London’s professional football clubs celebrate the power of collaborative community work with leading health organisations | West Ham United F.C.

Nearly 100 people, including West Ham legends Anton Ferdinand and Matt Jarvis, gathered at London Stadium earlier this month to celebrate and strengthen the relationship between Club Community Organisations (CCOs), the NHS and other groups such as city councils.

Led by the CEO of West Ham United Foundation, Joseph Lyons, and the Vice President of Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Pedro Delgado, the event aimed to spark conversation and ignite future partnership opportunities for CCOs to collaborate with service providers to help achieve the best possible population health for London and beyond.

Guests included Caroline Clarke, Regional Director for the NHS in London, and representatives from city councils, health providers and the 17 London CCOs.

Discussions were centred around future innovation and aspirational prevention to some of society’s most serious health problems.

In a welcoming address, Lyons reflected on the Foundation’s partnership with the NHS which began in 2015 with a programme aimed at tackling high rates of Type 2 Diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

In his speech, Lyons shared how the Foundation’s work addressing health needs in east London has evolved enormously since then and supported by data and evidence, there is a proven record on how crucial collaboration can be in aiding a strategy of prevention; helping to address prevalent issues and delivering city-wide programmes to improve Londoners’ lives.

With London United’s cohort spanning the breadth of London, partnership working with health providers has now progressed across a range of programmes including the likes of the Advantage Mentoring scheme, which piloted in north-east London through West Ham United, Arsenal and Leyton Orient, supporting the mental health of young people.