Derry’s Clarendon Way model receiving international recognition

‘Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow’ is a tailor-made description of The Clarendon Way - a transformative project co-produced and rolled out in Derry’s Clarendon Medical Practice. 

Her passion evident, Roisin Cartmill, Clarendon’s senior social work practitioner, explained the project which began in 2020 now includes patients from Aberfoyle and Quayside medical practices. 

“I am all about community,” said Roisin, “so The Clarendon Way started with Healthy Connections - our programme for people with a BMI of more than 40. 

“I would see a gentleman who could not get out of his car. He was so ashamed. I also saw a lady that had been told umpteen times she needed to lose weight. 

“I spent time with her and her story was a history of domestic violence in her childhood. After each episode, her sister would go down and get them two glasses of lemonade and she used to say she could feel the comfort it brought her. So, how could you just tell that woman she needed to lose weight?

“I thought, ‘There is a lot of shame and stigma and a GP saying you need to lose weight is not going to cut it,’” said Roisin.

Clarendon Way - community allotment.

Roisin said she decided to investigate research on peoples’ emotional relationship with food. 

“We weren’t looking to throw lifestyle and diet and exercise at patients. There was already a lot of brilliant stuff being done in terms of those,” she added.

“There wasn’t anything available, so we wrote to our patients, anyone with a BMI of more than 40. The feedback we got was the letter was very down to earth. We asked patients if they thought they had an emotional relationship with food and if there was anything emotional with which they needed support. We got loads of feedback from the patients who were interested.

“From that we held a Dragons’ Den event with a range of different facilitators and our patients picked a programme, which included Taiko drumming. Crucially, our patients said they definitely didn’t need to be weighed or measured. 

“The emotional and well-being aspect of Healthy Connections was facilitated by Anne Tracey and Fiona Bell. Shauna Quigley did the work around emotional eating and there was also input from Clarendon’s mental health team. We talked a lot about Dr Stephen Porges and his work around creating safety and the importance of the nervous system. 

“I wanted everybody facilitating Healthy Connections to be a participant. I wanted it to be about human connection, not separating ‘professionals’ and people with lived experience. We needed professionals with lived experience too,” said Roisin.

The Healthy Connections participants who shaped The Clarendon Way.

Roisin said she still had patients involved in Taiko drumming.

“I think that’s because it is celebrating more than music. It is about performance; come as you are; you are good enough as you are. It celebrates what your body can do,” she said. 

“The feedback on Health Connections was absolutely amazing and it was very much welcomed by the GPs at Clarendon Medical. 

“In fact, our patients felt so well cared for through Health Connections, we received funding from The Ideas Fund, a grants programme run by the British Science Foundation. It is still funding us five years later.

“As a result, we have moved on to Strengthening Connections and I was really delighted that the original Healthy Connections patients stayed on. The whole thing has been transformative and the outcomes have absolutely blown us away. 

“We also won a competition organised by the South Eastern Trust and received a training budget of £3,000 for patients. We then set up a committee with patients because, what has now become known as The Clarendon Way was getting too big for Caroline Stack - Clarendon’s social work assistant - and me,” said Roisin.

Giving an example of one of the most positive outcomes of The Clarendon Way, Roisin said one of the participants had recently spoken at a social work forum.

“She had had addiction issues but because of the rapport and trust she experienced doing the Healthy Connections programme, when she needed help, she had no qualms reaching out to me and Caroline and has been sober ever since. That woman has subsequently delivered loads of stuff for us - a fantastic outcome,” said Roisin.

“The Clarendon Way has drawn upon the work of Cormac Russell, who established ‘Nuture Development, a social enterprise dedicated to discovering meaningful ways to build communities from the inside out, with a real welcome for the stranger at the edge’. 

“It is essential to realise the patients taking part are scientists, entrepreneurs , musicians, trained hypnotherapists. Their talent and strengths are amazing and they want to give back - hence the patient committee,” said Roisin.

Some of the activities included in The Clarendon Way are: chair-based exercise; HOPE training; sign language classes; a walking group, the Clarendon Danders; and an allotment at the Playtrail in Penyburn.

The Clarendon Way co-designers.

Thanks to The Ideas Fund, Roisin and her co-producers, including Dr Grainne McAnee who evaluated the project and facilitator Grainne O’Neill, have now put together all their learning into the internationally recognised The Clarendon Way model.

As Roisin said: “The Ideas Fund identified a systemic change happening here. It  feels like we are getting back to community social work.

“We are launching the model on January 29, 2025, in the Guildhall.”

Thanks to The Ideas Fund, Roisin and her co-producers, including Dr Grainne McAnee who evaluated the project and facilitator Grainne O’Neill, have now put together all their learning into the internationally recognised The Clarendon Way model.

As Roisin said: “The Ideas Fund identified a systemic change happening here. It  feels like we are getting back to community social work.

“We are launching the model on January 29, 2025, in the Guildhall.”