Developing Healthy Communities

17/06/2026

As a researcher my passion is community research and my absolute favourite thing is finding more innovative, creative and dare I suggest, healthier ways to collect data. Robustness and rigour does not have to mean inaccessible or aloof and people are so nervous when we ask them to sit down and chat to us.

So, for an evaluation of an app which is designed to encourage people to get outside, get connected and move more - what could be more fitting than a walk and talk interview.

Walking on the route used regularly by one of our community groups from Waterside NP and chatting as we go. It was lovely to chat to the ladies and get their feedback on using Civic Dollars.

Spoiler alert - they are big fans!!

Many thanks to Innovate UK for funding the project.

09/06/2026

Have you heard of DESMOND?

The 'Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed' programme is an evidence based programme which is for people living with type 2 diabetes.

Prevention as always though is much better than cure and Lesley Hamilton from the Western Health and Social Care Trust delivered a wonderful DESMOND session to our new Civic Dollars group running in conjunction with the social work team at Castlederg Group Surgery. The session used the DESMOND model to explain how we can move off the diabetes pathway using lifestyle changes which research shows to be the best prevention method for people at risk of diabetes. Civic Dollars of course is there to incentivise people to move more.

I have to say I learned a lot I did not know and delivered in such a creative, accessible and knowledgeable way. Highly recommend a session from Lesley for any group looking for diabetes education.

Thank you to Innovate UK for this funding.

05/06/2026

Leaving the working week with a powerful visual of one pattern of use for Civic Dollars. The first heat map shows the usage from September till December - a decent start, the second from September till today. Wow. This is in just one of our earn zones - the St Columbs Park and Riverside walk. As a researcher, it lights me up watching these colours get more intense. That's people in our community out and about making the healthy choice! Derry City & Strabane District Council

Many thanks to Innovate UK for funding this project.

05/06/2026

Looking to learn more about the impact of social media on mental health and develop tools for setting healthy boundaries? Get yourself signed up for this upcoming session facilitated by Conor from Zest - Healing The Hurt of Self-harm and Su***de.

Free for staff and volunteers working in the community and voluntary sector in the Western Trust area.

📅Thursday 18 June
⌚9.30am-12.30pm
💻ONLINE

Register at https://bookings.dhcni.com/

03/06/2026

Civic Dollars Users - Check Your Email!

We've just sent out our Civic Dollars end-of-evaluation period survey and we'd really love to hear from you.

Whether you've been using the app every week, every now and then, or haven't had a chance to get started yet, your feedback matters and will help us understand the difference Civic Dollars has made across Derry City and Strabane.

As a thank you for taking part:

Complete the survey and receive 10 Civic Dollars

Be entered into an exclusive prize draw for survey participants, with TWO £50 butcher vouchers to be won.

Please check your inbox (and your junk/spam folder just in case) for an email from the Civic Dollars team.

Thank you for helping us tell the story of Civic Dollars and the impact it has had in our community.

Funded by Innovate UK and delivered locally by Developing Healthy Communities.

02/06/2026

Trust matters when it comes to organisations working on mental health, wellbeing and su***de prevention. We are promoting and supporting the role of the PHA Quality Standards Framework in building stronger, safer mental health and emotional wellbeing services.

Clear project manager Sarah-Jane Goldring has written about the Standards (and how to get started with a self-assessment) on our website. Read the blog...

PHA Quality Standards showcase a commitment to quality and continuous improvement.

27/05/2026

Civic Dollars @ Developing Healthy Communities is now firmly in the programme delivery stage. Our research shows that the most effective pathway for sustained interaction is through our strong community partnerships.

Our groups have been out and about earning in order to avail of their coproduced programmes. All programmes are aimed at tackling a risk factor that has been shown to contribute to diabetes - that might be weight, it might be stress levels, it might be lack of connection, it might be knowledge around nutrition, and of course moving our bodies.

We have tried to ensure that programmes also run in earn zones, so we keep that momentum going. So we have been learning as we are earning in our City Cemetery and Riverside Walk earn zone with a tour of our historical City Cemetery, we have been learning nervous system (and chronic pain) regulation in the Thermal Gardens on our Bay Road earn zone, we have been delivering cooking demonstrations and lots and lots more.

And the sun this week has made all of this particularly joyous! Look at those smiles - plenty of dollars earned as well!

22/05/2026

Are cooking skills the key to healthy young adults and are we investing enough in them? We asked a group of teens from Studio 2 to record three podcasts telling us what they really think about the food around them.

Find the podcasts on the Developing Healthy Communities website, dhcni.com.

Project supported by Public Health Agency and Derry City & Strabane District Council

22/05/2026

Do food marketing tricks influence the teens at Studio 2? A group of 30 young people have been thinking about what makes healthy choices hard, or easy, and they've recorded three podcasts to tell us what they think.

Find the podcasts on the Developing Healthy Communities website, dhcni.com.

Project supported by Public Health Agency and Derry City & Strabane District Council

22/05/2026