Wow what a year it has been! The last 12 months have been non-stop. We challenged ourselves to do things a little more ‘creatively’ and I think it is safe to say we achieved this.
There are many highlights I could pick from the last 12 months but for me as Healthwatch Cumberland Manager, one of the standouts was the our Addictions project. For people to trust us with their personal struggles, emotions and hopes for the future was an absolute privilege. The report contained every single case study, told in their own words and the impact of that has been incredible.
The report was launched via our summer Carlisle city centre 'Try Dry July' event which pulled together a number of organisations including who all have something to offer in terms of wellbeing. This event is an example of how Healthwatch Cumberland are aiming to do things differently. We want to find more innovative ways to capture attention and connect with local communities.
The team itself has been through a period of change and we have welcomed 3 new members to our small but mighty gang who have hit the ground running and fitted in to the Healthwatch and People First way of life beautifully. We have also been supported by our colleagues from Healthwatch Lancashire, Healthwatch Westmorland and Furness and our newest team to join the Healthwatch family, Healthwatch Stockton-on-Tees. Being able to connect to share our knowledge and ideas really does make us stronger together.
As we head into a New Year I am proud of how much we have achieved this year, the work we have done and the impact we have made. But most of all I am proud of us. Not just as our Healthwatch Cumberland Team but also of the wider People First Team. There is some incredible work going on across the board by some pretty amazing people who all have the same goal, to make people’s lives better.
The Healthwatch Cumberland team have some great plans for project work next year which we will build on in January after a well-earned rest over Christmas.
Let’s make 2025 our best year yet!