Nominator Sonia Shelcott says that social prescribing is vital to help our communities to access important information to improve health and to feel socially included. Never before has this service been so important during these unprecedented times. Community360 (C360) developed the first social prescribing project in Essex in January 2013 and has been working with partners, through the One Colchester network, across Colchester Borough during the pandemic to provide a proactive response to assist local people. One Colchester is the local strategic partnership of Colchester Borough – a multi-agency network including public, voluntary and commercial sector representatives at the highest levels who come together to determine a local work plan with the ambition to make impactful decisions which will improve the quality of life of residents and be in a position to break down operational barriers. The whole team at Community360 have wrapped around the My Social PrescriptionTM (MSPTM) programme to address the social and community issues affecting citizens. Traditionally the organisation accepted referrals direct from residents through the One Colchester Hub, through outreach and through events, as well as by phone and email. A key part of MSPTM is also about accepting referrals from GPs with whom they work with across 17 surgeries. The service has had to adapt from client contact and face to face meetings to offering the service by phone. In the period from 1 April to 30 June over 1700 referrals were taken. The charity worked with One Colchester to co-design and develop the Community Hub to offer food, prescription pick-ups, community transport and welfare support. Firstsite art gallery, a member of One Colchester, kindly offered space to serve as a distribution Hub. C360 have provided their original service but extended it to contact Category A residents who are shielding,
