Impact of Winter Wellness Project

During Winter (November 2025 to March 2026) we delivered a community led winter wellness project, funded by the North Central London ICB, (now West and North London ICB), that supported people in Haringey and Enfield aged 18-65 living with one or more long-term conditions (diabetes/heart/respiratory/kidney disease), focusing on the Black Afro-Caribbean, Somali, Turkish/Cypriot, Eastern European and Latin American communities.

The evidence behind the project

Around 41% of people in clinical risk groups had been vaccinated by 30 November 2025.
UKHSA highlighted that only 29% of people with one or more long-term health conditions had received a flu vaccine by early November 2025, raising concerns about low protection among vulnerable populations.
Lower uptake among some minority ethnic communities seen during COVID 19
People living with long-term conditions were identified as a key at-risk group for severe flu-related illness and hospitalisation. Eligible conditions included chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease and immunosuppression.

Our Partners

NCL ICB (now West and North London ICB)

Sewn Together

(Black African & Afro Caribbean Community)

Turkish Cypriot Women's Project

Lee Valley Primary School

Reaching parents and children delivering school based engagement and outreach

Clinicians

We partnered with bilingual community pharmacists that helped build trusts with different communities:

West Green GP Surgery
Lawrence House GP Surgery

Project Aims

To understand the barriers that exist around taking up the flu and MMR vaccine
To increase uptake of health checks
To disseminate information around support services available to help residents to keep well in Winter

What we did

Outreach Sessions

One-to-one conversations to improve residents' understanding of NHS services and flu vaccine access.

These included community centres, schools, libraries and existing groups in Haringey such as:

Over 60s Luncheon Club, Haringey Pensioners Group
Wightman Road Mosque
Bridge projects such as our mental well being project, Tottenham Talking and Home from Hospital.
Roadshows at Chestnuts Community Centre and in Wood Green Diagnostic Centre

Workshops

Delivered 3 bilingual workshops with a Turkish speaking pharmacist at The Turkish Cypriot Women's project community centre reaching 45 attendees.

School based sessions focusing on information around vaccines and health checks, promoted self care for long term conditions and key health promotion for children. reaching 76 parents.

Survey

We co-designed a survey with our partners to inform the delivery of the project. This was disseminated in both English and Turkish and was shared digitally and in physical copies.

Survey findings:

92% receive their health information from their GP or nurse, and 12% from the NHS website, perhaps reflecting the project's target audience, who are more likely to lack digital competence.
75% felt flu was only 'a little bit bad' and 79% of those who responded had had flu themselves, showing how personal experience can influence health behaviours.
Many people said they had had the flu vaccine in the past, but didn't have it every year

Leaflets Distributed

In English, Turkish, Spanish, Somali and Polish, working with the ICB Comms team to ensure culturally appropriate imagery was used.

Digital Messages

Through WhatsApp community groups, social media, Bridge Bulletin and 8000 people reached through the project being featured in the Community magazine 4U2Mag

Bilingual Clinicians

A Turkish-speaking pharmacist delivered sessions at the school and at Community Centres, helping to increase trust and ensure cultural sensitivity and understanding when delivering and tailoring information for workshops

Who we reached?

Total people engaged from across Haringey and Enfield

Age Breakdown

This shows that, although we reached residents of all ages, unsurprisingly, the largest population fell in the 50-64 and 65+ age brackets, the groups with the highest incidence of long-term conditions.

Ethnicity breakdown

This chart shows that we predominantly engaged with Black African/Black British or Caribbean backgrounds and Asian/Asian British backgrounds.

Borough Focus

The majority of those we reached were from East and Central Haringey, the least were from North East Enfield

Health checks delivered

Vaccines booked

This included 46 parents who booked their children to receive the MMR vaccine after attending the school sessions.

Our Findings

Top three concerns residents reported:

Concerns about the side effects and safety of vaccines

Participants shared stories about how friends and family had been negatively affected by the COVID-19 vaccine and were worried that the flu vaccine would have the same effect. This was particularly prevalent in the Turkish community.

General concerns around vaccines

ingredients, i.e., whether vaccines were halal
too many vaccines are being given together

Concerns that MMR causes autism

A concern which was also raised in our previous vaccine project with the ICB in 2024, clearly showing the damage this misinformation has done.

Case Studies

Awareness to Taking Action

We engaged a Turkish-speaking local pharmacist to deliver sessions in Turkish at the Turkish Cypriot Women's Project centre on vaccines, health checks, and staying healthy. In the session, attendees shared concerns that the flu vaccine could cause side effects similar to COVID-19. The pharmacist was able to explain the difference and outline the safety of the flu vaccine.

Attendees also shared a meal of traditional Turkish soup, delicious bread, and cheese, and engaged in a gentle warm-up and stretch to start the session, which helped people feel connected and at home.

Addressing the MMR Outbreak

To address the measles outbreak and low uptake of MMR vaccines among Turkish families in the borough, we partnered with the head teacher at Lee Valley Primary School and bilingual clinicians to deliver after-school drop-in sessions for parents. Guest speakers from Vaccination UK were invited, and the session also included key health promotion alongside information on vaccine awareness. This resulted in 46 parents booking MMR onsite.

Findings

Behaviour Change Indicators

This graph shows that both the outreach sessions and targeted workshops were very successful in helping to grow people's confidence in accessing services and in moving residents from awareness to taking action by booking a vaccine or health check.

Outcomes

1. Increased understanding and confidence to take action

"I wasn't sure at first, but after speaking with a nurse, I feel more confident."

Increased motivation to act

Parents reported that, through the sessions, they gained a greater understanding of their collective responsibility and the impact on the health of their child and their peers if they chose not to have their child vaccinated.

Power of Peers

Through partnering with community ambassadors from their own communities, people reported an increased ability to navigate NHS services and greater trust.

Barriers to taking action

Hard to get appointments

Cost of travel

Feeling confused about how the system works due to language barriers and digital confidence

Recommendations

1. Invest in community-led delivery working with trusted anchor VCS and grassroots partnerships who have strong relationships with different communities.

2. Go where the People Are

To increase engagement to deliver workshops and outreach in trusted venues such as mosques, schools and community centres.

3. Right Timing

Health outreach is most effective when delivered at times that are convenient for different communities, such as after prayers at mosques or at school drop-offs.

4. The importance of trusted voices

For health outreach and health checks to be effective, we must work with trusted community ambassadors and health champions to co-produce and deliver culturally relevant messaging. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work; materials should be developed with communities, not simply translated, to ensure people feel represented, trust the information provided, and are supported to stay well during winter.