The Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Alliance (HW Alliance) is a partnership between sector representatives and the health and care system. It is a key element of the Health and wellbeing programme, enabling the sector to share its expertise at a national level with the aim of improving services for all communities.

Its purpose is to:

• Provide a co-ordinated route for health and care organisations to reach a wide range of VCSE organisations.
• Support collaboration between VCSE organisations and provide a collective voice for issues related to VCSE partnerships in health and care.
• Enable health and care organisations and VCSE organisations to jointly improve ways of delivering services which are accessible to everyone. By making it easier for all communities to access services this will reduce health inequalities.
• Ensure health and care decision-makers hear the views of communities which experience the greatest health inequalities.
• Bring the expertise of the VCSE sector and communities they work with into national policy making.

The HW Alliance is jointly managed by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England and is made up of 18 VCSE Members that represent communities who share protected characteristics or that experience health inequalities and a VCSE coordinator. Through their networks HW Alliance Members can link with communities and VCSE organisations across England. 

Further information on each member and how you can contact them can be found below.

• Age UK
• Mental Health Consortium (Association of Mental Health Providers (leads), Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Foundation, Mind, National Survivor User Network, Rethink Mental Illness, Young Minds)
• Barnardo’s (consortium with Barnardo’s, Friends of the Horn Foundation; Women’s Inclusive Team; Himmat; QED Foundation; Communities Engage and Thrive; Wellbeing Connect Services (formerly known as Ebony Peoples Association); African Community School (ACS); Minaret Community Centre; Approachable Parenting; Association of Muslim Schools UK; Education and Skills Development Group; Muslim Youth Helpline; Somali Community Parents Association; Somali Development Services; Mindful Peak Performance)
• Valuing People Alliance (collaboration of British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD), Learning Disability England, The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi), Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG), Foundation for People with learning disabilities, Respond, The Gr8 Support Movement hosted by Paradigm)
• British Red Cross
• Carers Partnership (consortium with Carers UK and Carers Trust)
• Clinks
• Complex Needs Consortium (Including National Autistic Society, Sense, VoiceAbility, Embracing Complexity)
• FaithAction
• Friends, Families and Travellers (consortium with Roma Support Group)
• Good Things Foundation
• Homeless Health Consortium (Groundswell, Pathway and Homeless Link as lead partner)
• Palliative and End of Life Care Consortium (with Hospice UK, Marie Curie, Together for Short Lives, National Bereavement Alliance)
• National LGBT Partnership (consortium led by LGBT Foundation and LGBT Consortium – other partners include a large range of LGBTQ+ VCSE organisations)
• Locality (consortium with Power to Change)
• Race Equality Foundation
• Suicide Prevention Consortium (with Samaritans,  National Suicide Prevention Alliance, Support After Suicide Partnership, We Are With You)
• Tommys and Sands Maternity Consortium (with Tommy’s, Sands, National Maternity Voices, the Pregnancy and Baby Charities Network, Five X More CIC, Muslim Women’s Network UK and LGBT Mummies Tribe)
• National Voices in partnership with NAVCA (coordinator role)

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Articles are provided by the three system partners (the UK Health Security Agency, Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. For other enquiries, please email england.hwprogramme@nhs.net