HEALTH care provider General Practice Alliance is set to move into a renovated stable block at Delapré Abbey in Northampton as part of the abbey’s Wellbeing Hub.
GPA, which provides health care professional support for registered patients at 21 GP practices across Northampton, has become a new partner for the hub.
“It is a great fit, collaborating ‘in situ’ with Delapré’s Wellbeing Hub from 2025, as GPA promotes and endorses a bio-psycho-social approach to health care,” said chief executive Dan Kane.
Delapré Abbey plans to open the hub in 2025. GPA’s social prescribers, who are located at GP practices across Northampton, will play a key role in the organisation’s move into the abbey.
“Social prescribing means referring patients to support in their own community, to improve their health and wellbeing,” says Mr Kane. “Working with our social prescribers, our collaboration with the Wellbeing Hub means that the people of Northampton can benefit from the many opportunities offered through Delapré’s cultural and artistic activities, programmes and pursuits.”
The approach aims to encourage people to become more aware of their own psychological, behavioural, social and cultural beliefs and attitudes, using them to develop a healthier, more active, potentially happier lifestyle.
“Research proves this can lead to a longer, more fulfilled life,” says Mr Kane.
GPA will join other organisations based at the Wellbeing Hub working to improve public health and wellbeing. “This will be a space of positivity and support,” says Delapré Abbey chief executive Richard Clinton.
The Wellbeing Hub aims to carry out restoration work on a number of buildings at risk, all of which sit within the grounds of the historic 12th-century Abbey pictured above. The project aims to improve the mental and physical health of residents through green social prescribing, building on programmes to date such as Delapré Wellbeing and complementing the existing visitor attraction.
The project will also aim to create 42 jobs and support a thriving visitor economy. £477,000 of development funding was awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2022 to help Delapré Abbey Preservation Trust progress their plans.
“In turn, we are confident that GPA’s own links with healthcare providers, local authorities, community groups, voluntary sector organisations and leisure providers among others, will result in even more people experiencing improved health and wellbeing outcomes,” says Mr Kane. “It is a win-win for our organisations, and even more so for the people of Northampton.”