Neighbourhood Forums
Neighbourhood Forums bring together people who live and work in the City of London and the London Borough of Hackney. They offer a space to share ideas, connect with others, and work together to improve health and wellbeing by removing barriers to local services and driving positive change.
Wick Award has played an active role in shaping the Neighbourhoods programme in Hackney. We were part of the pre-pandemic pilot in Well Street Common, helping to test and develop the model that now supports neighbourhood collaboration across the borough.
We also championed the importance of having local voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations lead the facilitation of Neighbourhood Forums — ensuring they are run by people who know their communities best and are genuinely representative of local voices.
What Are the Neighbourhood Forums?
We have 8 Neighbourhood Forums in our part of East London. Each neighbourhood is named after a local green space and is centred around local GP surgeries. The Forums are a collaboration between:
Hackney Council for Voluntary Services (HCVS)
Volunteer Centre Hackney (VCH)
Healthwatch Hackney
They are facilitated by local organisations Wick Award, Manor House Development Trust, Damali Beautiful Vision CIC
The Neighbourhood Forums are funded by the NHS.
What Happens at Forum Meetings?
Neighbourhood Forum meetings are open, inclusive spaces for residents and workers to:
Find out what’s happening locally
Share feedback and experiences
Help shape services that support community health and wellbeing
Meetings are held in community venues and around local events, making it easy for everyone to take part.
Local Priorities
Each Neighbourhood focuses on two key health priorities.
These are identified using:
Local data and insight
Community feedback
Input from the NHS, social care, public health, local authority, and voluntary sector partners
This ensures the Forums focus on what really matters to the community — listening to local voices and responding to local needs.
WSC seniors managing diabetes learn how to cook home-style food that helps them manage diabetes
Well Street Common Forum Achievements
The Well Street Common (WSC) Neighbourhood Forum has achieved a number of important wins by bringing local residents, organisations, and professionals together to improve health and wellbeing in the community.
Key highlights include:
Supporting families with children who have SEND – identifying holistic support needs and connecting families with the right services.
Listening to young people’s voices – gathering priorities directly from young residents, helping to shape a youth forum focused on mental health support, and improving access to local help.
Mentoring local young leaders – developing a young influencer role to amplify youth perspectives and encourage community involvement.
Addressing health inequalities – leading discussions on preventing diabetes in higher-risk groups and working to shape services that better meet the needs of African and Caribbean seniors.
Raising awareness of local support – helping residents connect with health coaches, social prescribers, and other community resources.
Championing anti-racist health and care – facilitating open conversations about what anti-racist health and social care looks like within WSC.
Current focus: long-term pain management – creating space for residents to share lived experiences while supporting professionals to explain the complexities of managing ongoing pain.
