Energy-limiting conditions project supports people across Lincolnshire

Thanks to a grant from NHS Charities Together in 2023, Lincolnshire NHS Charity was proud to work with a range of health, care and community partners from across the county to deliver a project focussed on supporting people with chronic fatigue and energy-limiting conditions.

This project deeply and directly engaged people with lived experience to ensure it was well-informed, provided the right support, and met specific and changing needs of real people. We were glad to work closely alongside local people, and organisations including Lincolnshire County Council, LVET, EveryOne, Shine Lincolnshire, and collegues from Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust.

Originally looking specifically at Long COVID, the project grew organically to address a larger number of conditions which result in levels of fatigue and illness which impact daily life. Together, professional partners worked with local prople to address a complex, misunderstood physical and mental health issue. Throughout the project, the collective of services across Lincolnshire delivered peer support groups, developed essential information resources, facilitated wellness activities, and provided mental health awareness training.

Scott McGinn, Lincolnshire NHS Charity Manager, said:

Our energy-limiting conditions partnership project has been a great opportunity to empower local people, learn, and bring services together with a shared purpose. This project is testament to what can be acheived when a range of services come together and, crucially, when they listen to the voice of people with experience.

Thanks to the hard work of our partners and the honesty and generosity of people living with energy-limiting conditions, this projecy improved public access to essential support and information, enabled greater support for people with energy-limiting conditions, and ensured clearer professional awareness and understanding of such illnesses. Now, local services are more informed about and better-equipped to support people with energy-limiting conditions, we have developed lasting partnerships across sectors, and there is an ongoing appetite to continue effectively addressing support, information and resources for people with energy-limiting conditions. Perhaps most signitficantly, people with lived experience feel better understood and supported.