Jane is one of our Community Capacity Builders for the Well Together programme, which provides funding and support to community groups. Jane has worked in community development for 20 years, including in her own community in Florence Park, Oxford. Previous to that, she worked in developing play services across Oxfordshire (with Oxfordshire Play Association) and before that she was a teacher on a Scottish island. She values the ‘ABCD’ approach to community development – ‘Asset-Based Community Development’, which ‘starts with what’s strong in a community, not with what’s wrong’. She loves socialising, walks and plays drums in an all-woman, over-50s punk band called The HorMones.
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New CFO research – health and wellbeing in rural Oxfordshire
In July 2023, Healthwatch Oxfordshire commissioned CFO to undertake community insight research in a rural area of Oxfordshire with focus on understanding health inequalities, and health and wellbeing.
Our team focused on the communities of Ambrosden, Arncott, Piddington, and Blackthorn in the north of the county. We carried out discussion groups, had one-to-one conversations with people living in the four communities and also distributed a survey, collecting the opinions of 162 residents in total.
People were asked about the local groups, services, and people which support health and wellbeing. They were also asked about challenges to health and wellbeing and what would help to make these better.
WHAT WE WERE TOLD – READ THE REPORT
The new report will be sent to the four parish councils, community groups, and other local organisations, including Oxfordshire County Council, Cherwell District Council and the Ministry of Defence, to help illustrate specific issues with health and wellbeing in rural communities and how they could be improved.
Healthwatch Oxfordshire and CFO are also holding a joint Round Table event in June to present the findings of the report to local organisations, service providers and commissioners, to further discuss the insights it offers into issues faced within rural communities.
The report will also be presented to the Oxfordshire Health and Planning group in July.