What is Dartmouth Together? D
By Nick Hindmarsh, General Manager, Dartmouth Caring
ARTMOUTH TOGETHER IS A COMMUNITY INITIATIVE TO PROMOTE HEALTHY LIVING IN DARTMOUTH. A NUMBER OF LOCAL VOLUNTARY
ORGANISATIONS ARE WORKING WITH THE NHS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ENGAGED IN COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES TO JOIN IN THOSE AS THIS CAN BE SHOWN TO IMPROVE THEIR WELLBEING. There is now good evidence across the country that
communities thrive when we support ourselves. We know how Dartmouth has lost services such as banks, garages, shops and our much beloved hospital. We cannot stop change but we can through local initiative strengthen our community and support one another. Long term health problems can
rarely be cured by a change in life style, but the impact of illness can be much reduced, even reversed, by healthy living. Where social isolation adds to poor health, this can be changed. Becoming more physically and socially active yields big rewards. A fitter and happier life style helps us to remain alert and independent for much longer. More activity and greater socialising can reduce anxiety and depression. Active people have fewer physical and mental health issues. Dartmouth Together aims to enable people of all ages
widen engagement. The intention is to expand personal choices and to spread the benefits that come from being active. Dartmouth Together is an inclusive project. We seek
and encourage involvement from anyone and any organisation in the town and surrounding villages. And we encourage people to volunteer to help others. Volunteering in itself is beneficial to those who do it. Dartmouth Together is already in action. For some months now, a programme of Swim4Health has been operating in the indoor pool at the Leisure Centre once a week with a hydro physiotherapist in attendance. Pro- grammes are also being planned by the Dartmouth Arts Society, Dartmouth Walk and Talk, Devon Recovery Learning Community, the Gig club, Bell ringers and Dart- mouth Green Partnerships A local branch of the AA is meet-
ing regularly in St Clements Church We are planning to build up
“Dartmouth Together can be the glue that binds this community closer together”
across our community to access activities and services that can make their lives more rewarding doing things that they want to do. We are working with existing groups, such as sports clubs and recreational, education and arts societies to reach more people and be mutually supportive. New money coming to the NHS will help this work. While this support is welcome, it is not the essence of Dartmouth Together. We want to help our community develop sus- tainable systems to support itself to add to that provided by official bodies. To be effective we need to create a single point of
reference where anyone can go if they want to find out what is available. Alongside this, Dartmouth Together is connecting professional health care workers to those clubs and societies that have schemes in place to help people back into activity. We are collaborating with the Dartmouth Town Council, South Hams District Council and the TQ6 Partnership to
our programmes and activities steadily, recognising that this is a medium-term project which may take several years to fully embed in the community In April this year, Dartmouth
Together brought together 34 dif- ferent community organisations in
the Flavel for a public event, attended by several hundred local people. The event enabled the groups to get to know one another and share ideas and plans. It was wonder- ful to see so many positive conversations taking place between the groups and the public. The next step is to nurture formal and informal net-
works to spread the news of the opportunities available. We believe that demonstration through successful activ- ities and spreading awareness by word of mouth are the most powerful means of promoting this initiative For Dartmouth Together to succeed, active networking is key so that common shared benefits may be identified. This was clearly happening during the Flavel event. Dartmouth Together can be the glue that binds this
community closer together and to be the source of advice and structures to help these symbiotic relationships to evolve. There is much work to do still but the future is certainly
looking brighter for the community and voluntary sector to play a larger part.
Dartmouth Caring • 01803-835384 •
www.dartmouthcaring.co.uk
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