Celebrating a helping hand

Residents committed to supporting their communities have got together for the 10th Community Champions Annual Conference, with over 200 people packed in the Great Hall at Kensington Town Hall.

The Community Champions are active in six areas of the borough and have been supporting people throughout the Covid pandemic, helping support people’s mental health and getting the community back together since lockdowns were lifted.  This has been through a variety of events such as weekly community lunches, buggy walks, yoga, meditation, dance and fitness classes.

Community Champions give up their time to run health campaigns, activity groups and fun days to promote health and well-being across the borough.  Some of them are also Maternity Champions, who support families from pregnancy to the end of the first year of the child’s life.  This can include making sure families know where to go to get support and information and advice for first time mothers on things such as breast feeding. 

The conference began with people being welcomed by one of the champions and then Kensington and Chelsea’s Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, Sarah Addenbrooke. 

Councillor Addenbrooke, said: “The Community Champions have rightly built up a reputation for being a vital asset in helping their communities and since the pandemic have done tremendous work helping to reduce isolation in their communities with all the events and classes they offer.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting so many of them today and hearing their stories and seeing what they have been able to do to help people.”

The conference included workshops, a film showcasing a snapshot of the last year for community and maternity champions and presentations from champions and keynote speaker, Samira Ben Omar, from the King’s Fund.