community. Therefore, we work proactively with an extensive range of statutory, voluntary and community partners to build happier, healthier, friendlier communities.
