Celebrating Social Prescribing in Style

A group of people wearing face masks are standing in a room and are reaching their hands up towards the sky.

On Thursday 10th March 2022 we joined our Health Tree partners on Social Prescribing Day for the Health Tree network’s second public event titled “Celebrating Social Prescribing”!

The event was a joyous celebration filled with laughter, singing, dancing, drumming, and delicious food. It was a fantastic way to showcase some of the brilliant activities and link workers who are championing social prescribing in Tower Hamlets.

People sat around a table, which is covered with writing materials and has a tea pot in the centre.

To get everyone moving and energised, our partners at Outside Edge Theatre Company kicked off the activities by leading a warm-up game. Spare Tyre then gave us a taster of a Covid Café, which provides an opportunity for people who have been affected by Covid-19 and suffering from Long Term Covid and other health conditions to come together and share conversations and creativity.

Two women in the background are sitting on chairs with Somali drums by their legs. A third woman is standing behind a microphone to the right of the drummers and is clapping her hands. A fourth woman is in the foreground of the image and is dancing.

Our My Moves dance team then led an amazing Somali dance workshop which was accompanied by some brilliant live singing and powerful drumming. Gripped with the energy from the room, members of the audience left their seats to try the dancing out for themselves!

A woman and a man are sitting on two chairs, facing each other. They are mid-conversation and are sitting in the middle of a community hall. Behind them is a projection of the words "Celebrating Social Prescribing".

In an innovative role play, Tower Hamlets GP Care Group demonstrated how social prescribing consultations work in practice, by role-playing a conversation between a social prescriber and a patient.

Breathe AHR then took to the stage and got everyone back on their feet with fun and catchy communal singing exercises.

Outside Edge Theatre Company led the audience in another interactive game, this time with a focus on networking and learning from each other. Breaking for lunch, everyone was treated to some delicious Somali food prepared by Hooyo East from Women’s Inclusive Team.

Three women are standing behind a kitchen counter, serving food on paper plates.

As everyone mingled and tucked into lunch, attendees were invited to reflect on the event and wrote their feedback on paper leaves to be added to our Health Tree curated by artist Sylvia Morgado.

A tree made from brown and green cardboard. Writing can be seen on the leaves, which were produced as part of an evaluation exercise.

We received some great feedback through this exercise:

“Eternally grateful. What an incredibly inspiring day – I have been struggling with my own mental health since Covid and this event has felt so uplifting and given me not only a fulfilling day out of the house, but a tool bag of names, organisations and a whole lot of hope to go forward. Thank you.”

“Fantastic! Wasn’t sure what to expect from my first introduction to the social prescribing world. Safe to say this far exceeded my expectations! Thanks for opening my eyes to a brand new perspective.”

Thank you to all our partners, especially St Margaret’s House, and participants who joined us on the day to celebrate social prescribing and social prescribers in Tower Hamlets.

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