Following our introductory session on CHESS® Community Health Engagement Survey Solutions, we are delighted to invite NHS Health Check commissioners and public health colleagues to the next event in our community engagement series.

CHESS® enables local people to investigate the factors affecting health and wellbeing in their neighbourhoods, identify their priorities and develop community-led solutions. But what happens after the CHESS walks, insight sessions and action plans have been completed?

In this 45-minute session, we will hear directly from two communities about the longer-term impact of their CHESS work.

Alison from Ashford, Kent will reflect on the CHESS work undertaken with young people in Bockhanger and Beaver Wards, and the changes that have followed. She will explore how local insight helped shape practical action, including safe-space initiatives, increased community-safety activity, women-only physical activity opportunities, healthy cooking activities and community wellbeing roadshows.

Roddy Macdonald from Glendoune in Girvan, Scotland will reflect on how CHESS helped local residents identify the barriers affecting health and wellbeing in their community and agree practical priorities for change. He will share how this contributed to the refurbishment of the community centre, the revival of the Community Association and the development of activities including youth support, adult learning, healthy cooking, budgeting help, a community pantry and a hygiene bank.

The session will be chaired by Michaela Nuttall and will include time for questions and discussion about what helps community engagement translate into meaningful, sustainable change.

This event forms part of a wider series from Smart Health Solutions and C3 Collaborating for health, exploring community engagement and C3’s work across prevention, social care, oral health and the wider determinants of health.

CHESS®, as a strategy to engage communities has been commissioned by local authorities, foundations and corporates to improve the health of communities in disadvantaged areas of Bournemouth, Kent, London, and Norfolk. It’s never easy to demonstrate impact in public health projects, but results have included

• In King’s Lynn, a community orchard has been developed to increase healthy eating and a new affordable food supermarket developed.
• In Boscombe, 58% of survey respondents reported they are eating more fruit and vegetables per day and doing more physical activity. 79% of survey respondents reported that they had learned more about healthy eating and the importance of physical activity by participating in CHESS Action Plan activities. 58% of survey respondents reported that participating in CHESS Action Plan activities has provided them with new skills to help them make changes in their community. 79% of survey respondents reported that participating in CHESS Action Plan activities has improved their knowledge of health challenges in their community.
• In Medway, 83% of participants surveyed reported that they had learned more about healthy eating and the importance of physical activity through participating in CHESS® action plan activities. 88% of participants surveyed reported that they do more physical activity since participating in CHESS® action plan activities. 67% of participants surveyed reported that CHESS® action plan activities enabled them to develop new skills to help them create change in their community. 75% of participants surveyed reported that CHESS® action plan activities increased their knowledge of the health challenges in their community