East Herts Council has made its office at Navigation House, Riverside, available to the Community Alliance Broxbourne and East Herts on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the building is not in council use. The space will be used as a base for the Healthy Hub East Herts and can also be booked by local organisations providing important services in Bishop’s Stortford and across East Herts.
Today’s open day, held between 10am and 2pm, gave organisations the opportunity to view the space, learn more about how it will operate, and explore opportunities for joint working.
The Healthy Hub East Herts will run from the site every Thursday between 10am and 2pm. This will give local people a place to get advice and support for all areas of health and wellbeing, including help with losing weight, quitting smoking, mental health, and overcoming loneliness. On other days, CVS will run a booking system so organisations focused on health, wellbeing, or community safety can use the space.
Organisations in attendance included Age UK, the Bishop’s Stortford Food Bank, Holy Trinity Night Shelter and Home Instead amongst others.
Councillor Sarah Hopewell, Executive Member for Wellbeing at East Herts Council, said: “We are delighted to open up this space for the benefit of our communities. By working in partnership with the Community Voluntary Service and local organisations, we are creating a welcoming hub where residents can easily access support and advice. This initiative reflects our commitment to strengthening community connections and improving health and wellbeing across East Hertfordshire.”
Chris Dungate, CEO of the Community Alliance Broxbourne and East Herts, said: “We are really grateful to East Herts District Council for giving us the opportunity to deliver the Healthy Hub service from this new premises in Bishops Stortford.
“Having a permanent, on street location will enable Community Alliance to reach those members of the community who will get the most benefit from this service, in a comfortable, safe space and we really look forward to working with new clients, getting them on the path to a healthy lifestyle.
“I like to thank Bishop's Stortford Methodist Church for allowing us to run the Healthy Hub alongside their very successful Oasis Café since October. We will continue to work with the church to support residents and the local community and we hope that they will also visit us in the new premises.”
This project brings organisations together to make better use of local resources and support those providing direct services to residents.
For more information about booking the space or accessing the Healthy Hub, please contact: Stuart@communityalliancebeh.org.uk.