Amersham and Locality Profile

Prevention Matters Priorities

The Community Links Officer (CLO) has identified a number of key Prevention Matters priorities for the locality that will form the focus of the work over the next few months. These priorities also help to determine the sort of services and projects where Prevention Matters grants can be targeted.

The priorities have been identified using the data provided by the Community Practice Workers (CPW) in terms of successful referrals and unmet demand (gaps where there are no appropriate services available), consultation with district council officers, town and parish councils, other statutory and voluntary sector organisations and also through the in depth knowledge of the cohort and the locality that the CLO has gained.

The CLO has also worked with the other CLOs across the county to identify some key countywide priorities which affect all localities.

Countywide Priorities Befriending Community Transport

Amersham and Chesham Priorities Dementia Friendly Communities Activities for Men Physical Health and Wellbeing

Background data

Physical Area

The borders of the locality extend as far south as Hughenden Valley and . A number of small villages on the outskirts make up the whole of the locality together with larger urban settlements, making this the third smallest of the seven Bucks GP localities (72,877 people).

The total area is 205.5 Square Kilometres, although this includes the parishes of Penn and , which are shared between two other localities.

The population in this locality is generally older than the Bucks average with a higher proportion of over 65’s (18.2%) and the number of older people over 65 is projected to increase.

Ethnic Diversity

Chesham local area has the highest percentage of people from BME groups and issues have been identified around the integration of young Asian mums into the community. This is mainly due to the fact that English is not widely spoken and this has an effect on the children who also lack to integrate at school from an early age. Some work is being carried out in Newtown school where an Outreach Family Worker is currently involved with a number of Asian families requiring support.

Health and Deprivation

The health of people in Chiltern is generally better than the average and deprivation is lower than average, however about 1500 children still live in poverty. As a whole the locality is less deprived than the Bucks average, although the area in and around Chesham is the most deprived fifth of the population for Bucks.

Life expectancy is 8.8 years lower for men and 6.00 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Chiltern than in the least deprived areas.

A Public and Patient Engagement workshop identified that the main health issues in this locality were:  Cardiovascular disease  Falls in older people  Mental Health Issues for Older People (including Depression and Dementia)

There was also an emphasis on the need for lifestyle changes (physical activity, alcohol, smoking and healthy eating).

There were also issues identified around early years (parenting), the varied needs of different communities, education, access to services (GPs, referrals and travel to access services), joint working between health and social care, community care for vulnerable older people and social isolation.

Chesham local area has the highest percentage of people from BME groups and issues have been identified around the integration of young Asian mums into the community. This is mainly due to the fact that English is not widely spoken and this has an effect on the children who also lack to integrate at school from an early age. Some work is being carried out in Newtown school where an Outreach Family Worker is currently involved with a number of Asian families requiring support.

Local Areas

Amersham

Amersham is a large urban area and has a very proactive community. The Library hosts a number of activities and the manager is keen to link with local groups to ensure that the needs of the local residents are met. The District Council offices are the base for the Chiltern Clinical Commissioning Group and Bucks Floating Support. The biggest need highlighted by the referrals to the CPWs seems to be Social Isolation. However, the number of social activities in the area is reasonably high and this need is generally met also by additional coffee mornings and lunch clubs offered by the numerous churches in this town. There is a community centre which is well used and hosts a number of social activities during the week.

Amersham has 2 day centres for older people. The Camaradiere group meets in a Paradigm Scheme and is well attended. Clients generally use Dial-a-Ride to access the service and the organiser has done some work with the local library to bring a variety of activities to the clients. The group meets once per week and is offered to the clients at a cost of £10.00 including a meal. Transport remains an issue for people to attend as Dial-a-Ride can be quite expensive.

The Sycamore Club is hosted by the Free Church in Amersham and offers a day centre once per week for people who suffer from dementia at a very low cost of £6.00 including transport and a meal. Transport here is also an issue for people who wish to come from further afield like or . The group is not working at its full capacity although referrals have increased since the start of Prevention Matters. A stroke support group meet at St John’s Methodist Church once per week. Transport has again been highlighted as the main issue and the group could benefit from a higher attendance.

Age Concern also provide a reasonable support in the town with their lunch club which meets in the Community Centre which is very well attended and a Good Neighbourhood Scheme which provides befriending and support with shopping and transport. More volunteers are needed for this scheme.

In essence, Amersham seems to be very well served when it comes to social activities. The existence of an active Older People Action Group ensures that local issues are raised and brought to the attention of the relevant people. However, access to a lot of activities is made difficult by the lack of affordable transport and the complete absence of any known voluntary car schemes.

