The Healthier Wealthier Families (HWF) programme brings expert welfare benefits and money advice directly into healthcare appointments for families with young children. It is funded by the ELFT Charity, Newham Council, Tower Hamlets Council and ActEarly, and is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
Building on an international collaborative to address poverty as a determinant of child health, the programme aims to tackle child poverty early to protect children’s health and wellbeing for life.
Since launching in 2023, HWF has embedded joint money advice sessions into community health services for children and young people with disability in Newham, supporting 279 families so far. Pilot research found that the families at highest risk of financial hardship gained an average of £6,103 per year from the advice — a £47 return for every £1 invested. Parents also reported better mental health and reduced stress.
A huge thank you to our dedicated teams, partners, families, and advisors whose passion, trust, and commitment have made this achievement possible.
The programme’s success shows the power of cross-sector collaboration: combining ELFT’s frontline services, UCL’s research and evaluation expertise, local authority leadership, and global knowledge exchange to deliver measurable impact for communities.
The winners will be announced at the HSJ Awards on Thursday 20 November at Battersea Evolution, London.
ABOUT THE HSJ AWARDS
The most coveted accolade in UK healthcare, the HSJ Awards is the largest annual benchmarking and recognition programme for the health sector. Over the last 40 years, the awards have been celebrating healthcare excellence through huge political, technological, and financial challenges within the sector. Through a rigorous, fair and transparent judging process the awards produce a roll call of the best organisations, teams and people in the NHS and the wider health sector.
ABOUT HSJ
The Health Service Journal is the only title to cover all aspects of publicly funded healthcare, providing news, analysis, best practise information from some of the most powerful and respected figures in health. The HSJ audience is formed of healthcare leaders from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds and both public and private sectors.