Ambition leads to advancement
development we need
a region of forward progress
forward movement
we will see

Direct, targeted action
tailored to change
lives for local families
to improve their everyday

The North East has been ahead
of the curve, against the grain
with the spirit of collaboration
and our vibrancy uncontained

We are constantly testing
learning and refining
open to adapting,
ready For evolving

The brave piloting approach
is becoming part and parcel
proving Grassroots work works
and connection is universal

We’re Poverty proofing the school day
making uniforms easier to afford
advocating for SENd access
removing the barriers of before

Supporting young people into work
closing gaps in safeguarding law
asking families what they need
and aiming to deliver more

baby boxes gifted
alongside early life essentials
advice and support
for new families’ new adventures

Offering an infrastructure of opportunities
chances for kids to move their bodies
to get involved with sports and arts
that their energy can embody

Empowering our young people
with the information they need
ways to build the life
they’re capable of and deserve to lead

Putting our heads together
all the best minds that we’ve got
so many working on the ground
endeavouring non-stop

for the child of our region
to offer them a good beginning
to make sure that their promise –
that promise that is brimming

From that first mighty cry
first tight grasp of another
we have to ensure that promise
will explode and will uncover

Future creatives
Future trailblazers
Future mentors
Future changemakers
Future role models
Future leaders

The future of our region
a future of believers

that believe deeply in hope
in the power of togetherness
young people that believe
we deserve the best and never less

We’re here to make one main point
one vital promise, which is
we’re making the future of our children
everyone’s business

We’re all eager for the transformation
we’re all sat here, open-hearted
and like the lives that this plan will change
we’re only just getting started

There are threats to health we’re facing
this we all know to be true
Recovery of UK health
is the goal in this room

Everybody here has
that same goal, that same idea
We need to make health more equitable
and that’s why we’re all here

People in this network
have so much to give,
so many practical ways in which
we can change how people live

It needs to be the right support
at the right place, right time
Each percentage of a statistic
is a real person, real life

And no single person alive
has only one concern to bring
There is not one single person
who can be summed up as just one thing

Holistic ways of working
listening first and then responding
Creating action with a person
and avoiding disregarding

Give individuals a sense of power
over their own lives,
a sense of confidence, of purpose,
a sense of hope so they can thrive

Trusting a person knows themself
better than any system
and a community knows what help it needs
trusting in grassroots wisdom

We can praise a community’s strength
because, yes, fortitude is brilliant
but we can not allow disparity
to be excused due to resilience

Acknowledge systemic influences
work to tackle discrimination
Look at the workplace, travel, utilities, housing
they’re all part of the same health equation

Health is wealth and wealth is health
Wealth means opportunities, headspace
People make better health choices
when they have security as their base

We need to tackle populism narratives,
take issue with division overpowering unity
Everything, everybody is linked
and healthy people make healthy communities

Creative health, divestment to local,
ways to create early intervention –
they are all key elements
to ensure ill health prevention

Utilising trauma informed practice,
upskilling trusted community members
Work on connecting services with partnerships
to ensure consistency at the centre

People are the economy
We need a cohesive workplace health system
Health of the working people holds
huge economic implications

We need long-term investment commitments
We need place-based aspirations
Not avoiding people labelled ‘hard to reach’,
but having them mold our considerations –

So that we can deliver
good employment and good standards of living,
parent support, Creatively healthy schools
and seek to remedy whose voice is missing

Poor health is both an economic
and a moral issue
this is all professional
but it is all personal too

So yes, it is true that we are all
facing great, big problems –
but we’ve, together, got greater ideas
that can help us, now, to solve them

We are moving on from evidence
and turning it into action
We’re building from where we are, right now
and letting the movement build traction

Because that is what this is –
Health Equity’s a social movement
We’re chipping away, bit by bit
to ensure lasting vast improvements

We’re not promising instant changes
We acknowledge we’re four miles into a marathon
But we do promise to
just
start
somewhere
and that equity is what we’re set upon