Raise Camden

In Camden, we're committed to tackling the biggest issues that face our communities with the resources and ideas of our whole borough. This is the commitment of our Missions work and the ambition of We Make Camden.

We've launched the Raise Camden Taskforce to address child poverty and unfairness in children’s health. The Taskforce will bring together partners from in and outside the borough to test, learn and innovate – we want to make sure every child in Camden has a happy, healthy and hopeful childhood. 

We'll all share insights, skills and resources to respond to a challenge that is too big for any single organisation to address on its own. We can achieve much more by working together. 

The Raise Camden Taskforce will meet for the first time in summer 2025, and will be co-chaired by Cllr Richard Olszewski, who's leader of the Council, and Professor Sir Michael Marmot, who's director of the Institute of Health Equity and professor of Epidemiology at University College London.  

The Taskforce was launched at the We Make Camden Summit in May 2025. 

Researching unfairness in child health in Camden  

To understand the differences and unfairness in child health for children in Camden, we commissioned the UCL Institute of Health Equity to look at our existing data. They wrote an independent report which sets out recommendations for the Council and our partners to reduce child poverty and improve the health of children living in the most deprived circumstances in our borough.

The report shows that despite a proud history of tackling inequality and decades of council investment, Camden is one of the most unequal places to live in England and child poverty is increasing here. You can read the full report.

The report findings show that in Camden, and around the country, some groups of children, babies and young people grow up with worse health than others because of things out of their control, such as where they live, the home they live in or their parents’ income. This is unfair. Children and young people from Black, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be affected by unfairness in health and to grow up in poor health than white children.  

Poverty is also a major factor in the unfair differences we're seeing impact Camden children and young people. Growing up in poverty affects every aspect of a child’s life and their future life chances, including their health. Low income families are at higher risk of poor health, which can limit education or employment opportunities and make it harder for families to escape poverty. On the other hand, a happy and healthy childhood increases the likelihood of lifelong good health and wellbeing. 

Raise Camden projects

Raise Camden’s work has already started in the Council and with our partners, including:  

• offering grants to eligible pregnant people to help with the costs of pregnancy and having a baby  
• working with our community champions and voluntary and community sector partners on projects to improve the health and wellbeing for residents living on council housing estates in Camden  
• working with the NHS to provide clinics in Family Hubs for families who frequently attend A&E with non-urgent issues, to support families and connect them with the right healthcare and other services they might need

Partner with us

We are looking to partner with people and organisations in and outside of Camden to achieve the ambitions of Raise Camden. If you’d like to be involved with the taskforce’s work, we would love to hear from you. Email [email protected].

Keep updated about Raise Camden’s work

To keep updated with what Raise Camden are doing, you can sign-up to receive email updates.