Anchor and community

As a Trust we work hard to improve healthcare and services every day, but there is even more we can do to support our communities to be healthier, happier and greener.

The Anchor Programme is about large organisations investing back into their communities and is a concept fully supported and endorsed by NHS England and the Health Foundation. As one of the largest employers in the south west London, developing our role as an anchor institution will enable us to understand better how our Trust can be a force for good by using our assets and influence to bring about change.

We have already begun working with health and care partners, local councils and the voluntary sector, to explore how we can reduce our environmental impact and create exciting and innovative employment, volunteering, internship and network opportunities for those we serve.

Our Better Communities Programme has provided us with the impetus to accelerate a number of priorities including:

• Building hundreds of new homes and creating a 32-acre park.
• Working with new residents at Springfield Village to create a mental health aware community through programmes like our Mental Health First Aid programme.
• Fostering skill learning through our Springfield Park social value initiative, including in grounds maintenance, event planning, catering in the café and much more.

We are committed to developing our influence as an anchor institution.

Springfield Park is a new 32-acre outdoor space in Tooting, Wandsworth. Opened in summer 2025, with a pavilion café, play area, trim trail, amphitheatre, areas for informal sport, ponds and hundreds of new trees, the park is the largest created in London since the 2012 Olympics. Springfield Park is part of the new stigma-breaking community called Springfield Village and is the latest milestone in the redevelopment of Springfield University Hospital’s Victorian-era estate.  

Find out more

Our Trust is a lead partner in South London Listens, a community-led programme that brings together residents, community organisations, the NHS and local authorities to tackle the systemic barriers that affect health and wellbeing across south London.  

The programme is working to ensure that:

• communities have power over the decisions that affect their lives and wellbeing
• NHS organisations and local authorities listen to communities and develop solutions alongside them
• inequalities that drive poor mental and physical health are addressed through collective action
• prevention, early intervention and community leadership are at the heart of improving health outcome

South London Listens is a partnership of the two south London Integrated Care Systems, three south London mental health trusts, local authorities, over 150 community organisations and Citizens UK. Together, we use community organising and listening to understand and address the root causes of health inequalities. 

Find out more

Culturally Mindful is a creative health residency and training programme which brought together Global Majority artists, healthcare providers and grassroots organisations to co-design new approaches to health and wellbeing.

Working in partnership with Wandsworth London Borough of Culture, we hosted artist Shiza Naveed at our Wandsworth Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service in early 2026. We also provided free Mental Health First Aid training to all artists who were part of Culturally Mindful and based at other Wandsworth organisations.

While working with the Trust Shiza worked closely with staff and patients to co-design a creative health programme, which delivered inclusive and accessible art-based activities and provided space for connection, expression and healing. Take a look at the artwork Shiza, staff and young people created together.

We were also delighted to host a celebration at Springfield Hospital to mark the end of the Culturally Mindful programme. The event brought together artists participating in the programme and provided an opportunity for them to showcase their work and reflect on the success of their residencies. Read more

Climate change is real and impacting now. We are committed to delivering the net zero carbon and emission reduction agenda in the NHS. We believe that sustainable and greener actions can be taken and will have positive impacts on the care that we deliver, our ways of working and the wellbeing of our communities.

We will work collaboratively over the next three years to implement both strategic and small scale actions that will have positive impact and which build on our current success. We will integrate green and sustainability thinking into our existing practice and delivery.

Our Trust sustainability and green plan 2025-26 to 2027-28 lays out our vision and objectives and sets out key delivery areas to meet the Greener NHS agenda. We recognise there are challenges to be overcome but we are hopeful and optimistic about the changes we can make. Please join us on this journey.