Brighter Futures Report 2024-25
The Brighter Futures in Banbury programme
Cherwell Local Strategic Partnership
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Portfolio Holder for Wellbeing, Councillor Pattenden
A brighter future – what does that mean to you? Good health, certainly, and freedom from the stress that money worries bring. A long life, but one which is fulfilling, filled with rich activities, social bonds and lived with a connection to nature and the arts.
The Brighter Futures community live in some of the 20% most deprived wards, nationally. This fact challenges many people’s ideas about leafy North Oxfordshire. When I took on the role of Portfolio Holder for Wellbeing, it surprised me to learn that life expectancy for a person living in an area of deprivation can be so much less than their more wealthy neighbours. They are separated by a small difference geographically, but a huge one in terms of life chances and ultimately in years lived. This is illustrated by the figures for Neithrop – where the Office for National Statistics reports a life expectancy of 76.6 for men and 84.6 for women; and Sibford where men have a life expectancy of 82.2 years and women 91.3. There is a wealth of evidence which shows that economic deprivation is closely linked to poorer health.
The Brighter Futures partnership was formed to challenge this status quo and to create changes which break the cycle of disadvantage. We are battling against many external factors when we try to make these improvements. For example, the cost-of-living crisis may have left the news, but the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks went up by 3.4% in the year up to April 2025, and this is on top of all the previous increases – some commentators saying that the increase has been 40% over the last 5 years.
The mental health crisis which was generated during the pandemic has not disappeared. It is definitely a step forward that people feel more able to discuss their mental health issues and I welcome this increased openness. However, we know that services are over-stretched, and people cannot always access the help they are looking for quickly.
Often the improvement in people’s lives feels small and incremental, but we know that each change represents an opportunity for individuals to thrive.
Despite the difficulties faced by residents and service providers, there is much good news to report. We have chosen to share this in the form of stories from the Brighter Futures community and partners – stories which illustrate the ways in which partners listen to the community to that they can understand local need and provide nuanced responses; stories which cover a huge range of activities from physical activity to safer communities and stories which show how the partners work across strategic and grassroots initiatives.
I hope you will enjoy reading our stories as they are an encapsulation of what is so successful about this enduring and effective partnership.
Introduction
Key themes for this year’s report
The report for 2024–25 will focus on the ways in which the Brighter Futures partnership and the community it serves, interact together.
Case studies – or as we prefer to call them “stories” - will lead the reader through this relationship, showing how understanding and co-operation between agencies and individuals can contribute to improved health and well-being. We will look at this using a structure which shows how partners engage with, listen to and support individuals.
There are opportunities both for partners and community members to participate in learning, training and development. Finally, we will look at the ways in which the Brighter Futures partnership encourage community members to focus on the positive aspects of living where they do and celebrate them.
The diverse members of the Partnership all share a common agenda and belief in the power of community action and engagement to improve lives.
Development of the Brighter Futures partnership
Brighter Futures in Banbury is a multi-agency partnership which was formed 13 years ago with funding from the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The intention was to tackle health and income inequalities in three wards in Banbury where deprivation is in the worst 20% nationally. The links between economic deprivation and poor health are well documented and have been referred to in previous reports.
The partnership continues to thrive; hosted by but not “owned” by Cherwell District Council. Where once funding was given to partner organisations as seed funding for new and innovative projects, the work of the partnership has evolved. Now its role is in supporting partners to be more self-sufficient and to work effectively within the partnership. Partners are empowered and supported to make their own funding applications or to combine in joint projects.
The Brighter Futures Partnership supports this development in a variety of ways – firstly through providing the opportunity for partners with the same agendas to meet and share ideas about projects which can result in joint projects, shared learning and mutual support. The Brighter Futures Partnership leads to the development of collaborative projects between partners and new ways of working. The partnership also provides direct training and empowerment through the two annual events, by sharing training opportunities which partners are offering, and through supporting partners to offer direct training such as Good Food Oxfordshire’s face to face and on-line Food Poverty and accredited Nutrition Training.
The Annual Report itself is a resource to support partners looking to source funding and highlight the work that is currently going on. The report provides a range of data, evidence of collaborative working and case studies for partners to access and use to demonstrate the benefits that the membership of the Brighter Futures Partnership brings to their members.
Brighter Futures Partnership work today
The strength of the partnership lies in its diversity of membership and in its longevity. The diversity includes both the expertise of the organisations which are members and the individuals who represent those organisations.
The organisations which make up the membership span many areas of life which can affect outcomes and life chances for community members – including physical and mental health, housing, community safety, economy, education, volunteering and community organisations. To see the full range encompassed by the partnership see our list of partners. All organisations working in the Brighter Futures wards which share the partnership’s aims and values are eligible to become partners, and this results in a huge range of participants. Please contact us if your organisation may be interested in becoming a member of the partnership and experiencing its benefits.
There is also a diversity in the representatives from the member organisations. – from people who work in large organisations to grassroots groups; from decision makers working at a strategic level to people volunteering in face-to-face roles, and from statutory and voluntary agencies. For people working so differently to come together as peers and share learning, best practice, and community-based intelligence is comparatively rare – and this is one of the major strengths of the Brighter Futures partnership.
It has been made possible by the trust which has developed during the life of the partnership. Partners feel free both to share information and to ask questions of their colleagues, because of the atmosphere engendered by the partnership. It’s not unusual for members to refer to the Brighter Futures “family”!
The partnership provides four steering group meetings each year. Expert theme leads from the domains of Housing, Stronger Communities and Volunteering, Safer Communities, Start Well, Mental and Physical Health and Physical Activity and Economy come together to discuss new initiatives, research and community feedback.
In addition, the partnership offers the wider group of member organisations two learning opportunities each year. Relevant speakers offer up to date insights and training, designed to equip members to better support users and community members. There is always a highly valued networking opportunity which has frequently led to increased information sharing and even to joint projects.