Residents in the Somer and Chew Valleys are being invited to find out more about the work being carried out to improve people's health and wellbeing in their area at the next meeting of their Connecting Communities Forum.

The joint meeting of the Somer Valley and Chew Valley Area Forums will be held on Thursday 7 October on Zoom.

Attendees will hear from the Three Valleys Health Primary Care Network – a group of eleven GP practices in the Somer Valley and Chew Valley areas. They will explain how they work with other health and care organisations to provide integrated services and with local communities to improve health and wellbeing.

The meeting will also hear from speakers from Virgin Care; Age UK BANES and the West of England Rural Network Village Agents.

Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council said: "I know people care deeply about the health and wellbeing services provided in their communities, but they often aren't aware of all the work that's being carried out to improve those services. This is a great opportunity for people in the Somer and Chew Valleys to learn more about what's happening in their area and to provide feedback."

Area Forums are open to all residents and bring together public services, local organisations and residents to improve local engagement, encourage people to talk to each other and share their skills and ideas. There are five Forums in Bath and North East Somerset which are supported by the council. The others are Bath Area Forum, Bathavon Area Forum and Keynsham Area Forum.

You can find more information and meeting dates on the council website. HERE : the B&NES site

To join the Zoom meeting on 7 October, you will be need to enter the Meeting ID: 919 0019 6543 and Password: zPb0f0UrRR

You can watch the Area Forum live, or at a later time, on the council's YouTube channel

Residents are also reminded that if they missed the Living Locally Webinar on 24 September, it is still available to watch on YouTube. The Panel, which included the Chair of Chew Valley Area Forum Chris Head and Somer Valley Forum member Sam Ross, considered what life could be like in communities if they had all the facilities they needed locally and what this might mean in terms of access to healthcare, education, transport, work, jobs, leisure and local investment.