Health and Wellbeing
West Euston Healthy Community Project
Background
The Healthy Community Project (HCP) grew out of initial partnership work between West Euston Partnership and the Third Age Project (a voluntary organisation that provides a range of projects and services, predominantly for older people).
This led to a successful bid for Healthy Living Centre funding from the Lottery New Opportunities Fund, leading to the creation of a wider project partnership. The success of the bid has enabled the partnership to flourish and achieve what it has to date. The HCP has recently again successfully bid and attained 3-year funding from the Big Lottery fund.
The area
The West Euston area lies to the north of Euston Road, situated between Regents Park and Euston station, including the Regents Park Estate, Drummond Street with its well known Asian restaurants and the business district including Abbey headquarters. Its strengths lie in the vibrancy, resilience, and cultural diversity of its community.
The West Euston Area is designated as a Neighbourhood Renewal Priority Area and is one of the most deprived areas in Camden.
Local health needs
Life expectancy in West Euston is 6 years less (for men) than in Hampstead. (Camden PCT, 2001). Census information (2001) for the Regents Park Ward shows that there are higher than the average percentage of the population who describe their health as not good, as well as a higher percentage of people who have a limiting long-term illness. Regent’s Park ward has 40-50% more than the expected number of deaths for coronary heart disease in the under 75s.
22.4% of the population of West Euston is of Bangladeshi or other Asian origin. These groups have higher rates of ill health (Acheson 1998), in particular increased risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease. Poorer access to services and to heath prevention information exacerbates the problems these communities face.
The focus
Although the project aims to benefit all West Euston residents, the focus is on the most disadvantaged and isolated people amongst the following groups:
• Older People – primarily those aged over 60 years old
• Young People – primarily those aged 11 - 18 years old
• Ethnic minorities – primarily the Bangladeshi Community
New Facilities
The cornerstone of the grant award from the Lottery’s Community Fund was the construction of a dedicated healthy living centre building, the H-pod. The building opened in autumn 2006. It is joined to the Regent’s Park Medical Centre and has a connecting entrance. A wide range of activities and services are based at the H-pod (see timetable).
There is also a Well-being Centre based at Green Light Pharmacy, Drummond street (see map or area), where one can go for numerous health checks and health promotion activities.
Achievements to date
We have achieved a great deal since the project partnership was first established. Our main achievement has been the successful engagement of local members of the community who come from a wide range of social, cultural, economic and ethnic backgrounds. As the collective capacity of the project partnership develops, we continue to build on our successes and deliver even greater benefits to the community.
