A group of organisations that work together to improve people’s health and wellbeing have met to discuss progress on key themes.
Calderdale Health and Wellbeing Board met on Thursday 18 September 2025 at Halifax Town Hall. It is made of up local leaders from Calderdale Council, the NHS, the voluntary and community sector and clinical and community service providers, who work as a partnership to achieve the borough’s Wellbeing Strategy.
The focus of the meeting was the Strategy’s ‘developing well’ goal, that every 15-year-old has hope and aspiration, so they can have good wellbeing, reach their potential and access good jobs and opportunities. Local organisations can support this by creating opportunities and spaces for young people to connect and ensuring they feel empowered and can get extra support when they need it.
The Board received an update on the action being taken to achieve this priority, with a focus on the joint work with young people to better understand and tackle inequalities.
Children and young people are at the heart of the ‘developing well’ priority, sharing their ideas, having a say in decisions that affect them and shaping services.
The Board heard examples from young people of the impact of work being done with post-16-year-olds on engagement, learning, employment and skills.
Improvements are being made, but the Board raised concerns about school survey findings that suggested that LGBTQ+ young people are significantly less likely to feel that they belong and that they are listened to than other young people. This led to a discussion about how engagement with young people can be expanded across services and networks, building on the good work being done with Calderdale’s Youth Voice Groups and in local schools.
Board members also talked about how prepared organisations are for the increased risks for people’s health and wellbeing over winter.
In winter, people who need help to keep well can find treatment, care and support harder to access because of seasonal variations in infectious diseases and higher demand for support from health and social care services.
The discussion focused on how to make organisations more resilient to winter pressures, including a focus on preventing ill health by enabling people to be well.
One example of this, linked to the ‘developing well’ priority, is the creation of an ‘integrated front door’ – a single phone number and online contact for young people and their families to access advice, guidance, services and basic health and wellbeing support. Guided self-care reduces the need for specialist support.
Other examples include the flu jab campaign to encourage take-up across communities, the Covid vaccine rollout and winter wellness information to support communities to look after themselves and others.
Cllr Tim Swift, Chair of Calderdale Health and Wellbeing Board, said:
“Calderdale’s Vision 34 is to be a place full of opportunity, where everyone will have reason to be full of hope. Supporting children and young people to have the best start in life, and to be safe and well, is critical to achieving our vision.
“We have a better chance of doing that when we work together as a partnership of organisations and communities, which is why it’s so important to have a Health and Wellbeing Board and to meet regularly to discuss key issues.”
Dr Steven Cleasby, GP at Spring Hall Group Practice and Chair of Calderdale Clinical and Professional Forum, chaired the September Health and Wellbeing Board meeting in Cllr Swift’s absence. Dr Cleasby said:
“The main objective for the Developing Well Programme in Calderdale is for year 10 students to have hope for a good future. This is hard in a world with so many challenges but the annual survey shows we are making good progress in Calderdale and we should be proud of that, but there is still much to be done. We need to work with young people to see what will make a difference for them.”