Old Amersham has a very well established Older People Action Group (OASIS) with a total of 25 members who meet regularly.

Amersham has a community centre which provides a central hub for communication. The Council Offices also have a number of leaflets on display. The various churches advertise their groups on their individual websites and the free magazine YourAmersham is delivered to approximately 9000 homes and is also available online.

Chesham

Chesham has a population of just over 21000 people. Despite the fact that Chesham seems to have an extremely pro-active community, there are a number of serious pockets of deprivation which have an impact on the whole community. Chesham is relatively well serviced with regards to social activities. run a number of lunch clubs and drop ins for socially isolated elderly people. However, the groups are slightly under attended and this is probably due to not enough publicity. Transport is sometimes an issue although Dial-A-Ride provide quite a range of choice for journeys but this can be quite costly to the client. There is an emergency car scheme for support in extreme weather (CHAV) and Chesham Voluntary Car Service provides transport specifically for doctors or hospital appointments from patients from Chesham surgeries. There is also an Age Concern group which offers befriending and support with shopping and medical trips. A number of organisations like Bucks Mind, Alzheimer’s Society and Mind The Gap offer social activities for older people and people with mental health issues. An overall problem appears to be the recruitment of volunteers. The Chesham Wellbeing project, which aims to raise the wellbeing of Chesham to an acceptable level, involves a number of on-going activities, some of which are linked to Prevention Matters outcomes. Some work is being undertaken by local health partners and other professionals to increase the integration of young Asian Families into the community and ensure that young families have the necessary support in terms of language and parenting skills.

The Town Hall in Chesham provides a hub for a number of activities and it hosts a memory café run by the Alzheimer’s Society and an Art Group delivered by Bucks Mind. Both the groups are every popular and well attended. There is also an MS physio session which meets weekly in the Town Hall. The White Hill centre is also a hub for a number of regular activities. There are a number of churches that offer lunch clubs and coffee mornings. The Emmanuel Church hosts a regular Bucks Vision day centre. The group is relatively well attended but there are some problems associated with the overall structure of the organisation.

Another good asset in Chesham town is the number of Paradigm Sheltered Housing schemes. These offer a number of activities to their residents such as coffee mornings, silver surfer sessions etc.and a meeting with the Schemes Manager highlighted their intention to offer these activities to the wider community and to use some of their venues to host day centres. Paradigm Housing has a number of Outreach workers who have a case load of residents whom they support with queries regarding their tenancy or any other issue that they may have. The idea was that during their “downtime” they could facilitate activities within the schemes. The library also provides a central hub for the community and it offers a number of activities on a regular basis. There is a privately run day centre Douglas McMinn who offers support to elderly clients. The centre is opened 5 days per week and is staffed by 8 paid members of staff all qualified to NVQ Level 2. The cost for the day is quite high at £42 including transport. This is due to the fact that the staff are highly qualified and the centre used to cater for people with high needs as they used to receive funding from BCC. Due to the fact that the group has mostly clients who suffer from relatively severe dementia, it would not be appropriate for clients with mild and moderate needs to join the group as this would not provide the necessary stimulation. The possibility of reserving one day of the week to more independent clients was discussed but this would encounter a number of problems regarding possible staff cuts as there would not be a need for qualified staff on that day. The group has 2 volunteers.

Chesham has a well-established Older People Action Group (COPAG) with a total of 65 individual members.

There is a magazine which is produced twice per year (May and November) and is available to the wider community. The town Hall has a comprehensive display of leaflets and posters of local events and an easy accessible website. The library also provides a good hub for communication. There is also a monthly magazine called YourChesham which is distributed to 12000 homes in Chesham and surrounding villages. This also includes any forthcoming events and groups and activities and it is also available online. In addition, the LAF has put available some funds to produce a paper Directory of Activities and Services for Older People in Chesham.

Prestwood and Great Missenden

There are a number of social activities in Prestwood and Great Missenden run by the local churches. Aa day centre in Prestwood run by Bucks Mind provides support for elderly clients. The residents of Prestwood have recently formed their own Prestwood Village Association and this has a well-managed website with a directory of all local activities. The group aims to provide a source of information for the whole community. There is a free local community magazine called The Source which is published 5 times per year and is distributed by volunteers to homes in the village. The magazine is also available online.

