Neighbourhood Engagement Fund Application Form

Wandsworth Care Alliance (WCA) is working with NHS South West London to offer grants of up to £1000 to local Wandsworth organisations.

Through the Neighbourhood Engagement Fund, Wandsworth Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations can apply for grants to run activities to hold conversations and gather community insight about people’s experiences of accessing support in the local area.

As part of this we’d also like organisations to identify what support and assets exist locally, as well as any gaps or unmet needs in each neighbourhood.

We’ll provide a conversation guide to support this based on:
- helping us understand community groups, organisations, places or services in your area that you go to for help or support with health or everyday life
- to identify which services they already use and what makes it difficult to access these services
- what people would like to improve in the area
- we would also invite residents to tell us anything else they think is important to them or that they would like to tell us?

Share what you’ve heard:

- Provide a report on the insight you’ve gathered, based on the conversation guide photography, detailed information about your conversations and quotes from participants. (an online form, including demographic monitoring questions, to make this easy).  
- Tell us who you’ve spoken to, how many and what activities you delivered.
- Tell us about the local organisations, groups, places or people that are already supporting residents in your neighbourhood.

Timeline

• Applications are open now and close on 16th February.
• Notification of outcome/distribution of funds W/C 23rd February
• Compulsory attendance to share your insight in-person at the Healthwatch Wandsworth Assembly on 24th March 16:00 – 18:00. Your engagement activity should be underway or completed so you can share some emerging findings.
• All funded activities must be delivered and reported by Tuesday 31 March 2026.

Background

The NHS10-Year Plan sets out an ambition to transform how health and care services are delivered through Neighbourhood Health and Care, bringing care closer to home, supporting people to live healthier and more independent lives, and offering greater choice in how support is accessed. Neighbourhood Health and Care is central to delivering the three core shifts of the NHS: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention.

Built around where people live, work, learn and connect, neighbourhood models are intended to be locally led rather than one-size-fits-all, supporting people across the life course and addressing health inequalities through proactive, personalised and preventative approaches. Achieving this ambition requires a renewed commitment to partnership working across health, local authorities and communities with neighbourhood needs placed firmly at the centre of how services are planned and delivered.

You can read more about the plans here: NHS England » Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England

What will we need to do?

To apply

Complete the following short application form outlining your proposed activity, who you plan to engage, what the funding will support with and how you will to gather insight. The activity can be something you already have planned, but must achieve the requirements of the fund.

The activity needs to meet the following criteria:
- Are strong community links demonstrated in the neighbourhood they are proposing to work.
- Audience - local residents in neighbourhoods with a specific focus on those with at most risk of needing a lot of local of health and care support and those at risk of health inequalities.
- Does the applicant outline how they will engage with communities and feedback?
- Budget clearly aligning to the fund

Grant funding available: Up to £1,000 is available. If you have additional accessibility-related costs, please include these in your application and we will review them through our accessibility budget.

Deadline: Monday, 16th February, we’ll let you know the outcome shortly after the deadline.

Questions: For any questions, please contact WCA at communications@wandcareall.org.uk