Health and wellbeing ‘one-stop shop’ is on its way to Warrington
A pioneering new facility where Warrington residents can access early help and support with their health and wellbeing is coming to the town centre.
The former Contact Warrington centre, on Horsemarket Street, is being transformed into a new Living Well Hub, which has received £3million funding from Warrington’s Town Deal, as part of a £22million programme of connected schemes across Warrington.
The Hub is a partnership initiative and will provide a wide range of accessible healthcare services for the whole community under one roof.
The space inside the Hub is set to be shared by teams from Warrington Borough Council, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, along with a wide range of voluntary and charitable sector organisations from across the town. Here is everything you need to know about the Hub:
Q: What is the Living Well Hub?
A: The Living Well Hub is there to help you look after yourself and your family, to enable you to live happily, healthily and independently for longer.
It will be a safe, welcoming space where you can go to talk and get advice about any challenges that may be impacting negatively on your general health and wellbeing.
It will not be a traditional walk-in centre for treating injuries and illnesses. Instead, the services being provided are there to help you with identifying health (physical or mental) or wellbeing issues earlier and link you up to some appropriate support straight away.
The Living Well Hub is part of the borough-wide Living Well programme, which aims to connect people, communities and services and enable residents to take greater control of their own health, wellbeing and resilience.
Q: What services will be available here?
A: The Hub is situated in Horsemarket Street in the heart of Warrington town centre, close to the bus interchange and train station, and with ample blue badge parking nearby.
Inside the Hub there will be a number of clinical and non-clinical rooms, along with pre-booked and drop-in appointment spaces offering a range of services including:
- support for children and families about how to lead healthier and more active lives
- assistance for older residents with early signs of frailty who want to continue to live independently at home
- health visitor advice and guidance
- antenatal/postnatal clinics
- dementia assessments and support
- support for people providing care to others
Plans for the Hub also include the addition of a rooftop extension and refreshment area.
Q: Why do we need this facility?
A: Like most towns and cities across the UK, Warrington has experienced unprecedented levels of demand for health and care services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Warrington is also one of the fastest growing towns in the UK with an ageing population. The population of the borough of Warrington is around 210,000, with the number of people aged 65 and above set to double over the next 20 years.
Therefore new and innovative approaches to health and care services in the community are now required to meet current and future demands.
Warrington’s Living Well Hub will create a focal point for the health and care system to collectively support early intervention and the prevention of ill health. It will in time help to ease pressure on other health and care services across the town, such as GP appointments and services at Warrington Hospital.
The location of the Hub, in the town centre, is close to the areas of highest deprivation in Warrington so ideally situated to have the largest impact in terms of supporting those with the greatest needs to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Q: How has it been funded?
A: The Living Well Hub has received £3million funding from Warrington’s Town Deal, which is a £22million programme of connected schemes across Warrington.
Funding for the Town Deal was provided as part of the Government’s Towns Fund and given the go-ahead by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in February 2022.
Plans for the three-storey Hub were subsequently approved in November 2022.
Warrington’s initial Town Deal bid was shaped by public feedback and consultation. The public engagement undertaken during the early planning stages of the Living Well Hub project showed support for a new health and wellbeing facility in the town centre.
Feedback from residents suggested that a space to offer help and advice to families and children would be especially welcome.
Q: What happened to the former Contact Warrington centre?
A: The Living Well Hub will be based in the former Contact Warrington centre in Horsemarket Street.
The centre opened its doors to the public in 2007 but closed when Warrington Borough Council opened its new offices in Time Square in 2020.
Ahead of refurbishment work starting on the Hub, staff at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust wanted to ensure the existing furniture in the office building was put to good use.
As a result, almost 300 items ranging from desks and office chairs to whiteboards and waste paper bins have subsequently been donated to local partner organisations and charities across the town. These include Warrington Youth Zone, Warrington Disability Partnership, Room at the Inn, Warrington Foodbank, Padgate Academy, Burtonwood Bowling Club and others.
Q: What is the Living Well programme?
A: The Living Well Hub has been developed in partnership with multiple stakeholders as part of the town’s wider Living Well programme.
Living Well is about bringing people and organisations together from across health, public health, adult social care, the voluntary sector, and our local communities.
The aim of Living Well is to make sure you can access the right help and support for your individual needs in order to resolve any issues that could affect your physical, social and emotional wellbeing. It is centred around seven key themes:
- Mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Living safe and well at home
- Being active and mobile
- Connecting with friends, family and community
- Managing medications and health conditions
- Money advice, housing and life changes
- Healthy lifestyle choices (including eating and drinking)
Q: When can we use the Living Well Hub?
A: Work is now under way on transforming the existing former Contact Warrington centre on Horsemarket Street into the new multi-million pound health and wellbeing ‘one-stop shop’.
The Living Well Hub is set to open its doors later this year, with announcements about opening hours and how to access the services and activities on offer to be made in due course.
In the meantime, you can access friendly, face-to-face information, support and guidance via one of Warrington’s Talking Points. Talking Points were introduced as part of the Living Well programme and are places where you can speak to an advisor about anything that might be concerning you.
For example, you might need help connecting with local groups and activities, using online services, dealing with finance and benefits or health and social care issues.
Talking Point advisors aren’t from any one particular organisation, so they can offer advice on a variety of issues or signpost you to other services or groups that can help.
For more information about Talking Points, visit warrington.gov.uk/talking-points.
Keep up to date with the latest news and developments about the Living Well Hub at warrington.gov.uk/living-well-hub.
