Blogs
Sharing thoughts and eureka moments
Reflecting on our work, what we’re learning and the latest about the health challenges we focus on
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Challenges of coordinating local activity to tackle childhood obesity
18 June, 2019
As we enter the next investment phase for our Faraday Neighbourhood Scheme, we've been reflecting on the lessons we’ve learnt.
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International views: What actions today can boost future health in our cities?
04 June, 2019
We asked some of the international experts speaking on at our joint event with the King's Fund what actions must happen today to make sure that future health in cities is equitable and thriving.
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Understanding urban health: Thinking large and small
28 May, 2019
Improving population health in towns and cities requires both an overarching city-wide strategy and a granular understanding of the needs of local neighbourhoods, as Chris Naylor and Kieron Boyle explain.
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16 experts on how place-based approaches can improve our future health: part 2
14 May, 2019
In our work addressing complex health issues prevalent in inner-city London, we take a place-based approach. We’re interested in exploring how others view place-based approaches and their value in helping to improve people’s health in the long term.
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16 experts on how place-based approaches can improve our future health: part 1
14 May, 2019
In our work addressing complex health issues prevalent in inner-city London, we take a place-based approach. We’re interested in exploring how others view place-based approaches and their value in helping to improve people’s health in the long term.
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4 things we've learned taking a place-based approach to urban health issues
14 May, 2019
Our Director of Funding, Jon Siddall, shares lessons we've learned from taking a place-based approach to improving urban health.
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Our impact investing: one year on
25 March, 2019
Since we committed to our first investment, we have learned a lot about where we can focus to best achieve our goals and what some of the key challenges are going to be.
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Multiple long-term conditions: five lessons
26 February, 2019
Ahead of the Nuffield Trust Health Policy Summit, our Chief Executive, Kieron Boyle, discusses the five things we've learned about multiple long-term conditions.
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London is tackling child obesity
08 February, 2019
Paul Lindley, Chair of the London Child Obesity Taskforce, discusses the impact of new initiatives, the bold vision of London’s Childhood Obesity Taskforce and how we can all chip in to make a difference.
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A message for our partners and supporters
19 December, 2018
2018 has been a year of deepening our understanding of urban health, of learning and sharing, and of building the foundations to become a more effective funder and a stronger fundraising charity.
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Social prescribing – from the margins to the mainstream
02 November, 2018
Social prescribing has gone from the margins to the mainstream over the last few years. Our Programme Manager, Kate Langford, explores the key shifts in culture and practice needed to help scale social prescribing to something that every healthcare professional has in their toolbox.
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Creative healthier high streets
22 October, 2018
We partnered on the Healthy High Streets programme, which challenged three London high streets in Haringey, Lambeth and Southwark to try new ideas to make our high streets healthier for children and families.
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What we’ve learned developing our programmes
07 August, 2018
Last year we launched two long-term programmes of work – on childhood obesity and multiple long-term conditions. Our development phase had a profound impact on the way we designed, and are now delivering, them.
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The long-term impacts on our health we don’t think enough about
26 July, 2018
I have some connection with this interesting new research; not only is the Richmond Group of Charities, of which Age UK is a member, working with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity on a new taskforce on multiple conditions, I have lived in Lambeth for most of my life.
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The relationship between physical and mental health
17 July, 2018
Over the years, we have become more and more familiar with messages about how we take care of our physical health – encouragement to think about what we eat, take regular exercise and to be aware of the signs of developing a major health condition.
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People’s journeys to multimorbidity start early – and so should care
09 July, 2018
The impact of multiple long-term conditions on the lives of individuals, their families, the communities in which they live and the wider health and care system, is ever-growing.
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From one to many report: View from our Chief Executive
09 July, 2018
At some point in our lives most of us will develop a long-term health condition. Many of us will develop more than one. But how we each get to that point varies hugely.
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Happy 70th: Our role in the NHS is as exciting as ever
04 July, 2018
I grew up caring for my mother. During those years, I was in contact with the NHS often. Earlier this year, I saw the life of a close family member saved by a team across two hospitals in Yorkshire.
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Chapter two – getting going
29 June, 2018
There’s a lot to be optimistic about in the government’s new childhood obesity strategy. The thing we need more than anything to beat this challenge is leadership – and a call to halve childhood obesity levels by 2030 provides exactly that.
