Health and wellbeing in Ambrosden, Arncott, Blackthorn, and Piddington

In July 2023, Community First Oxfordshire (CFO) was commissioned by Healthwatch Oxfordshire (HWO) to undertake community insight research in a rural area of Oxfordshire with focus on understanding health inequalities, and health and wellbeing. CFO focused on the communities of Ambrosden, Arncott, Piddington, and Blackthorn in the North of the county. These areas were chosen because they fall in the 10% most deprived areas (LSOAs) in England in relation to barriers to housing and services domain. The research also follows on from 2022 CFO research (again commissioned by HWO) into rural isolation in Oxfordshire. The research took place from September 2023 to mid-January 2024.  162 residents were interviewed.

A number of challenges to health and wellbeing were also identified (again there were specific challenges identified in particular places). These included, most prominently: public realm issues (poor pavement and road quality and the need to improve public rights of way, speeding and road safety); problematic public transport infrastructure (frequency of bus services, near-absence of services in certain locations, but also access to bus stops, sometimes compounded by poor pavement quality); physical access to health care; and a total absence of community-based healthcare (GP, NHS dentist, pharmacy). While lack of access to services did give rise to feelings of isolation, this was somewhat offset by the fact that many people are able to drive. At the same time, a sense of anxiety regarding what could be described as ‘future isolation’ – as people age and may no longer be able to drive – was identified. Already, many older people are relying on friends and family to drive them to appointments. 

Attention should also be drawn to already existing and previous community efforts to address some of the themes identified. For example, there have been previous efforts to explore the possibility of a community transport scheme and to find ways to address public realm concerns. Indeed, that lack of success in finding ways and means to address such issues (which are a continuing challenge locally) points to the need to explore the possibility of securing external support to help facilitate ways forward.

With regard to social and community infrastructure, there is lots of community activity taking place (albeit more extensively in certain locations) and much of it is highly regarded. These hyper-local, often informal, ‘eco-systems’ are in many ways the true community ‘anchors’. What is also clear is that most volunteers and organisations, if not all, are stretched in terms of available time and financial resource and, for those who work with them, the volunteer pipeline is drying up (compounded by the downturn in community activity from Covid). This is giving rise to what could be characterised as a fragmentation in activity. 

Many areas of common challenge were identified in relation to social and community infrastructure. Opportunities for improvement included: a joint, four-parish communication strategy (including a shared calendar); the undertaking of consultation/engagement with young people; the mapping of existing activity to identify gaps and crossovers in key themes, complement existing work, avoid duplication, and identify new provision etc.; the discussion and development of joint-activity (potentially theme-based steering groups) and joint-funding bids; the exploration of common challenges, opportunities and solutions in relation to, for example volunteering, safeguarding, and training; and the exploration of innovations such as creche/ childcare facilities to allow better access to activities for parents and guardians.