Duchy Health Charity launches new strategy to strengthen community resilience
Why this matters
Research shows that loneliness and social isolation are widespread issues, with significant impacts on health and wellbeing. At the same time, recent extreme weather events and other societal pressures have highlighted how important strong community networks are in helping people cope, recover, and thrive.
By investing in community-led solutions, we want to help create places where people feel connected, supported, and able to contribute to the resilience and wellbeing of their communities.
Our focus
Over the coming months and years, we will work with communities, partners and local organisations to:
Listen and learn
We will engage with people and communities to better understand what loneliness and social isolation mean to them and identify the solutions they believe will make the greatest difference.
Share what works
Across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, communities are already developing innovative ways to bring people together. We will capture and share these stories to inspire learning, collaboration and action.
Invest in community-led action
A new annual funding programme will support projects that help build connections, strengthen communities and improve resilience through local action. For more information on our ‘Building Community Fund’ click here
Measure impact
We will develop a shared approach to monitoring and evaluation so that we can understand what works, learn from projects, and demonstrate the collective impact being achieved.
Raise awareness
Through our website, events, campaigns and communications, we will promote learning, celebrate success and encourage more people and organisations to play a role in creating connected communitiesi
A collaborative approach
This strategy recognises that communities themselves are best placed to understand local needs and opportunities. Our role is to listen, connect, invest and share learning, helping community-led solutions to flourish.
While our initial focus will be on supporting projects and organisations within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, we recognise that valuable learning exists beyond our region. We will actively seek opportunities to share knowledge, evidence and effective practice from across the UK and beyond, while ensuring that funding remains focused on benefiting local communities.
Looking ahead
As we develop this programme, we will continue to work alongside communities, voluntary organisations, public sector partners and researchers to shape our understanding of loneliness, social isolation and community resilience.
Together, we can build stronger connections, healthier communities and a more resilient future for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Find out more about upcoming engagement opportunities, funding programmes and community stories by following us on social media or email enquiries@duchyhealthcharity.org.
