Are you passionate about making a difference to the health and wellbeing of people in your community? If so, you might like to join Ealing Council’s Community Champions programme. 

As volunteers who live or work in the borough, community champions connect with each other, the council, and its partners, to work together to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of their communities.

Champions receive training in a wide range of areas, building on their existing strengths and interests. This helps the champions, like Angela Doreen, make use of their social networks, community knowledge and lived experience.

Angela’s story 

Angela Doreen became a champion when the programme first began in 2022. She was one of its first 15 members. There are now more than 60. 

Angela has lots of voluntary experience, including as an NHS responder during the COVID-19 pandemic, a volunteer at Ealing Soup Kitchen and by answering calls and offering support at New Kapporet – a Christian equivalent of the Samaritans. She is now employed at the soup kitchen as a co-ordinator. 

She said: “I work with people who are either lonely, vulnerable, homeless, can’t afford to eat – or all of the above. I know what it’s like to be without and the shame that people can feel in asking for help.” 

Angela has built trust with visitors to the kitchen and is able to help them to access vital council services that they may otherwise not know are available to them. 

‘Bridging gaps in the community’ 

Since becoming a champion, Angela shared information about the council’s warm spaces programme with the vulnerable clients with and has even created a warm space at the soup kitchen for the colder months.  

Community champions also signpost people to relevant support and health services and help destigmatise health initiatives such as breast and bowel cancer screening, helping people to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing. 

Angela said: “We are working together more and helping each other and bridging gaps in the community. I hope this will continue to grow.” 

Could you be a champion?

The council is recruiting Community Champions across the borough. Champions will be trained and supported to talk to people and share their knowledge about health and wellbeing. You will also attend meetings, meet other champions and hear from guest speakers.

Are you?

• over 18 years old, and live or work in the borough
• passionate about supporting people to make informed lifestyle choices about their health and wellbeing, and want to make a difference to your community
• a good listener who would support people’s right to make decisions for themselves

What’s in it for you?

Becoming a community champion brings a number of benefits. It can help you find out more about how to live a healthy lifestyle, increase your employability with additional skills, knowledge, and access to free training and help to develop your communication and networking skills.

For more information or to sign-up, go to the Community Champion pages on the council’s website.