New GSK Community Health Programme announces 15 charities to receive funding and development

Health inequalities are avoidable and systematic differences that include access to health care, quality and experience of care, life expectancy, and wider factors such as environment and housing. There are stark gaps in health between the least and most deprived areas in the UK, with the cost-of-living squeeze and rising poverty also impacting many people’s health. 

A considerable amount of the work to tackle health inequalities is carried out by very small charities working with their communities. These organisations can find it hard to access unrestricted funding and support for their leaders, particularly in the current economic climate, which has resulted in huge pressures on funding.  

The successful charities, all with an annual income of between £20,000 and £150,000, were selected from more than 230 applications and will each receive £10,000 in unrestricted funding from GSK, plus a place on a sought-after leadership programme worth an additional £3,500, delivered by leading health charity The King’s Fund.  

 The 15 successful charities are:  

• Active Independence – supporting disabled people, their families and carers, providing advocacy, information and advice to enable them to live an independent life.

• Aishah Help – supporting people from ethnic minority communities with a particular focus on reducing loneliness and deprivation, and improving mental health.

• Axminster and Lyme Cancer Support – supporting anyone living with cancer in the local community. 

• Become United – supporting ethnic minority communities in Greater Manchester, focusing on reducing health inequalities and fostering community development.

• The Birth Partner Project – providing volunteer birth partners to support women seeking sanctuary in Cardiff, who would otherwise face pregnancy, birth and early motherhood alone. 

• Bridge2 Liverpool – supporting asylum seekers and refugees to transition and integrate providing a range of support services and activities.

• Diversity Rights – promoting diversity and inclusion in policy and providing access to rights, services and opportunities to ethnic minority communities in the London Borough of Enfield.

• Elayos – coming alongside Birmingham’s most vulnerable and isolated women during pregnancy with free practical and emotional support which continues throughout the birth and during the postnatal period.

• Globe Community Project – transforming loneliness into connection among isolated people and underserved groups in Tower Hamlets, currently working with refugees suffering from trauma and older adults.

• Growing Works – supporting children and adults with mental ill health in Kirklees providing outdoor therapeutic activities such as gardening, cooking and nature crafts.

• Somali Adult Social Care Agency (SASCA) – supporting Somali adults in Manchester with advocacy, advice and signposting on issues around housing, immigration status, benefits, debt and health.

• Transforming Autism – providing early intervention support to young autistic children and their families in the home in Essex, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and London and online nationally.

• Trust Leeds – helping people facing challenges of poverty and ill-health to build their confidence, financial resilience, skills and sense of purpose.

• Warwickshire Pride – working to combat discrimination and raise awareness of issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community.

• Wellbeing in Action – removing and preventing the causes of harm to people's physical, emotional, social and financial health and wellbeing through community action in Devon.

Commenting on the new programme, Katie Pinnock, Director of UK Charitable Investments at GSK, said: "We are incredibly proud to support the GSK Community Health programme in partnership with The King’s Fund. Our commitment to working with communities to understand and tackle health disparities is at the heart of this initiative.

"By providing both funding and leadership development opportunities, we aim to empower these small but impactful charities to continue their vital work in addressing health inequalities. The dedication and resilience of these organisations are truly inspiring, and we are honoured to support their efforts in making a tangible difference to the health and wellbeing of some of the UK's most deprived communities."

Lisa Weaks, Senior Associate at The King’s Fund, said: "Despite incredibly limited resources and funding, these charities provide vital and wide-reaching services to improve the health of some of the most vulnerable people in their communities and help tackle deeply ingrained health inequalities. 

"People leading these charities work under enormous pressure and can find it very hard to access funding and leadership support. We are therefore really pleased to be able to offer all successful charities a place on a leadership programme to enable these aspirational leaders to enhance their skills and realise their ambitions to increase their organisation’s impact. We look forward to working with and learning from them." 

This new Community Health programme builds on the longstanding partnership between GSK and The King’s Fund that has seen the organisations run the GSK IMPACT Awards for small and medium-sized charities working to improve health and wellbeing for 28 years, in addition to recent programmes supporting smaller charities addressing health inequalities. 

For more information about the GSK Community Health programme visit: www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/projects/gsk/community-health-programme