No Limits to take on vital role as part of new ‘social prescribing’ project

16th August 2018

No Limits has been awarded £85,000 from the government’s new Health and Wellbeing Fund to support socially excluded children and young people aged 5-25 in Southampton through ‘social prescribing’ – a new referral system to enable primary care professionals to link young people with a range of local, non-clinical services.

Through the StreetGames consortium, No Limits and other partners will provide a link for socially excluded children and young people in Southampton to attend a range of community-based services such as sport and physical activity, weight management, volunteering, anger and stress management, counselling and peer support, to improve their health outcomes by increasing their quality of life and wellbeing.

Annabel Hodgson, CEO of No Limits says “This is an exciting new development for Southampton health services. By linking directly through referrals we would hope to have a significant positive impact on the health outcomes for these young people.”

Social prescribing recognizes that people’s health is determined primarily by a range of so-cial, economic and environmental factors and seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way. Evidence shows that this approach can reduce demand on NHS services: a UK study found that after 3 to 4 months, 80% of patients referred to a social prescribing scheme had reduced their use of A&E, outpatient appointments and inpatient admissions.

A total of 23 social prescribing projects in England will receive a share of the £4.5 million funding, which will provide support for those impacted by health inequalities, help people with particularly complex needs, and reach out to people who may be socially isolated.