Community funds awarded to Derbyshire and South Yorkshire mens health project

The scheme, led by Men Up North will raise awareness of the impact of Covid-19 on the BAME community, increasing their connection to food by growing food at home.

The charity will pay for sessional workers to lead the sessions, materials for the growing and rental of the project location.

The work will help BAME men be more open to their mental health and reduce loneliness and the charity can do this thanks to a £5,000 grant from the national Assura Community Fund.

The fund was created to support health-improving work by charities and local groups in the communities around Assura’s GP surgery, primary care and treatment centre buildings around the country.

The company looks after The Surgery at Wheatbridge in Chesterfield.

Jonathan Murphy, chief executive of Assura said: “We were blown away by the number and quality of applications from all over the country.

“Local health, social prescribing and wellbeing projects are under so much stress at the moment, so we hope that these grants can make a real difference to projects which are keeping individuals and communities connected, healthier, safer and happier in this really difficult time.”

The Assura Community Fund was launched in May and builds on the work of Assura’s previous healthy communities scheme, which supported projects nominated by the GP practices in its buildings ranging from social prescribing walking groups, gardening schemes and coffee and chat sessions to support for a new men’s shed and a community bakery run by young people with learning disabilities and autism.

The fund is distributing £550,000 in grants this month, and by March 2026 hopes to have handed out more than £3 million in grants to health-improving projects.

The next application phase will open in spring.