Prevention programme 2023-2025

This £2 million programme was funded by the council and our local NHS (Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board) to support a long-term, system-wide preventative approach to the health and wellbeing of residents.

An independent evaluation by the University of the West of England (UWE) found that that programme delivered positive social value and demonstrated the benefits of early intervention, working in partnership, and community empowerment.

Our Director of Public Health Report 2025 shares learning from the Prevention programme, including findings from the independent evaluation and recommendations for future action.

To support staff and partners developing projects, programmes and business cases, UWE has produced the Making the Case for Prevention Toolkit.

Projects and outcomes

11 pilot projects were funded across 4 areas:

  • Start well – giving children the best start in life
  • Live well – tackling factors that can lead to health and wellbeing inequalities throughout adult life
  • Age well – helping older people live safely and independently
  • Community in action – strengthening community-based support networks

Watch our short video to learn about some of the work that has been happening in our communities.

Read more about the programme on Newsroom or find more details about the different projects and outcomes below.

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Start well

To give children the best start in life, we introduced:

  • family link workers to help reduce persistent and severe school absenteeism, recording a 17% average improvement in attendance and increased family wellbeing
  • promotion of physical and mental health and wellbeing initiatives in schools, leading to improved pupil engagement and better staff-student relationships

Live well

Live well projects raised awareness about vulnerable groups and helped residents by:

  • providing warm packs during winter which helped people feel more comfortable and reduced anxiety about heating costs
  • improving partnership working to support people with complex needs, helping to avoid hospitalisation and homelessness and gain faster access to care and services
  • introducing a programme in schools about preventing violence against women and girls, resulting in greater understanding and confidence to seek help or challenge inappropriate behaviour

Age well

Age well projects aimed to help older people stay healthy and independent for longer by:

  • expanding health and happiness hubs to support people with long-term health conditions with many participants noting positive changes to physical activity and diet, and a reduction in anxiety and stress
  • providing one-to-one support to access health, care and community services via village agents
  • setting up an Improving Homes and Wellbeing Service with Age UK to reduce housing-related risks, resulting in reduced falls risk, lower heating bills and fewer cold-related illnesses

Community in action

The community in action projects aimed to strengthen community-based support networks across South Gloucestershire. This involved:

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