A very warm welcome to our website from all here at the National Forum for Health and Wellbeing (NFHW).

We are a registered charity that aims to promote health and wellbeing within communities by engaging and empowering people to make decisions about their own health. We provide information, education, as well as signpost visitors to various services available to them through the NHS, social services, NGOs and other voluntary and statutory organisations. We believe in developing partnership, working together and adapting holistic approach to deliver culturally sensitive care within the community.

Many non-traditional (also called alternative) therapies have been shown to benefit individuals with chronic health issues. We feel these therapies – such as Yoga, Reiki, meditation, acupuncture – should be given appropriate consideration and made available to the community along with conventional and traditional healthcare. We also recognise that environmental pollution impacts on health and hence NFHW supports sustainability within the NHS and all healthcare settings.

To achieve our aims, we work with local communities, educational institutions, NHS, local councils and voluntary organisations.

We hold regular free events including health melas (health fairs), health screening, diagnostic tests (health MOTs) and public engagement seminars. Health MOTs help early detection of potentially life threatening health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, and obesity to name only some of them. Through public engagement seminars, experts from various fields share their expertise with the local community, showcase their services and gather feedback from service users.

In addition, Health Melas also provide a platform for the health students to learn and practise their professional skills under supervision. These events also offer excellent opportunities for volunteering. The melas have been visited by several local and national civic dignitaries and leaders in the health and care sectors. All have unanimously praised the concept and their testimonials are available through ‘testimonials’ tab at the top of the webpage.

Lord Darzi, in his recent letter to the Secretary of Health, as a preamble to his report ‘Independent Investigation of the NHS in England’ wrote ‘simplify and innovate care delivery for a neighbourhood NHS’. We believe our approach has been in alignment with it. Our activities such as health melas, public seminars and other activities  demonstrate that our approach to public health is good news for our severely stretched NHS, showing how to gradually re-orientate the service to increase its activity in health promotion and disease prevention by engaging and working with local communities and other interested groups.

Details of our forthcoming activities can be found in the ‘Next Events’ section of the website.

In 2014, NFHW was the winner of E3 Enterprise Award whereas in 2019, NFHW reached final and was runners up in the ‘Community Group of the Year’ award category.

Please take time to discover the increasingly wide range of original material supporting good practice in community health promotion available on this site, which we continue to add to on a regular basis.

In 2021 we celebrated 20 Years of our success; more details can be found in a brochure covering our activities which you can read here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6kkt8stsh8zkw63jxot6s/NFHW-20-anniversary-spreads.pdf?rlkey=9fvc9knjjs5fp6okawenfonrj&e=1&dl=0 .

We have published our results in peer reviewed medical journals as well as presenting at several national and international conferences. NFHW Health Mela was one of the case studies of NHS Toolkit ‘Maximising Population and Prevention in Curricula’. The Toolkit can be accessed by registering at https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/maximising-population-health-and-prevention-in-curricula/

We will continue to develop our existing programmes, so be on the lookout for news and new opportunities.

If you would like to take part, have any ideas about partnership working towards health improvements, help with a potential health improvement project, or simply would  like to volunteer we would love to hear from you.

Please contact Mr Ravin Shah, Trustee and  events coordinator <ravin.shah@nfhw.org.uk>

Do visit us again soon.

Professor Romesh Gupta OBE