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Health and wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing are at the core of the Bromley by Bow Centre’s activities. Tackling chronic ill-health is central to our objectives and many of the Centre’s wider aspirations are underpinned by the need to build a healthier community.

Many people in our community have complex health problems that need intensive and long-term support. Many health conditions are endemic within families and the wider community and narrowly defined traditional health interventions are not sufficient to meet the needs of the community.

As well as the high levels of chronic physical illnesses there are also significantly high level of mental health problems which often route back to the social circumstances within which people are living. For this reason the Bromley by Bow Centre’s approach to health and well-being is holistic and continually seeks to innovate and support people toward a healthier lifestyle.

  • At the core is the GP practice and the healthy living centre which offers the wide array of services that you would expect from a modern forward looking primary care facility. 
  • Our health trainers programme supports people to manage their own health. Local people are often the best route to promote wellbeing in the community. We also see better nutrition and more exercise as the easiest way to make a major impact on the health of the community.
  • We pioneered the ‘exercise on prescription’ idea in1997 and we now have a full healthy lifestyles programme with over 300 regular participants.
  • Our Working Wonders enterprise offers a full daycare service for vulnerable adults as well as opportunities to take part in creative arts activites and to create a stunning community flower garden.
  • A Children's Centre offering a whole range of projects for parents, families and children under 5.
  • The Centre also promotes a holistic approach to wellbeing through its support of Inside Out - a social enterprise which delivers a broad range of complementary therapies in conjunction with the Bromley by Bow Centre.

  • The Centre has also been effective at integrating health promotion into learning programmes. Two examples of this work are the ESOL Health and Humour project and Deciding for Ourselves.

The strength of the Bromley by Bow model has been demonstrated through its exemplar status and the work it has done in supporting Healthy Living Centres up and down the country. Indeed the model now attracts visitors from around the world who are interested in how we have created the range of services we offer and we offer consultancy for a range of people who want to learn from our model of healthcare.