1. Connected Communities
The Challenge
The Concept
Our Approach
What we are doing
I’ve talked to you before about the idea to connect a community – this is a presentation on what we’re doing and what we’re going to do.

2. The Challenge
Quick reminder of the challenge – this is from our Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

3. This graph from our JSNA shows the scope of the challenge we face in reducing social isolation.

4. Scarborough is the red line.

5. The Concept Connected Village Smart Homes Smart Care Smart Health
We know that technology can play a major role in supporting communities particularly in the self-care arena – the number of businesses developing solutions in the smart home, smart care and smart health space is proliferating. The best of those businesses are collaborating with research departments in universities and are being looked at by the traditional tech companies as ways for the big players to enter the marketplace. This presents opportunities for us as a council in harnessing this innovation to support Keeping People in their own homes, supporting their health needs and better connecting rural communities.
The Concept

6. [talk engagingly about all the fancy tech stuff you know about in the home]

7. 21.7% fuel poverty households in North Yorkshire
Integrated Heating technology available now to consumers helps control heating costs and heating systems use smart technology to intuitively learn how we use our home and heat it accordingly.

8. Home systems learn your voice and control technology in your home to support you in your life. This can be integrated with assistive technology. We can use consumer technology to link people to their local community and companies that can deliver services to like Deliveroo and take you places like Uber.
Having your meals on wheels made by your local pub delivered to you by devlieroo is a possibility.

9. Our approach 1) connecting a village 2) Learn what works
Prove the concept by:
1) connecting a village
2) Learn what works
3) Write a strategy
4) Deliver
Connecting a Village
Superfast Broadband in place
Sufficient social capital, thriving community pub, shops, sport clubs, social activities, volunteers
Open-minded GP willing to work with us
Community space and meeting facilities
School
This is our approach.
We’re going to start a proof of concept project in a village. By doing this we contain the risk and also the benefits to one geography.
We learn as we go finding out what works and what doesn’t; what benefits local people and what is needed to make technology produce real benefits to a community.
Once we’ve done that we’ll write a strategy and deliver on it.
Here’s the criteria we set for identifying a village - we wanted to find a place that already had social capital rather than spend time trying to create it.
Our approach

10. Sleights
Our proposed village/community is Sleights – approximately 2000 population. It fulfils all our criteria, it has a Community led rail station, primary school, shops, pubs, churches, active volunteers, social housing . Crucially it has a GP that is willing to work with us.

11. SAMS PLACE
SAMS – Sleights Area Men’s Shed will celebrate it’s first birthday in January It was set up to decrease isolation for Men in Sleights.
Quotes from members include –
“recently retired from the NHS, having worked locally as an Occupational Therapist for 25 years. My area of speciality was Mental Health. In my professional life I would have greatly appreciated this facility being available in the community, not specifically for the treatment of current conditions, but now that I’m retired I can enjoy it personally too, and I warmly recommend it. It’s just great!
“When you have been left alone by bereavement, you value casual conversation of any sort, and the chance to share common interests with other blokes is an added bonus. We are all making different contributions”.
Sam’s Place is a fantastic example of Social Capital in Sleights – this project prevents social isolation – The district of Scarborough has a higher than average Suicide rate especially amongst men. Marie-Ann’s team have helped fund this project.

12. What we are doing? Generating interest
Good feedback from Health and Wellbeing Forum in October Engaging with key stakeholders
Conversations with funding & technology partners
Engaging an academic partner
Here’s what we’ve started.
We held a workshop at the H&W Forum recently where we tested whether community groups thought this was a good idea. They did and added useful feedback in to what we could focus on. The workshop also gave us useful insights in how to engage with people and community groups.
- I’ve had conversations with technology players – inevitably they want to partner with a large local council on this type of activity - there are opportunities for funding but risks around how much they want to lead us down a proprietry route.
- The Institute for Aging at Newcastle University, The Royal Society of Arts and others are being contacted to see if we can engage a research partner – this could draw extra funding into the project if there are grant opportunities from research councils available.

13. Discussion points and questions
- To what extent should we involve health partners in this and if we do, when and how?
- Who from your teams would you like involved in shaping this?
- At what point do we involve elected members and other politicians?
- Who else outside NYCC do you think we should be talking to about this?
- What’s our appetite for investing in this as an innovation proposition rather than an invest to save business case model?