What is a community wellbeing hub
There's no exact definition of what a community wellbeing hub is as we want to co-produce each hub with people in the local area.
But we hope it can be a trusted local space designed around local people, where residents can access health advice, practical support, community activities and social connections all in one place.
Typical services might include:
- Blood pressure checks and NHS health advice
- Mental health support and peer support groups
- Stop smoking services
- Social activities and community groups
- Family support and children’s services
- Housing, employment and money advice
- Community helpdesks and signposting to local services
What's included in the community wellbeing hubs is up to the community. The names of the hubs may also be different at each location - it's up to our residents to decide what they'd like to call it!
Why we develope community wellbeing hubs
In 2025, the NHS published their 10-year plan which included a vision to provide more care closer to home through neighbourhood health. A "neighbourhood" in this context is an area of around 50,000 residents in a geographical area that has access to health and care within their neighbourhood. In Portsmouth, we wanted to build on what already exists in our city.
This year, the Portsmouth Neighbourhood Health Strategic Plan 2026-2029 was approved which proposes seven neighbourhood health areas across the city, each with different priorities and needs.
Part of our approach to neighbourhood health is to bring health and care services closer to where our residents are, alongside existing services, and most importantly, working with our residents.
In Portsmouth, we wanted to build on existing work - such as HIVE Portsmouth's community helpdesks, community engagement work in Paulsgrove and Portsea, and existing organisations such as SPARK community space.
The idea of a community wellbeing hub (that builds on this existing work) was discussed as a way of expanding existing services and bringing health and care to where our residents already are. Three six-month pilot community wellbeing hubs were therefore developed in three of our seven neighbourhood health areas: Paulsgrove (Paulsgrove and Cosham), Portsea (Portsea and Somerstown) and Fratton (South East).
What work has been done so far
In December 2025, partners across Health and Care Portsmouth came together to discuss what a neighbourhood approach might look like in Portsmouth. We wanted to understand what was most important to our residents and provide health and care services alongside social activities and existing things locally. We were building on existing work already happening locally and finding out what services could offer residents in places not usually used for health and care services (i.e. community centres instead of hospitals).
In summer 2026, we held community drop-in sessions in Paulsgrove and Portsea - to really understand what a community wellbeing hub might look like in these two locations. At the same time, we began having conversations with SPARK community space about supporting their existing offer around wellbeing and provide links into NHS health and care services.
In November 2026, following lots of discussions with Portsea residents, we launched our first community wellbeing hub - Portsea Together - at the John Pounds site in Portsea. We are hoping SPARK's Wellbeing Wednesday will be launched soon after, and the community wellbeing hub in Paulsgrove will be launched in 2027.
Who's involved
- Portsmouth City Council
- NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board
- HIVE Portsmouth
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- University of Portsmouth
- SPARK Community Space
- Healthwatch Portsmouth
- Solent Mind
- Ambition Portsmouth
- And many more partners as the pilots develop!
What happens at the end of the six-month pilots
After the six-month pilots, it is hoped that learnings from the three pilots will support the continued delivery of the existing community wellbeing hubs and develop of additional hubs - ideally one in each of the seven neighbourhood health areas identified.
A full evaluation will take place throughout the six-month pilots. including gathering evidence about what is working, any opportunities for improvement, and what should be considered for future community wellbeing hub development.
Partners involved in delivering services at the hubs, and residents attending the hubs, are invited to be involved in the evaluation. This might be by attending evaluation workshops or taking part in conversations about your experience at a community wellbeing hub.
Equally, if you have a location that might be suitable as a community wellbeing hub, we'd love to hear from you.
If you'd like to get involved with the evaluation or expansion of future community wellbeing hubs, please contact Hayley Cook at Hayley.cook@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
