ICE Creates appointed to deliver Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire

The Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire marks an important step forward in strengthening early help, community connection, and independence across the county.

From 1st April 2026, ICE Creates will deliver the Wellbeing and Independence element of this contract, working alongside Shropshire Council and NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB to make prevention practical, accessible, and rooted in place.

In rural areas, early intervention must work differently. Distance, transport barriers, and isolation shape lived experience. Therefore, prevention only works when support reaches people before challenges escalate. This contract creates that opportunity.

Why the Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire matters now

Across Shropshire, small changes in confidence or connection can quickly become serious risks. A missed coffee morning becomes prolonged isolation.

Reduced mobility leads to fewer social interactions. Gradually, well-being deteriorates.

For commissioners, this pattern is familiar:

• Rising avoidable admissions
• Increasing demand on adult social care
• Escalating mental health pressures
• Carer burnout

However, these pressures are not inevitable.

When early help is accessible and trusted, people seek support sooner.

The Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire is designed to:

• Reduce escalation into crisis
• Strengthen community assets
• Support hospital discharge pathways
• Improve independence and resilience
• Relieve pressure on statutory services

In short, it shifts focus from reaction to prevention.

What the Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire will deliver

At its core, this service starts with a simple question: what does this person need to feel confident, connected, and independent?

From that point, support is tailored and relationship-led.

Key delivery components include:

• Befriending and connection
  Volunteer-led calls, visits, and supported introductions to community groups
• Group-based wellbeing activities
  Walking groups, creative sessions, shared meals, and local social spaces
• Early dementia support
  Structured activities and peer connection that maintain confidence and community participation
• Support for unpaid carers
  Practical help and respite that protect carer wellbeing and sustainability
• Community asset navigation
  Active connection into local services, faith groups, voluntary organisations, and informal networks

This is not about filling time. It is about rebuilding routine, identity, and belonging.

Delivering the Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire through place-based practice

Rural prevention requires flexibility. Someone living in a remote village faces different barriers from someone in a market town.

Therefore, delivery must adapt.

ICE Creates will:

• Work through trusted community hubs
• Partner with existing voluntary and community groups
• Bring support to individuals where necessary
• Recruit and develop local volunteers
• Maintain visible local presence

Because prevention must be easy to reach, not another service people struggle to access.

Our workforce model is strengths-based and person-centred.

We build on what people already have, develop confidence rather than dependency and invest in volunteers through structured training, supervision, and ongoing support to ensure quality and consistency.

This approach aligns with wider integrated prevention principles described by NHS England within its community transformation priorities:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/community-services/

System value of the Services for Adults in Shropshire

Commissioners require evidence of impact, not aspiration.

When early help is visible and accessible:

• Engagement increases
• Retention improves
• Crises reduce
• Carer breakdown decreases
• Avoidable admissions fall

Moreover, benefits compound. Improved confidence supports mobility.

Increased connection improves mental wellbeing.

Carer stability sustains independence at home.

This creates:

• Better use of existing budgets
• Reduced duplication across pathways
• Smoother hospital discharge
• Greater alignment with Integrated Care Board priorities

Importantly, equity is embedded in delivery. Rurality, transport access, confidence, and culture are recognised as structural barriers.

Therefore, support is designed around lived experience, not service convenience.

For further insight into our wider prevention and community health model, see our approach to integrated healthy lifestyle services.

Building community resilience for Adults in Shropshire

Prevention is most powerful when it feels local. Trust grows through continuity. Confidence grows through relationships.

This contract enables Shropshire residents to:

• Stay connected
• Remain independent
• Maintain dignity
• Access support early

At the same time, it strengthens the voluntary and community sector. It develops volunteers. It builds long-term community capability.

The Preventative Services Contract for Adults in Shropshire represents a practical, place-based commitment to early intervention, community resilience, and system efficiency.

By delivering the Wellbeing and Independence element with flexibility, partnership, and strong volunteer development, ICE Creates will help ensure that fewer residents reach crisis and more people live confidently within their communities.

Prevention works best when it is human, accessible, and locally rooted. That is the opportunity now unfolding in Shropshire.

If you are a Shropshire-based community organisation, business, or system partner interested in collaboration, we welcome the conversation.

Want to know more get in touch.

Check out our other services like, Stop for Life Devon & Healthy Lifestyles Coventry and not to forget our new Stop Smoking App.