By Karen Loftus, CAN Chief Executive

The Health and Wellbeing Board meeting in March marked an important moment for our local system and for charities and community organisations across the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole communities.

Decisions taken at that meeting confirm a clear direction of travel toward neighbourhood health prevention and place-based partnership working with the voluntary and community sector, expected to play a central role in delivery. At the same time, discussions highlighted real and growing pressures around funding capacity and sustainability that many organisations are already experiencing.

This combination of opportunity and risk makes the outcomes of this meeting essential reading for charity leaders. I have produced a concise CAN briefing that summarises the key decisions and system changes, explains what the new Place Based Partnership could mean in practice, highlights where pressure is likely to fall on the VCSE sector and sets out why collective voice and early engagement matter now more than ever (full minutes are available on the BCP Council website).

If your organisation works in community health prevention, safety, care, housing, food access or neighbourhood-based support, this briefing is directly relevant to you.

I strongly encourage CEOs, trustees and senior leaders to read the briefing and reflect on what it means for your organisation and for the sector as a whole. This is a critical moment to ensure that partnership means influence as well as delivery and that the value of the voluntary and community sector is properly recognised, resourced and sustained.