Ten years on Beersheba-Living Well has steadily transformed into an Equity-led charity managed by three Trustees from Black African and Black Caribbean Heritage. Collectively, we have amassed a wealth of knowledge and information, professional skills and qualifications, etc., through working in public, private, community and voluntary sectors to work in collaboration with the Health System and VCSE to affect change within communities as documented in our constitution:
a) Increase diabetes awareness within Black, Asian, minority Ethnic, and Refugee groups, and for older people and adults living in lower socio-economic communities
b) Provide peer support (without encouraging dependence) for residents experiencing poverty and the effects of discrimination living in the London borough Hackney and surrounding areas, where Type 2 diabetes is disproportionately higher than wider communities in the same ward.
c) Provide non-clinical advice and community-based health information to promote healthier behaviours and lifestyle adjustments, e.g., weight management, smoking cessation, physical activities, balanced nutrition, stress management, sleep routines, blood glucose control, etc.
d) Embed Equality & Diversity and Safeguarding Adults in our services and activities to support residents with protected characteristics, promote health outcomes and activate beneficiaries to manage their own health needs better and live better quality lives.
e) Strategically target neighbourhoods where deprivation and inequalities remain prevalent and relieve the effects of hardship by promoting equality and diversity, health literacy and education. To reduce poverty, & help residents achieve & live better-quality lives.
f) Co-produce programs and activities that are driven by the needs of and responsive to the wishes of local people and promote equal opportunities. Empowering marginalised residents to connect, enjoy and achieve, increase levels of self-worth, etc., in such a way that they can better identify and help meet their needs and participate more fully in society.
Equality and Diversity
We are passionate about Equality and Diversity and seek to: 1. Improve social inclusion in Hackney Downs Ward by relieving the needs of Black groups who are socially excluded by assisting them to integrate into society. People and Place 2023 Application Form 4 2. Decrease the over-representation of Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension in Hackney Downs Ward 3. Create a more inclusive approach to working in collaboration with residents to reduce the impact of Health inequalities. 4. Create drivers to help shape health-enhancing services that embed anti-racist practices, cultural competence, health equity, etc., to empower/enable Black communities to make informed choices and thrive.
Our Mission.
Peer support from trusted community leaders with lived’ work and professional experience has proven to be a practical resource in empowering people with Long-term Health conditions to improve their quality of life. We know that peer support is a crucial building block to support a person's potential for recovery through connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning and purpose, and empowerment, to name a few.
We believe that communities and improvements to place-based services must be at the heart of the design, delivery, and evaluation of asset-based community development initiatives to give people a sense of control over their future within social constructs, including education, employment, gender, ethnicity, etc., that have a marked influence on how healthy a person is and the life chances of the individuals and groups affected.
Our Vision.
- Champion asset-based community development approaches to health improvement over the next three years.
- Increase health outcomes through agency to Black and Global Majority populations at the sharp end of health inequalities.
- Reduce barriers to health through the transformational power of grassroots initiatives where deprivation is both a cause and a consequence of health inequalities.
- Enable/empower and inspire marginalized communities to thrive through better social connectedness and embed peer-to-peer support.