How it works · 2026/27
Our project plan
Each year the Community Connectors write a plan for the year ahead, built on what partners raise at the gatherings. Here's how that works, and what this year's plan sets out to do.
How project plans work
The Community Connector service is funded by NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board (ICB). Every area, or lot, writes an annual project plan for it. Lincoln City is part of Lot 3, Lincoln City, so our plan covers the City of Lincoln, including the University of Lincoln (October 2026 to March 2027).
Each plan sets out a shared picture of where the area wants to get to, at least three local priorities, and how each one helps with the everyday things that shape health, such as having friends and people around you, a secure home, and a job or something meaningful to do.
The priorities come from the gatherings: what partners say is getting in the way, and what they think would help. We report progress every three months, and what happens shows up in You said, we did.
- ListenPartners raise needs and gaps at the gatherings
- PlanThe most important ones become the year's priorities
- ActConnectors and partners work on them together
- Report backEvery three months, and in You said, we did
The lenses we use
Job, Home, Friend
A simple way of looking at what keeps people well, and the lens every priority in the plan is looked at through.
Something meaningful to do: paid work where people want it, but also volunteering, learning, training and a routine.
A safe, settled place to live, and the help to keep it: housing problems, repairs, debt and bills.
People around you: friendships, belonging and regular contact, so fewer people are lonely or cut off.
The six outcomes
The ICB asks every plan to show how its work lines up with six outcomes for mental health, dementia, learning disabilities and autism (MHDLDA). We count what we do; the outcomes themselves come about through the partners and services people are connected to, over a longer time, so we claim a contribution, not the credit.
- 1Fewer children and adults with mental ill health
- 2Fewer people in mental health crisis
- 3People as independent as possible
- 4More people with meaningful occupation
- 5Better quality of life
- 6More people living longer in good health
This year's plan · 2026/27 · written October 2026
Where we want to get to
We want Lincoln to be a city where people find the right help at the right time, in a safe community space, ideally within a 15 to 20 minute walk of home. That needs trusted places working together as one network, whatever their funding, and partners who can reach each other between meetings and solve problems as they come up. For residents, that means a better quality of life, more independence and more meaningful things to do. For partners, it means good communication that keeps going when nobody has called a meeting.
Four priorities
-
Gatherings that keep working between meetings
Give the city gathering a web page with a partner directory (only for partners who agree to be in it), a shared resources folder and an opt-in messaging channel, so partners can reach each other directly.
In Lincoln City
- Check how the page is used each month and report back to the gathering
- Keep the conversation going on cool spaces in hot weather, linked to warm spaces and the hubs network
-
Lincoln Network of Community Hubs
Help the citywide network of community hubs, launched in September 2026, to meet regularly, agree who is in it and decide how it is run.
In Lincoln City
- Hold at least two network meetings by March 2027
- Help advice services such as Citizens Advice and Age UK reach more hubs, so someone who walks through the wrong door gets to the right one that week
-
Military families living off base
Work with the countywide Dispersed Military Families project to get local support information to military families who live away from base, where spouses and partners can be isolated.
In Lincoln City
- Focus on North Hykeham
- Make sure families can find us through the H.A.Y. Lincolnshire Meet the Connectors page and the military families edition of the Armed Forces Handbook
-
Life skills and meaningful occupation after rough sleeping
Bring together the organisations that could help people who have slept rough build the skills to keep a home and move towards work, and agree what is missing.
In Lincoln City
- Listen to people with lived experience, with their consent
- Build on Project Compass, the city's daytime hub for people sleeping rough
- Hold a first working party meeting by the end of January 2027
-
Partners' questions into student research
Small organisations name a question about their own work, and we introduce them to University of Lincoln students who can research it as part of their degree.
In Lincoln City
- This is the University of Lincoln part of the plan, led by Bryn Joslin
- Collect 8 to 12 questions from at least 6 organisations at the Lincoln City and Lincoln North gatherings
- Pass the questions to students planning their 2027/28 projects
Looking ahead
Next year's plan (2027/28)
We'll write next year's plan from what partners raise at the gatherings. These are already likely to be in it:
Life skills after rough sleeping
This year's working party will write an action plan for 2027/28, so the work on life skills and meaningful occupation is likely to carry on next year.
Student research for local organisations
Questions gathered this year go to students planning 2027/28 projects, so the research itself will reach partners next year.
Help shape next year's plan
The best way is to come along to a gathering and say what you're seeing locally.