Our Head of Charity Operations, Helen Mee, was pleased to visit The Bagnall Project, Oasis Partnership’s newest building in Chesham to learn more about social prescribing and the various programmes and activities running from the Waterside site. As a VCSE representative of Buckinghamshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board, The Clare Foundation is committed to promoting social prescribing opportunities across the County and was excited to have the opportunity to visit the new centre.
Helen writes:
“Jenni Parker, Operations Manager and Zoe Sole, Social Prescribing Project Worker, welcomed me to The Bagnall Project, which is a versatile three storey building within easy walking distance of Chesham town centre. They gave me a tour and I was suitably impressed! They have a variety of different spaces including an exercise studio, meeting rooms, classrooms, a well-equipped catering kitchen, recording studio, music room and even a green screen filming room. The rooms are available for private hire and Oasis Partnership offers a whole host of activities for the local community, which are either completely free or are available for a very low cost. The current weekly timetable includes Routes to work – job seeking support sessions, mindfulness, yoga, boxercise, podcasting, guitar lessons, music production, arts and crafts, walking and the very popular free Bagnall Brew and Biscuits drop in on a Wednesday. Zoe was able to fill me in on Oasis’s new, free Social Prescribing service, which was launched earlier this year.
Zoe’s post, and the service itself, have been funded thanks to a grant from the Rothschild Foundation, and in its first six months is already having a huge impact. Zoe’s role, as social prescriber, is to connect people to their local community to improve their health and wellbeing. This can involve signposting clients to support groups and different charity’s services in the local area. In the past three months Zoe has introduced clients to a wide range of activities and groups across the Chilterns area such as walking, meditation, music, baking, gardening, painting, and more. In addition to social groups, Zoe is also able to support individuals with help they require with for instance, finances, housing, recovery, or employment support.”
How to access Oasis’s Social Prescribing Service
Anyone over the age of 18 in Chesham and surrounding areas (including Missenden, Amersham, Beaconsfield and the Chalfonts), can self-refer to the social prescribing service though the online referral form on the Oasis Partnership website: https://oasispartnership.org/referral/. Once the referral has been received, clients are invited to meet with the social prescriber for an initial assessment, this involves answering some questions regarding current circumstances. The social prescriber then works with the individual to put together a wellbeing plan, which is unique to them.
You can learn more about Zoe’s work and the Oasis Partnership’s social prescribing service by visiting their website: https://oasispartnership.org/services/social-prescribing-in-chesham/ or by listening to their Lets Be Frank Podcast – produced in their Frank Hodge Podcast Studio – Bagnall Chesham.
If you are local to Chesham, and are yet to visit the Bagnall Project, it’s well worth taking a look at the website as there are activities and services for all ages. https://oasispartnership.org/services/the-bagnall-project/
