A NEW health and wellbeing centre has officially been launched in a Newport community to bring regeneration and investment back to the area and support residents' long-term health.

19 Hills Health and Wellbeing Centre, a new multi-purpose centre located in Newport East, is set to be completed by the spring to support locals in Ringland and Alway. 

It officially launched on Wednesday, October 16 at Celtic Manor in Newport. 

Facilitated by the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, the £28m project is being built in a bid to deliver "a more integrated, preventative and community-orientated care model."

Although they are an NHS wellbeing centre, 19 Hills is committed to being a distinct social enterprise with the voice and needs of the local people at the front and centre of what they do. 

The main aim of 19 Hills and its subsequent Community Interest Company (CIC) is to bring health and social services and local businesses together under one roof, hoping to promote community engagement.

Co-directors Jonny Currie, a local GP, and Matthew Thorne, a practice nurse, founded a Community Interest Company (CIC) to connect the community with the health board, taking a holistic approach to health and wellbeing. 

When asked about their aims for the new wellbeing centre, they told the Argus:  “We want to see the regeneration and investment in Ringland and Alway giving maximal benefit to local residents, which is why we created a community-led organisation that can coordinate and steer local services and partners.

"Furthermore, with ongoing austerity in the public sector and a tendency where funding exists towards short-term grants, we see partnerships with universities, innovation organisations and the business sector as being key to providing us the long-term revenue that we know we need in 19 Hills."

The centre will officially open in Spring 2025The centre will officially open in Spring 2025 (Image: Aneurin Bevan University Health Board)Dr Currie explained that the CIC needs to be profitable so that profits can be reinvested into the community and other projects, able to function as a business while being solely for the community. 

As part of this, they have reached out to a number of local business partners to work with them over the coming years to help create jobs and opportunities for young people and strengthen the "vital building blocks" of health and wellbeing. 

From early 2025 a new centre - the 19 Hills Health and Wellbeing Centre - will open, hosting NHS, council and third sector services in a new and radical integrated centre aiming to provide holistic, preventative and community-orientated services.

19 Hills is a business but will be solely for the benefit of residents of Ringland, Alway and surrounding areas19 Hills is a business but will be solely for the benefit of residents of Ringland, Alway and surrounding areas (Image: Aneurin Bevan University Health Board) The pair have also set up a fundraising page to encourage the engagement of local business and residents to support this new site. 

Mr Currie explained: "Our new 19 Hills Community Interest Company (CIC) has been created to ensure local services engage community members in planning and to support services and initiatives with the potential to improve residents' health that fall outside the remit of the NHS."

According to Mr Currie, services provided by the centre that may be considered outside the remit of the NHS include arts, dance, music and therapy, and will also ensure access to income, debt and legal advice where required.

If you like to find out more visit their website and the fundraiser here.