Raquel Cerezo Martin
Social Prescriber & Cofounder of Wellbeing Hub
Cranbrook Primary Care Network (PCN) / Redbridge Place Based Partnership
Cherrill Hutchinson
Mental Health Practitioner, Founder of Black Woman Kindness Initiative & Cofounder of Wellbeing Hub
The Challenge
Having attained her psychology degree in 2014, Raquel worked for some time in Mental Health services includung the care home sector. Following Covid, Raquel made a decision to take on a totally different role as a social prescibing link worker.
In her role as newly appointed social prescriber for Cranbrook PCN Raquel became aware of the significant health inequalities in the local community. These included high rates of mental illness and deprivation. Raquel noticed that women in particular from diverse ethnic or cultural backgrounds had differing approaches to accessing healthcare.
Her desire to address these gaps and offer culturally sensitive, inclusive wellness services, motivated her to develop a programme that would not only meet the needs of this group but would be flexible enough to provide tailored support.
“In essence, the Wellbeing Hub has the potential to not only improve individual lives but to also contribute to the broader social, cultural, and economic wellbeing of the community. It can create a lasting legacy of better health, empowerment, and resilience within ethnic minority groups.”
The Innovation
To address the challenges, Raquel interacted with several women and realised that involving them in finding a solution would ensure a more sustainable programme of support was available to them. She realised that by involving women in decision making was fulfilling and empowering for them and led to improvement in their mental health and wellbeing.
In 2019, Cherrill created the Community Interest Company (CIC) Black Woman Kindness Initiative. Raquel met Cherrill in 2022 at a Healthwatch Community Networking event, and in 2023, they formed a partnership. This partnership led to the launch of the sister project, the Wellbeing Hub, under the Black Woman Kindness Initiative. The Hub ran from May 2023 until August 2023 at the local library, supported by NHS ICB Health Inequalities Funding. These weekly sessions attracted between 10 to 20 women.
Following the success of the project, Raquel and Cherrill secured year-long funding and, through networking with local services, gained access to a community engagement hub. This venue allowed them to save funds and invest more into the women’s services. Over the course of 40 weekly sessions, they reached 250 women and recorded over 700 visits to the Hub. Now, they are preparing for the third iteration of the Wellbeing Hub, having secured additional funding for six months, with the potential for year-long funding for 2025/2026.
The Hub creates a space where women can connect, build relationships, and form supportive networks. The weekly programme offers women a number of activities ranging from culture coffee afternoons to belly dance fitness and talks from local speakers about health issues relevant to this group of women. They have a calendar of activities planned for the whole year and have been meeting every week since May 2023. The support provided at these sessions allows women to participate in physical, creative and personal growth activities.
To date, over 250 women have been reached with over 600 visits being made to the hub sessions and over 40 holistic sessions delivered per week in one year.
As a result of the work Raquel and Cherill have implemented they have been recipients of the following awards:
- Black Legacy Award in Health & Wellbeing 2023
- Mayor Community Award winner 2024
In addition, they have now been granted further funding to continue delivery of this service in 2025 and have built strong partnerships with the NHS and community organisations.
The Impact
- Improved staff health, wellbeing, and resilience
- Reduction in isolation
- Improved access to healthcare services
- Reducing health inequalities within the local communities
- Improved mental health and well being
- Increased health and personal resilience
- Improved collaboration and integration across the local system
