A project promoting cancer awareness and screening through voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) grassroot organisations has been named Community Care Initiative of the Year at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Awards 2024.

The Community Partnerships programme is a collaboration between Cheshire and Merseyside (C&M) Cancer Alliance and Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) organisations and over 100 local VCFSE providers, delivering effective hyperlocal engagement, supporting early cancer diagnosis and prevention across the region.

This is one of a number of projects emerging from the C&M VCFSE Health and Care Transformation Programme, coordinated by Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW), which harnesses the collective strength of the sector to tackle inequalities and improve people’s health and wellbeing.

Racheal Jones, VCFSE Transformation Lead for Liverpool City Region VS6, said: “This work is a real testament to the power of collaboration and partnership between the NHS and the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Sector to reach those furthest away from securing positive health outcomes.”

Alison Cullen, VCFSE Transformation Lead for Cheshire and Warrington Infrastructure Partnership, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for all those involved, delivered through a truly coproduced approach that recognises how local people are best placed to deliver grassroots community engagement, and have a pivotal role in addressing health inequalities.”

Cancer incidence is higher in Cheshire and Merseyside than the English average, as is the number of people whose cancer is diagnosed later, including during emergency attendance. One third of residents live in the most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in England. This has a significant effect on mortality levels and types of cancer that specific communities experience.

The Community Partnerships programme was developed to support local communities to reduce their risk of dying from cancer, by improving community understanding and awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, encouraging more people to go for NHS screening when they are invited and encouraging appropriate health seeking behaviour.

Through the Community Partnerships programme, the alliance initially funded a small grants programme in Halton, Knowsley and Warrington, the success of which has led to the extension of the programme. The programme now funds eight Social Action Leads to work two days a week in each of the nine localities of Cheshire and Merseyside to work with grassroot organisations to enable and empower them to support their local communities in increasing earlier diagnosis of cancer and saving lives.

The programme contributed to Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance being ranked joint top in the most improved rates of early diagnosis in England.

One of the programmes supported by this initiative is the Tower Hill Amateur Boxing Club Soul Sisters programme. Founded by Mel Melia, the programme supported mothers, grandmothers and aunties of children who attend the club, many living in difficult circumstances and with no focus on their own health or wellbeing to take time for themselves, to discuss the importance of their own wellbeing, be educated on the importance of screening and checking themselves for changes or symptoms of cancer and to share experiences.

The success of this programme has led to the creation of the Teen Soul Sister and Soul Kings programmes and has been played a key role the achievement of this award.

In addition to being named best Community Care Initiative of the Year at the HSJ awards, the Community Partnerships project was also a finalist in the Early-Stage Patient Safety Innovation of the Year category.

Jon Hayes, Managing Director of Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, said: “I am delighted that this ground-breaking collaborative work has been recognised and would like to congratulate everyone involved. From the beginning they have been driven by desire to reduce health inequalities, and by the understanding that cancer messaging is most effective when communities put it into their own words.”

The CVS organisations partnered with the Community Partnerships programme through the C&M VCFSE Health and Care Transformation Programme are One Knowsley, Warrington Voluntary Action, Cheshire West Voluntary Action, CVS Cheshire East, Halton and St Helens Voluntary Community Action, Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services, Sefton CVS and Wirral CVS.