Workshops to address vaccine hesitancy in Wolverhampton

Wednesday, 10 March 2021 19:27

With Covid-19 having a disproportionate impact on some communities in Wolverhampton and nationally, the City of Wolverhampton Council is holding online workshops to identify ways of addressing the problem.

As part of the Community Champions project, the council, along with Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council, is inviting people who are passionate about their communities to join online Design Jam creative workshops.

The workshops aim to identify new ways of engaging black, Asian, minority ethnic and other groups such as people with disabilities in order to address coronavirus myths and misinformation, reassure people and encourage them to have the vaccine when it is their turn.

Sessions include support and mentoring from a range of organisations and agencies from across the city. Supported by a facilitator, people will work in teams to understand the issues better, devise potential solutions and then choose the best ones to try out in the community. Successful ideas will then be implemented out across the city.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, said: “Wolverhampton is one of a number of cities chosen to work with local communities to break down the barriers creating vaccine hesitancy amongst certain communities.

“Our Community Champions are well placed to tell us what the local concerns are. By working together and providing support and mentoring, we hope to develop ways of addressing these hesitancies and ensuring sure that people have the information they need to be able to make an informed decision.”

Suffi Price, Deputy Chief Executive of Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council, said: “The Design Jam will be a fun, fast and creative. We’ll be working together over two sessions to develop the best ideas which will then be tried out in our communities. If you have an interest or influence in your local community and want to help to address coronavirus concerns, then please get involved.”

The Design Jam is being held via Zoom from 5pm-7pm on Wednesday 17 March and Wednesday 24 March; participants will need to be available to take part in both workshops. Anyone interested in taking part can apply at https://bit.ly/30s1zwr.

For more information about Wolverhampton’s Community Champions, please visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/communitychampions.