A FREE health service is expecting a £400,000 cut to funding leaving the future of several healthy lifestyles groups - including Fit Reds - hanging in the balance.
Be Well Barnsley works with people to help them make healthy, long term lifestyle changes.
These included stopping smoking, losing weight, becoming more active, reducing stress and improving their mood, and to drink more sensibly.
It is funded by Barnsley Council, and the services are delivered by two providers, South West Yorkshire NHS Foundation Trust provides the stop smoking service, and Personal Shaped Support (PSS) delivers the healthy lifestyle service.
The cut is expected around this time next year.
As part of Be Well Barnsley, PSS runs groups such as Fit Reds, Fit Mums, Choose to Lose, FIT Me, Dearne Stay Fit and Fit Stix, an alternative fitness group inspired by drumming, and Choose 2 Lose, a weight loss group.
PSS also offers activity sessions for families, reduced rates to a community gyms, physical activity groups such as football and walking, and gentle chair-based exercises.
A social impact report by PSS states between April 2016 and March 2017, there were 2,174 initial assessments and 904 referrals with 466 (52 per cent) achieving their goal. It also states Be Well Barnsley made 617 referrals to other services throughout 2016/2017.
A spokesman for the council said it was working with PSS to remodel the service over the next 12 months, which will identify which services will operate once the budget is in place.
The spokesman said PSS was looking into charging people for attending the groups and this means that they may continue once the funding is reduced.
Be Well Barnsley launched in November 2015 and there are 19 members of staff listed on its website, ranging from service manager to team leaders, co-ordinators and advisors.
Coun Jenny Platts, spokesman for communities, said: “Reductions in funding have been discussed in detail with PSS and there is a planned reduction over an extended period of time. Over the next year we will work closely with PSS to redesign their service to provide more targeted interventions for people who have a high BMI and need skills and knowledge around healthy eating. This is in recognition that there are other, community based initiatives and services available across the borough that focus on health and wellbeing. During this time PSS will manage any staff reductions and it is anticipated that the impact on job losses will be minimal.
“It is important to note that we are protecting the funding for specialist stop smoking services as too many people in Barnsley still smoke and so we will continue to fund services at an appropriate level.”
Lesley Dixon, chief executive of PSS, said: “Be Well is a service we love to shout about. It’s full of creative people who constantly come up with new ideas to make good health and wellbeing more accessible and fun.
“The planned cuts are of course a massive disappointment to us, but we all know that the public sector is in a really difficult position. The challenges we’re helping people with at Be Well are not things we will see the impact of tomorrow, or next week, but they are things that will reduce pressure on the health systems of 2030, 2050, 2080.
“We’ve got to think ahead and plan for the future and do things which we can prove make a difference to the health of our people, if we don’t we’ve no chance at reducing the pressure on the system and the future will be harder than ever.”