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Families and Food: how can we help families swim against the current?
22 June, 2018
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and Shift have been working together, as part of the Charity’s new childhood obesity programme. We’re interested in how food environments help or hinder people to live well. Why? To improve the availability and access to nutritious diets for families living in the more deprived areas of Lambeth and Southwark.
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What listening to communities in Southwark told us about child obesity
12 June, 2018
We have developed a transformative partnership between our communities and local statutory services in these two disadvantaged areas in Southwark. The collaboration puts local parents in the lead to improve their and their children’s health and developmental outcomes.
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Supporting our mission with impact investing
09 May, 2018
Our Director of Finance and Investment David Renton writes a blog that explores our impact investment journey and looks at how we contribute to better health outcomes.
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A new Taskforce to impact on multiple long-term conditions
16 April, 2018
Our Director of Funding, Jon Siddall discusses our new Taskforce on multiple long-term conditions and the impact it will have on people living with this complex issue.
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Protecting children from junk food marketing
27 February, 2018
Caroline Cerny from the Obesity Health Alliance on the vulnerabilities of current rules meant to protect children from junk food adverts.
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Balancing priorities for a healthy school
27 February, 2018
Liz Robinson from Surrey Square School in Southwark, on schools’ unique position to influence childhood obesity and connect with families.
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London's obesity lottery
27 February, 2018
Chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver on the opportunities for London to be a world leader in tackling childhood obesity.
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Protecting those at greatest risk
27 February, 2018
The Food Foundation’s Anna Taylor and Robin Hinks reflect on how great initiatives depend on investment and leadership.
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Towards the tipping point - no more permissiveness
27 February, 2018
Eric van der Burg, Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam approaches childhood obesity as an epidemic, sharing insights from how the city achieved a declining trend in rates.
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Environmental influences on children's weight
27 February, 2018
Shirley Cramer of the Royal Society for Public Health addresses the factors contributing to the obesogenic environment and what it’ll take to prevent it.
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Learning from the voluntary and community sector
19 February, 2018
To improve care for people with long-term conditions, our sectors must come together more often, listen better and learn from one another, write Jo Bibby and Kieron Boyle.
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A whole-system approach to health inequalities must start with being honest
15 February, 2018
Our Partnerships Manager Rowena Estwick attended the recent Health in All Policies (HiAP) 2018 conference and has written a blog on the important place honesty has in shaping a whole-system approach to health inequalities.
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Multiple long-term conditions – the price of success?
15 January, 2018
Dr Martin McShane, Chief Medical Officer Clinical Delivery at Optum has written a blog for us on how shifting approaches and the use of data science can improve care for people with multiple long-term conditions.
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What we are asking the Mayor to do about health inequalities
15 December, 2017
Our Partnerships Manager Rowena Estwick has written a blog on the Mayor of London's new draft Health Inequalities strategy and its welcomed focus on childhood obesity.
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A different approach to health for Portuguese speakers
21 November, 2017
Dr Vikesh Sharma on the insights from our partnership to engage with the local Portuguese speaking community around health.
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Creating a good food culture at school
20 November, 2017
Dela Foster and Stephanie Wood, from charity School Food Matters, on creating a better food culture in schools to help tackle child obesity.
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Testing and learning to tackle health challenges
20 November, 2017
Our Chief Executive Kieron Boyle, on how we're testing approaches as part of the development phase of our childhood obesity and multiple long-term conditions programmes.
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Helping people live their lives to the full
19 September, 2017
At the end of 2016, I was asked to lead the development of a programme on multiple long-term conditions here at the Charity. It has been a voyage of discovery for me. How do you get to grips with one of the greatest challenges facing medicine and society today?
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Our focus on multiple long-term conditions
19 September, 2017
In Lambeth, just one person out of every five people who has diabetes only has diabetes. That is to say, living with many long-term illnesses - chronic conditions like hypertension, coronary heart and kidney disease - is increasingly the norm.
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Five lessons from Australia on working with communities
07 September, 2017
Following his recent trip to Australia, our Chief Executive Kieron Boyle reflects on lessons learned and what it takes to work well with communities.
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Looking after patients includes looking after their environment
23 August, 2017
Our Collection Manager Imogen Gray writes a blog for supported project Breathe AHR detailing how we have embedded art into healthcare throughout our long history.