Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Voluntary Sector Network Update

Central East Integrated Care Board

Many of you will know that the three Integrated Care Boards for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes and Hertfordshire are in the process of ‘clustering’ to form one larger Integrated Care Board.

This will be known as Central East ICB, and the new leadership team and Chair came into place on 1st October. See the members of this new team.

The VSN Strategy Group is actively building links with the other two Health Alliances (their equivalent of the VSN) to understand our different ways of working and how we can bring together the best from each area.

In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, we will be working hard to ensure we do not lose any of the progress we have made. We will be exploring how we enhance VCSE representation at Place, as well as maintaining our voices at the top tables.

 National Neighbour Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP)

Good news from North Place, they have been successful in their application to join this national pilot programme, also known as ‘The Pioneer’.

This means that three Integrated Neighbourhoods will be trying out new ways of working with specific groups of patients. Working with the voluntary sector will be a key part of developing these new ways of working, and the VSN is exploring ways in which we can enable this to happen. We will be reporting more on this at our next VSN meeting.

Connect with your Integrated Neighbourhoods

We’ve recently circulated information about North Place Integrated Neighbourhoods and the priorities they are working on. If you are interested in exploring the potential to work together in these areas, please email nwangliaft.northcpcarepartnership@nhs.net, and they will direct you to the relevant Integrated Neighbourhood Manager. Please email Sandie if you would like the information pack.

Regarding South Place, both the VSN and Support Cambridgeshire represent the voluntary sector at Place Board meetings and are keen to facilitate more collaboration. We will be hearing more about South developments at a future VSN meeting, so keep an eye on our agendas.

Cyber Security Workshop

Over 20 members joined this workshop delivered by Mark Dimock, NHS England. Mark stressed the importance, for both individuals and organisations, of staying safe online and shared several links.

This BBC article explains just how ruthless and dangerous these cyber criminals are. Mark highlighted some reliable free resources that can help you improve your cybersecurity:

• The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre
• Keeping children safe online guides

You can also access free training for staff and volunteers:

• Digital and computing skills
• Free training on cutting-edge digital technologies for industry

The Value of Creative Health

Last month, we hosted an online learning session on Creative Health. The aim of the session was to demonstrate the value of creative health approaches and the role that creativity for health can play in the ‘3 shifts’ in the NHS 10 Year Plan.

We had a mixed audience of 19 people from primary and secondary care, local authority, the voluntary sector, Cambridge University and artists. If you would like to know more, please contact Jane at Support Cambridgeshire: Jane@supportcambridgeshire.org.uk.

Further information

More information about all of the above, including the VSN Action Plan 2025-28 and notes from previous meetings and newsletters, is available on Voluntary Sector Network (Health – Cambridgeshire and Peterborough).