We focus on four complex health issues more prevalent in urban areas
With the Social Progress Imperative, we've developed the first neighbourhood level, health-focused social progress index of its kind.
With Wellcome Trust
We want to hear from you.
We are looking for an individual or consultancy firm to support us in building a strategic plan for the legacy of our childhood obesity programme.
Thursday 21 July – in-person
Impact on Urban Health is 5 years in to a 10-year Childhood Obesity Programme. During the programme’s lifetime we will spend c.£45m and work closely with a wide range of partners to improve children’s health in urban areas. The programme focuses on breaking the link between low income and poor nutrition, by improving the quality of food options in lower-income neighbourhoods. We are looking for a consultant to help us define what a successful legacy, or exit, from the programme looks like that enables others to lead on changes that will continue to shift the dial on children’s health once our childhood obesity programme and funding ends. We want to make sure that bold changes to the food environments in places where children and families spend their time continue beyond the life of the programme, so that eating well and healthily is the easiest – not hardest – thing to do.
All children should have the opportunity to be healthy, no matter where they live. This includes access to a nutritious diet. Yet children’s chances of accessing healthy food – or being flooded with unhealthy food – depend strongly on where they grow up. As a result, children living in areas of lower average income are more likely to be both malnourished and obese.
Specifically, we focus on changing early years settings, schools and high street food environments. We work with a range of types of partner that share our vision, including food charities, education settings, local government, investors and food companies (see examples below). We are also funding a programme of work to reframe the narrative on childhood health and obesity so that policy and solutions are targeted at changing the environments where children and families purchase and consume food, rather than promoting individual behaviour change. We and our partners actively support policy change at local and national levels that improves children’s health and access to a nutritious diet. Please find more information on our partnerships and approach here.
We and our partners have learned a lot about what it takes to improve children’s health and address childhood obesity, and have a track record of impactful change at a local and national level. However, the gap in childhood obesity outcomes between those on high and low incomes continues to widen nationally, and there is much left to do. It is clear that addressing childhood obesity in its entirety would cost £billions and take another 15+ years. We see our role as being to catalyse sustained action from others, not on delivering the long-term solutions ourselves. We’re looking for a consultant who can help us think and work through the decisions we should be making now to enable us to play that catalytic role in the second half of the programme.
We also think we can learn from other issue areas that have seen dramatic improvements, such as incidence of teenage pregnancy or smoking. And we want to learn from other foundations who have attempted similar exercises, for example those that have spent down their endowments. For more information on our thinking to date, see here.
We aim to identify:
We are open to a range of approaches to refining and answering our questions. We want this process to draw heavily on the expertise and experience of Impact on Urban Health’s staff and our partners. As such, we would expect the approach to include:
Defining success
Identifying and applying relevant best practice
Identifying what from our programme and our partner’s work should be scaled and sustained
Identifying the mechanisms needed to scale and sustain a healthier, more equitable food system
Ultimately, the outcome we are looking for is a strategic plan which builds on our thinking and work to date, and which has the support of both our senior leadership and childhood obesity teams.
Essential
Desirable
We do not require experience working in the field of childhood obesity or children’s health.
Impact on Urban Health is part of Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation. Our collective mission is to build the foundations of a healthier society.
At Impact on Urban Health, we’re committed to achieving health equity by helping urban areas become healthier places for everyone to live. We take a place-based approach to improving urban health. This helps us understand how the local environment affects people’s health and to find solutions that work in practice.
The south London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark have been our home for over five centuries. It is here that we work with organisations, groups and individuals – local, national and international – who are committed to achieving health equity in inner-city areas.
To drive better health in cities, we pay particular attention to the context in which people live and the wider determinants of their health, from finance and employment, to access to nutritious food and air quality.
We have four programmes that each focus on one of the following health issues:
We also have a research and development team that works across our programmes.
Email Rebecca Sunter (rebecca.sunter@urbanhealth.org.uk) and Matt Towner (matt.towner@urbanhealth.org.uk) to apply.
Our team bring together a unique combination of expertise, skills and drive to meet our ambition of making cities healthier places for everyone to live in.
Who we are
Our purpose and values as an employer.
Programmes
We want to break the link between low income and poor nutrition, by improving the quality of food options in lower-income neighbourhoods.