Connie describes herself as an expert with lived experience having grown up in social housing, observing that ‘people who lived in her neighbourhood had to work twice as hard just to stand still’.
Connie has worked in communities for over 25 years enabling people to take charge of their own life. She joined whg 15 years ago helping families from a deprived community to have their input into plans for a multi-million-pound regeneration of the area. She recruited customers from the estate, employing them as community champions who would go out and speak to others in their neighbourhood. More than a decade later whg has employed 100 community champions to be the voice of their communities.
As Head of Health and Wellbeing, Connie leads whg’s work to reduce health inequalities . Her team are encouraging acts of kindness as the currency to reduce loneliness and isolation linking people into new experiences and opportunities. She works with partner agencies to introduce social prescribing as an innovative way to reduce the reliance on clinical services and uses the champion model to reach those with the worst health and the least access to services. Connie represents whg on the Integrated Care Partnership Walsall Together.
