Operational performance
Our commitment has gone beyond providing the building. There is a natural synergy between our own ‘Water for health’ campaign and the ‘Healthy Living’ agenda, so we devised new ways for NWL to work at a strategic level with the partners of the Healthworks to ensure the sustainability of the building and its facilities for the community. We contributed research, marketing and communications support to improve awareness of the centre and helped with events to promote healthy living, targeted at primary and secondary schools and day centres.
We sit on the steering group for Healthworks which achieved almost 10,000 visitors in its first year alone and now provides more than 30 health and community support services. It acts as a community focal point where service providers and community groups can come together to address issues that affect the quality of life in the local community. Facilities range from a juice bar to a gym and information kiosks, some of which can be used in a privacy setting with many more planned. Healthworks has been so successful that the plans for phase two have been brought forward and will include a GP walk-in surgery thus securing the future of Healthworks for the community.
As part of the support, we developed the ‘Oceans of Fun’ activity which is supported by sponsorship of ‘Everyday Swim’ an innovative swimming programme run by the Amateur Swimming Association to promote physical exercise and an arts programme run by Creative Partnerships to use arts-based activities to change children’s attitudes to eating and drinking, supported by research from Durham University. Our contribution to the work of Healthworks is a unique approach to tackling the poor long term health of the residents in Easington.
Tony Blair with ‘Just an hour’ employees at the launch of The Tony Blair Sports Foundation, (l-r) Mike Ciaraldi, Sharon Stewart, Simon May, Jane Morland, Jane Davison, Sharon Martin, Karen Scott and Leanne Clough.
Sporting partnerships
NWL prides itself on being immersed in the community and working with a wide and diverse range of sporting partners is a natural extension of our ‘Water for Health’ campaign, which encourages people to lead a healthy lifestyle. Working with our sporting partners we support a diverse range of sports to get people active as well as educating them on healthy eating and good hydration.
Through our partnerships we reach over 55,000 children and adults annually. We provide:
- links and networks to enable sporting partners to get together to share ideas and resources;
- financial support of over £50,000 per annum which then levered over £80,000 from other sources;
- approximately 200 employee volunteer hours per annum;
- advice and marketing support on programme development;
- bottled tap water, sports bottles or mains-fed bottle-free coolers to reinforce the importance of drinking tap water to re-hydrate during sporting activities; and
- help with fundraising and raising the profile to attract additional investment.
We can generate wider support for projects by adding our name and commitment to them and by encouraging others to get involved thus generating additional funding sources for projects. Our involvement acts as a key catalyst to raise confidence that projects present real opportunities for the private sector.