Community Outreach
Sparkbrook Children’s Zone offers community outreach, focusing on four important areas: healthy eating, oral health, immunisation, and home safety.
Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, and Balsall Heath are areas of high deprivation with diverse health inequalities. In our ambition to combat both the health and social needs of our families living in the local area, it is important for us to work with the local schools, community, and faith organisations in order to make healthcare more accessible.
Here are some examples of what we have done in the past, and what we are still currently doing for our Community Outreach.
Workshops
Healthy Habits for Young People and Families was run in partnership with both Concord Youth Centre and Ways for Wellbeing CIC. The workshops focussed on many things including healthy eating habits, staying active, routine, and mental wellbeing. We were able to connect and support over 250 individuals through all of these workshops!
Summer Outreach Sessions with our Paediatric Nurse
Over the summer holidays, we utilise community hub’s, Children’s Centre’s, and GP Practices to deliver sessions with key preventative health advice. Last summer (2024), we were able to deliver sessions for over 260 families on topics such as Oral Health, Feeding Support, Preparing Year 6 Children for School, and How to use the Healthier Together NHS App.
Training for Professionals
Some examples of training which we have hosted have been on Oral Health, delivered by BCHC Oral Health, Home Safety delivered by CAPT, Fire Safety delivered by the West Midlands Fire Service, and Domestic Abuse Training, delivered by the Safeguarding Lead of BSol ICB.
View our Eventbrite page HERE to see our current training opportunities for professionals.
As a way to holistically support the whole family, we regularly host Family Health Days. These events are entirely free for families and bring together NHS Medical Staff to provide health checks & health advice, local social support organisations, children’s activities, and great food for everyone! We have supported 400+ families through these events and they have also been a great way to holistically support our families.
Well Child Checks in Primary Schools
Throughout term times, our Paediatric Nurse works in partnership with the local primary schools to support their families most in need by delivering Well Child Checks within their settings.
These checks include measuring a child’s height and weight, giving them an oral health screening, distributing toothbrush and toothpaste packs, and sharing relevant health messages.
In partnership with Concord Youth Centre, we set up the ‘Youth Health Champions’ (YHC). This was a group of 10 Young People who worked to create innovative ways to promote health messages around Oral Health and Healthy Habits within their communities and through digital resources.
The YHC Programme transitioned into a Youth Health Board, where we are working with 5 Young People to develop our service and make it more accessible for the community to access.