On 9 September 2025, Derbyshire Voluntary Action (DVA) proudly hosted the Connected Approach to Neighbourhoods Conference at The Post Mill, South Normanton. The event brought together 117 delegates from across Derbyshire’s health and care system — including colleagues from the NHS, ICB, Public Health, local authorities and the VCSE sector — to explore how neighbourhood-based collaboration can tackle inequalities and improve lives.
Lived experience at the heart
The day began with moving lived-experience stories that reminded delegates why neighbourhood approaches matter.
Tim Adwick, from Mindscapes, began with a powerful reminder of why lived experience must be central to system change. Sharing his own story of navigating the darkest of times, he spoke about finding light through creativity and community:
“Standing here is a big deal for me. I live with complex PTSD, depression and anxiety. For years my mental health said “you can’t do this” – but I can, because it matters.”
Tim described how lived experience gave him both voice and agency — and how peer action, and community were the keystone to rebuilding his life. His words resonated throughout the day, echoed later in the Question Time panel when he urged delegates not to overlook the human heart at the centre of policy:
“Community-led support is instant, accessible, life-changing. As commissioners and professionals, you shape systems people rely on – but healing often begins in community spaces, not clinics.”
Launched in July 2022, Mindscapes now supports around 120 people every month through weekly and monthly peer groups, a breakfast club, confidence-building trips, and creative exhibitions and workshops. The model is grassroots, and preventative — just a few hundred pounds to start and £7–10k a year to sustain, yet delivering a return measured in lives rebuilt and lives saved.
Darrell Price, founder of Pain Inspired, followed with the powerful story of how a small seed of community support grew into a peer-led group with enormous impact:
“This group is a lifesaver for me. I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for this group.”
Since its creation, Pain Inspired has supported over 500 people, delivered 908 attendances, and saved an estimated £25,000 in GP appointments alone. Its success, born out of community agency and nurtured through a tiny £75 micro-grant, shows the scale of what grassroots projects can achieve with the right backing.
DVA has had the pleasure to support the journeys of both Tim & Darrell through our Feeling Connected project. We look forward to continuing to work alongside these inspirational people, and countless others, whose work so beautifully captures the power and importance of a healthy voluntary and community sector. Thank you both!
Insight and challenge from system leaders
Presentations from NHS and ICB leaders shared striking insights into local health inequalities. A snapshot of deprivation in Chesterfield showed the high burden of long-term conditions — but also revealed how small-scale, community-driven pilots are building trust, shifting attitudes, and testing innovative prevention approaches.
As Sharon Gibbs, Senior Commissioning Manager at the ICB, put it:
“We can’t do this without local people, community leaders and organisations co-identifying problems and co-creating solutions.”
Workshops: honest conversations, real solutions
Delegates rolled up their sleeves in workshops to tackle four key questions:
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What is the role of the VCSE in neighbourhood working?
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How do we strengthen collaboration?
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What stands in our way?
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How do we make it happen?
These discussions sparked new ideas and commitments — from simplifying funding processes, to training frontline staff in co-design approaches, to investing in community-led capacity.
Question Time Panel: the big issues on the table
The Question Time panel pulled no punches, with delegates posing challenging questions:
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“How do we create longer-term funding solutions for the VCSE sector?”
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“Will you commit to ensuring today’s momentum isn’t lost in national changes?”
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“How do we make sure everyone knows how to collaborate with the system?”
Dr Penny Blackwell captured the mood in the room:
“I want a Derbyshire where the VCSE is not just a trusted, integral partner shaping health and wellbeing strategies, but leading them—where sustained funding empowers communities to flourish. That will make people “weller” than many short-term medical fixes.”
A clear outcome: we are in it together
By the end of the day, one message rang loud and clear: the appetite for neighbourhood-based working is strong, and the will to work together is real.
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NHS leaders confirmed their commitment to including the VCSE in strategy and planning.
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Public Health colleagues pledged to embed lived experience more deeply in future work.
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VCSE organisations agreed to continue building their collective voice to influence system change.
As Jacqui Willis, CEO of DVA, closed the event, she reminded delegates:
“Our strength lies in our collaboration. What we’ve achieved here today shows that Derbyshire has both the appetite and the courage to build a connected approach to neighbourhoods — together.”
What comes next
DVA will now build on this momentum by convening follow-up sessions, supporting the creation of new neighbourhood partnerships, and amplifying community voices at every level of planning.
The 2025 Conference proved beyond doubt that when we connect around neighbourhoods, community voice and collaboration can shape the future of health and care in Derbyshire.
Stay tuned for our DVA Conference Report, where we’ll share key learning and next steps.