Prestwood has a number of very pro-active residents who are very involved in the development of their community. There are 2 doctors’ surgeries in Prestwood and CAB provides outreach service for people visiting the surgeries. The minister at King’s Church in Prestwood is actively involved in a number of projects. He coordinates PACT (Prestwood Area Community Transport) which is a local volunteer driver scheme which provides transport for people within a 5 miles radius of Prestwood during adverse weather. He is the main driver of the local magazine The Source and coordinates a number of volunteers who provide weekly visit to a local Nursing Home, providing entertainment and companionship for the residents. The church also runs a Prestwood Open Door club which is a monthly event for the elderly. CPW’s have reported that access to activities via public transport is a bit problematic as the buses are not very frequent and they do not coincide with other buses that go into the main town centres. Therefore elderly people find themselves isolated unless they choose to use Dial-a-Ride or other means of transport. There is also Prestwood and Age Concern Luncheon Club held in the village hall in Prestwood on Tuesdays at 1 pm. A minibus service is available if people are not able to get there. The cost for this activity is £4.00.

Great Missenden has a weekly Age Concern lunch club held in the Baptist Church in the High Street. This is very well attended and transport is provided by the Age Concern minibus with the help of a volunteer driver. There are a number of volunteers who help out during the activity and the group has recently had a talk from a representative for Assistive Technology. The library in Great Missenden represents a community hub and is jointly run by volunteers and paid members of staff. A group of Great Missenden residents have formed the Link Missenden Group and their aim is to build community links. They are also working on the production of a paper directory for vulnerable people living in the HP16 area. As reported by the CPW’s, the main issue in this area is again social isolation. The villages are not very well serviced by public transport and the few buses that are available do not allow residents to then catch the bus to larger towns like or Chesham.

Surrounding Villages

The locality has a number of villages and hamlets with very active communities and revitalisation groups whose work is essential in supporting the development of local communities.

Hughenden Valley – There are a number of churches in this area all linked and that provide regular activities for residents. There is a village shop which was established 4 years ago after the old village shop closed down. The shop is run by volunteers and has one paid member of staff (Louise). It is managed by a committee and is owned by shareholders. It is open7 days a week. One of the many benefits of the shop is that they home deliver to older people.

Next door to the shop there is a village hall which runs a number of activities including Pilates, arts group, martial arts and a garden association. They also run an annual senior citizens event.

There is a bi-annual fete held in the village. There is a residents’ association, a primary school, a GP surgery, a pharmacy and a also in the village.

Spring Valley Centre (Fleet Street) is a day centre for those with learning difficulties. There is a play area in the village which is maintained by the Parish Council.

The village has 750 households and 2,500 residents.

Naphill and Walters Ash: This very small village has a Methodist Church which holds regular activities for residents such as coffee mornings. There is a village coffee shop which can be considered a hub. Naphill and Walter’s Ash have a community website which lists a number of clubs and activities which go on in the villages. The website hosts an online gazette which is also produced and printed by approximately 40 volunteers.

Communication strategy: The village shop provides a hub for the community and events can be advertised there. The residents association also has a very comprehensive website.

The Hilltop Villages Good Neighbours Scheme is a community group formed approximately a couple of years ago in response to the cutbacks in public services. The group covers residents living in the villages of , , , and St Leonards. The project includes a Pub Lunch Club, and Extreme Weather 4 x 4 car Scheme and a Community Services Directory.

GP Practices

There are 9 GP surgeries covering the Amersham & Chesham locality and two Prevention Matters Community Practice Workers who cover them.

Amersham Health Centre Gladstone Surgery Chiltern Avenue Chess Medical Centre Amersham 260-290 Berkhampstead Road HP6 5AY Chesham Tel: 01494 434344 HP5 3EZ http://www.amershamhealthcentre.co.uk/ Tel: 01494 782884 http://www.gladstonesurgery.co.uk/ Prospect House Surgery Hughenden Valley Surgery High Street Valley Road Great Missenden Hughenden HP16 0BG Tel: 01494 862325 HP14 4LG http://www.thepracticeprospecthouse.nhs.uk/ Tel: 01494 562189 or 01494 563275 http://www.ourpractice.co.uk/ Rectory Meadow Surgery School Lane Surgery Old Amersham 97 High Street HP7 0HG Prestwood Tel: 01494 727711 HP16 9EU http://www.rectorymeadowsurgery.co.uk/ Tel: 01494 890900 http://www.johnhampden.co.uk/ The New Surgery Chess Medical Centre 260-290 Berkhampstead Road Little Chalfont Surgery Chesham 200 White Lion Rd HP5 3EZ Little Chalfont Tel: 01494 782262 HP7 9NU http://www.newsurgerychesham.nhs.uk/ Tel: 01494 762323 http://www.littlechalfontsurgery.co.uk/

Water Meadow Surgery Water Meadow Surgery 31a Red Lion Street Chesham HP5 1ET Tel: 01494 782241 http://www.watermeadowsurgery.co.uk/