Our first Let’s Talk About Our Health session took place at Rochdale AFC Community Trust on Thursday 4th December. Residents, charity founders, community leaders, sports professionals and health workers came together for an evening of honest conversation about what health and wellbeing really means for communities across Rochdale. Even a power cut couldn’t dim the warmth, passion and care in the room.
Real Conversations and Community Ideas
This wasn’t a boring networking event with name badges and small talk. Like previous Let’s Talk conversations, guests stepped through a glittery curtain, a fun reminder to leave work titles at the door. They wrote on cards to show what each stage of wellbeing from struggling and surviving to thriving looks like for people across the borough and pinned them on a washing line. The session was hands-on and encouraged honest conversation.
Examples of struggling included, “100 families each week need a food parcel,” “can’t afford school uniforms,” “always at the doctors.” For surviving, people wrote: “feel housebound because going out costs money,” “nice house and car but feeling depressed.” Thriving examples ranged from “numerous holidays each year” to “good support system”, “access to good healthcare” and “plenty of friends.”
These cards told a story of Rochdale in a way statistics alone never could. They revealed gaps and inequalities and showed how health and wellbeing can look very different depending on where you are at.
During the session, people also explored the 5 Ways to Wellbeing:
- Get mindful
- Get helpful
- Get active
- Get learning
- Get social
Prompts like boxing gloves, books and gardening seeds were placed across the tables. This sparked practical ideas and conversations about how the wider community could support these challenges and help more people thrive, not just survive. Responses were written directly on paper tablecloths, with ideas flowing as naturally as the discussions themselves.
There’s something special about leaving job titles at the door and simply showing up as individuals who care about their community. That’s exactly what happened on Thursday evening.
Jane Crompton, Service Manager from Petrus shared:
“It’s been a really lovely evening spending time with other people across the borough. It’s been great getting to know others and hearing their stories. I feel there’s some great networking opportunities where we can offer support to each other and our organisations to strengthen our community.”
Suzanne Cooper, a complementary healthcare therapist, said:
“Tonight I had the pleasure of joining the Let’s Talk About Our Health session. It was a really relaxed space where people from all over the borough came together and spoke honestly about the health and wellbeing challenges we’re seeing and the small and not so small things that could actually make life better here.”
What Happens Next and How to Get Involved
The evening sparked ideas that felt both practical and hopeful. People talked about organisations opening up their facilities to support the wider community. Chatty benches were suggested as simple ways to improve social connection. There were conversations about alternatives to traditional prescribing, recognising that health and wellbeing mean different things to different people.
What really stood out was the discussion around proving the value and worth of investment in our communities. How do we take these small ideas, join up the data across the borough and show the real difference they could make? These are the kinds of conversations that turn good intentions into meaningful change.
Suzanne noted what made the session work so well:
“What stood out to me was how every voice was listened to. There was no pressure or agenda; it was just real people who care about Rochdale trying to understand things from each other’s perspectives.”
Perhaps the power cut was fitting in its own way. Rochdale has always had a knack for getting on with things even when conditions aren’t perfect, echoing the spirit of cooperation shown by the early pioneers in 1844, long before electricity. That same sense of resilience came through loud and clear on Thursday evening.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended and made the evening so meaningful and to Rochdale AFC Community Trust for hosting.
This is just the beginning. We’ll be holding a follow-up Let’s Talk About Our Health session in January with more details to follow soon. If you’d like to be part of future conversations, we’d love to hear from you. Please email info@forgenerationstocome.org for more information.
We’re inspired by what’s possible when communities come together. See more community conversations in Let’s Dream Big. Let’s Act. Because Our Future Belongs To All Of Us and A Community Coming Together.
The best ideas don’t come from the top down. They come from conversations like these, where people who care about their community come together and imagine what’s possible.
Let’s keep the conversation going.
