Connecting care and community in rural areas around Grantham
To celebrate Social Prescribing Day 2026, we spoke with Social Prescribing Link Worker Stephen Frankland, Community Connector Jo Taylor, and Community Coordinator Anna Chapman about the value of listening to people and working together to shape preventative healthcare.
By working with people, village halls, and other community partners, Stephen, Jo, and Anna have developed a thriving network of accessible wellbeing groups, particularly in rural areas around Grantham.
Their work highlights the power of local collaboration, where each partner contributes their strengths to achieve health outcomes that would not be possible alone.
This story is also a great example of Our Shared Agreement in action - a demonstration of what can happen when we ‘work together for the wellbeing of everyone’ and ‘make the most of what’s available to us’!
Listening first: Co-producing care with communities
A defining theme of Stephen, Jo, and Anna’s work is the shift away from top-down solutions toward genuinely listening to communities.
Jo: “I started by thinking… I’ll just go and run a coffee morning…and it didn’t work…because that was me going into a village as a face that nobody knew.”
Instead, she changed her approach, joining existing groups, observing, and listening:
“I started attending what they are already running…and listening to the communities…saying actually, what is it that’s needed?”
This is personalised care in action. Rather than assuming needs, practitioners co-produce solutions with people. This results in services and support that feel relevant, that are trusted, and, most importantly, used.
Anna:
“We’re talking to our GP practises and our patients all the time…to try and figure out ways that we can co-produce and develop new groups.”
Listening isn’t a one-off exercise - it’s continuous. And it’s what ensures care evolves alongside the people it serves.
Strengths-based care: Building on what already exists
Key to this project’s approach is working with, not over, existing community strengths.
Village halls, churches, and local groups are not seen as gaps to fill, but as assets to build on.
Jo: “The heart of the villages is often the church and the local village hall…so I’ve worked really hard…building connections with the village halls.”
Rather than creating entirely new structures, the team has strengthened what was already there, amplifying local energy and ownership.
This strengths-based mindset also extends to individuals. Instead of focusing solely on needs or deficits, practitioners create spaces where people can rediscover confidence, identity, and joy.
Stephen described the ethos of a young adult group:
“There isn’t an agenda…if they want to sit there with a paint and colour, that’s fine…it’s just a space where they can…do what makes them happy.”
By removing pressure and expectation, people are empowered to engage on their own terms, building confidence from the ground up.
The power of safe, relational spaces
At the heart of this work are safe, welcoming environments where people feel able to be themselves.
Jo highlighted how trust develops over time:
“It takes a few groups for them to kind of feel that they can be vulnerable and have those open conversations with you.”
These spaces are not clinical or transactional - they're relational. Whether it’s a memory café, singing group, or informal coffee morning, the environment matters.
One powerful example comes from a member of a dementia singing group.
Jo: “She just went, ‘Oh, I'm just not feeling it today…’ And at the end… ‘I just needed that… I can smile again.’”
That single hour didn’t 'treat' anything in a medical sense, but it restored emotional capacity, resilience, and hope. That’s the essence of holistic care.
Addressing isolation through human connection
Isolation, especially in rural areas, is a major challenge in Lincolnshire.
Stephen: “The barriers…for a lot of people are the thing that causes this isolation…small villages…with no buses.”
The response is simple but profound: bring connection closer to home.
“Having those spaces…they don’t have to travel far…especially the older population.”
For younger adults, the issue looks different but is just as real:
“There’s kind of this assumption that they’re fine…and some people aren’t…that is quite isolating.”
In both cases, the solution is the same. Create opportunities for genuine, face-to-face connection.
“It’ll always be better seeing someone at a coffee shop than a phone call.”
These spaces don’t just reduce loneliness, they create belonging.
Collaboration: The engine behind effective care
None of this work happens in isolation. Collaboration is the backbone.
Jo described the ecosystem:
“It couldn’t have come about without that collaborative working…Social Prescribing, the staff in the GP practices.”
This joined-up approach means people can access support seamlessly:
“Immediately they can talk to somebody from their local GP practice…just having that informal conversation…you literally see the weight coming off their shoulders.”
Anna highlighted the broader impact:
“It gives us the opportunity to reach back from a practisce level into the community. It’s that reminder…there is a community, and there’s stuff going on that’s equally as important as the clinical support.”
Care becomes not just something delivered in practices and clinics, but something lived and supported within communities.
'The Ripple Effect': Communities supporting themselves
Perhaps the most powerful outcome is what happens beyond the organised sessions.
Jo describes how networks naturally grow:
“It’s not just us providing the group…it’s the ripple that comes from that.”
People begin to support each other, forming friendships and informal networks.
"(In one village) a whole group…have just literally encompassed this new lady…seeing their own support network evolve.”
This is where strengths-based care truly shines - when communities become self-sustaining sources of support.
Personalised care in practice: Flexibility and inclusion
A final key theme of this work is inclusivity, ensuring support is accessible to all, regardless of age, condition, or background.
Anna described a deliberately open approach:
“We want to encourage everybody…it doesn’t really matter…a group that everybody’s welcome at and is supported.”
From dementia cafés to chair yoga to young adult groups, the offer is diverse and adaptable.
Crucially, it’s shaped by real feedback:
“My participants are asking for this…they want a singing group…and it was successful quite quickly.”
When services respond directly to people’s expressed needs, engagement follows.
Conclusion: It really is all about people
Our conversation with Jo, Stephen, and Anna offers a compelling vision of what modern care can look like - human, local, and deeply relational.
It shows that:
- Listening leads to relevance
- Strengths-based approaches build confidence and resilience
- Safe, informal spaces unlock real conversations
- Collaboration creates seamless support
- And connection is as vital as any clinical intervention
Above all, it reinforces a simple truth:
Care works best when it starts with people - their lives, their strengths, and what truly matters to them.
