Partners across Wolverhampton have made significant progress over the past year, as shown in a recent update to the city’s Health and Wellbeing Together board.
It outlines achievements across the priority areas of Wolverhampton’s Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy for 2025–2026 and demonstrates the strength of partnership working between the City of Wolverhampton Council, the NHS, the voluntary sector and wider organisations.
A wide range of initiatives have helped improve outcomes for the board’s starting and growing well priority, raising the profile of the importance of the first 1,001 days of life.
For example, self‑weigh baby scales have been installed in Family Hubs and libraries to help parents monitor their child’s growth and a new Wolverhampton Welcomes Breastfeeding campaign, created in partnership with local mothers, is helping to normalise breastfeeding in the city and supporting a continued rise in breastfeeding rates.
Improved accessibility to child development reviews has led to increased attendance at both the 12‑month and two‑year checks and the Brilliant Brushers supervised toothbrushing programme has expanded to 18 early years settings, teaching more than 600 children about the importance of good oral hygiene.
Support for emotional wellbeing has been strengthened through the recruitment of voluntary sector champions, while partners have continued to work to make improvements to people’s home environments, such as tacking damp and mould and helping families find secure accommodation. The launch of the council’s new Boost programme has also helped families improve financial resilience and access entitlements.
In addition, progress has been made in the getting Wolverhampton moving priority. Physical activity levels among children and young people have improved, with the latest Sport England Active Lives Survey showing a jump in activity levels over the last 12 months – with over 20,000 children and young people in Wolverhampton now doing more than the recommended 60 minutes of sport or physical activity daily.
Meanwhile, nearly 19,000 children and young people have signed up to the free Yo! Active programme, which has recently been extended for another 12 months.
Across the city, partners continue to improve accessibility to activity through inclusive park improvements, cycling initiatives, support for grassroots clubs and targeted programmes designed to reduce barriers such as cost, confidence and accessibility.
Progress has also been made in reducing addiction harm. Innovations include the QuitCoach AI pilot, supporting people to stop smoking, the development of a new Gambling Harm Reduction Strategy, and expanded community‑based health checks, including around 1,500 Fibro‑scans delivered to help people improve their liver health.
New roles and specialist teams are improving support for people with complex needs, including those experiencing homelessness, with Wolverhampton recording its highest number of successful treatment completions for opiates and alcohol this year.
The city has also delivered all three priority areas for improving mental health, including exceeding the national 60% target for annual physical health checks for people with severe mental illness. A new peer mental health support group has been launched and is meeting monthly, while Mental Health Aware training and suicide prevention work have strengthened knowledge, confidence and community support across the city.
Councillor Obaida Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Community and Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Together board, said: “Every day, we work to shape a healthier Wolverhampton, supporting the wellbeing of all our residents, young and old.
“We’re working with partners to give our children the best start in life, help people be more active, and support residents to take charge of their wellbeing, so that they can live longer, healthier lives.
“Over the past year we’ve seen real, tangible progress that is only possible through this strong partnership working. These achievements reflect the collective commitment of organisations in Wolverhampton to improving the health and wellbeing of our residents.”
To find out more please visit Health and Wellbeing Together.