Our strategy
We collaborate with partners and share what we learn to build health equity for people in Lambeth and Southwark and beyond.
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Urban health
2025 in urban health
Looking back on our highlights of 2025 across our programmes and policy work.
Looking back on 2025
Here at Impact on Urban Health, we know that urban areas are the best places to break the links between poverty, racism and ill health. We work with a range of partners to help improve health equity in Lambeth and Southwark and beyond, and aim to influence policy at different levels.
From widening access to financial security, to giving children the best possible start in life, and amplifying the voices of communities most affected by air pollution, we’re proudly sharing highlights from our programmes and policy work.
“We’ve bought this ad space so the junk food giants couldn’t”
Children’s health and food
In partnership with Bite Back, we launched the ‘Commercial Break’ campaign: to shift mindsets away from blaming children and families, instead putting the spotlight on the companies shaping their health and calling for stricter legislation to protect children’s health.
We flipped the script and used their tactics against them at unprecedented scale. We saturated Lambeth and Southwark with Bite Back’s youth-led message in places usually dominated by junk food ads: from billboards, to buses, phone booths, and train stations.
Building blocks for tackling child poverty
Children’s mental health
Earlier this year, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), with support from Save the Children UK, and funding from Impact on Urban Health, published recommendations on how the Government’s child poverty strategy could be effectively delivered. The ‘Building Blocks’ report calls for Government to:
- Set ambitious targets & ensure accountability
- Invest in families & essential services
The Government has recently published their Child Poverty Strategy. Read more about our response to policies on children’s health below.
Amplifying voices for clean air
Health effects of air pollution
All too often, the communities who are most affected by air pollution are often unheard by decision-makers. Our Amplifying Voices strand aims to change this. We’re supporting community-led work where lived experience, local expertise, cultural knowledge, and grassroots leadership matter. Through this, we can better inform air quality policy, research, and campaigning.
We partner with organisations who advocate for social, racial, and economic justice and are rooted in Lambeth and Southwark’s communities. Hear from some of our partners in our Amplifying Voices films.
Financial Shield: Supporting health by tackling financial stress
Financial foundations for adult health
The Financial Shield project aims to address the two-way link between financial stress and poor health. Financial Support Link Workers (FSLWs) were embedded within GP practices and primary care teams, allowing patients to receive advice on benefits, debt, and financial management when accessing healthcare.
The project has already delivered significant results, including:
- 53% of residents reported improved physical or mental health
- 1/3 of participants made fewer GP visits
- A £3.79 return for every pound spent per completed case
Our Financial Shield report with the Centre for Responsible Credit found co-locating financial support within healthcare settings produces lasting social, financial, and health benefits, and calls for our welfare and health systems to work together.
Urban Health Index
Data, evaluation and learning
Across Lambeth and Southwark, there are stark inequalities in people’s living conditions. We re-launched the Urban Health Index in the summer, an interactive tool which looks at the social and environmental factors which shape the health of people living in Lambeth and Southwark.
The Urban Health Index is more than just data – it’s a springboard for action. Whether you live or work in the boroughs, explore the dashboard, reflect on what the data tells you and see how it can help plan place-based interventions.
Our impact on health
This year has seen some welcome progress on children’s health – with the Government showing real ambition to tackle child poverty and increase access to healthy and affordable food.
Two policy changes we were particularly pleased to see were:
- The expansion of Free School Meals to all children in families receiving Universal Credit: This is a vital investment in children’s health, wellbeing, and future, and one that recognises the foundational role of nutrition in creating a healthier society. Access to a healthy, sustainable, and culturally appropriate meal at school each day, regardless of a child’s postcode, is a proven way to reduce health inequalities. Our recent evaluation of London’s Universal Free School Meal policy highlighted long-term health benefits for families.
- The total removal of the two-child limit: This major policy change, announced in the Autumn Budget 2025, will mean families will receive support for third and subsequent children from April 2026. This will immediately lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and it could also prevent many more from being forced into poverty over the coming years of this Parliament. This is a bold move that demonstrates real ambition to tackle the causes of child poverty.
Looking ahead to 2026
Recently published strategies by the Government – including the Environmental Improvement Plan, the Child Poverty Strategy, and the National Plan to End Homelessness – show promise. In 2026 and beyond, the focus must be on delivering these strategies.
At Impact on Urban Health, we look forward to working with Government, the wider sector, and our community partners to strengthen systems and develop policies which give people in urban areas the best opportunity to live in good health.
