Well Bradford

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Welcome to Well Bradford

Everyone knows that hospitals are where people come to get better, fix broken bones or find support to manage a long-term illness or condition. But what if our local hospitals can make a difference beyond their boundaries, and be a force for good by helping to create healthy places which inspire people to live healthier lives?

That’s the vision of Well Bradford – a community health programme hosted by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to re-energise and reconnect links between our hospitals and the wider community. Well Bradford was borne out of Well North, a collaborative programme which develops, tests and pilots projects to improve the health of people in some of the most deprived areas of the north of England.

Since 2016, Well Bradford has helped create and enhance existing outdoor spaces available to the community and provided opportunities for local people to get together and take steps towards a healthier lifestyle.

Well Bradford is no longer a part of Well North, but an entity in its own right which sets its own agenda. With Programme Director, Zulfi Karim, in post and new ideas about how Bradford Teaching Hospitals can make a greater difference to people’s wellbeing and healthcare beyond the acute services it offers, Well Bradford has a renewed focus on strengthening partnerships and pooling resources to help ensure home-grown projects get off the ground.

Well Bradford

Green spaces, healthy places

Well Bradford has made a difference to communities in Girlington, Holme Wood and Keighley.

Led by the Trust on behalf of Bradford’s Integration and Change Board, the project has close connections with Born in Bradford (BiB) research, which links social circumstance and behaviour to health outcomes and wellbeing. Well Bradford is in the unique position of being able to turn some of that research into reality by improving and creating new green spaces so communities have a focal point to live healthier lives.

Several exciting projects have taken place including turning a patch of derelict ground in Girlington into a community garden, planting more trees, a clean air day, and family fun day.

Projects Well Bradford has supported since it launched also include The Valley Project, Holme Wood; Onna Ju Jitsu Club, Girlington; Keighley Park Run; Friends of Holme Wood Library; and Holme Wood Ramblers.

Programme Director Zulfi explained that the key to Well Bradford’s ongoing success was developing partnerships with local businesses and organisations to pool resources, achieve value for money and make the maximum impact, allowing sustainable projects to get off the ground.

“To tackle health inequalities effectively, we must develop community-based programmes which local people feel proud of and have a sense of ownership over, so they feel a connection to what we’re creating,” he said. “Well Bradford’s not about telling people what they need, but working with them to develop healthy green spaces and support sustainable change in our city which has a lasting, positive impact on people’s health.”

Well Bradford

Be inspired

Contact us

Well Bradford aims to connect local people and help deliver more green spaces and a healthier future for some of the most deprived communities in the North of England.

Whether you’re an individual, community organisation or business, we’d love to hear from you! Please find all our contact and social media details below.

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