News and reports

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global celebration held every year on 8 March to recognise the cultural, political and socioeconomic achievements of women. It also serves as a powerful reminder of the ongoing work needed to achieve true gender equality.
For Healthwatch Greenwich, this day is an opportunity to champion women’s voices in health and social care and highlight the importance of equitable access to services for women and girls across our borough.

As part of our Raising Awareness of Abuse project, we hosted a safeguarding awareness session at St Peter’s Church in Woolwich, following Sunday Mass for Black Christian community. Around 60 local residents, many of who told us they had never heard 'safeguarding' explained in plain terms, before.  

In January, we joined the Muslim women’s group at Woolwich Community Centre for a conversation about safeguarding and abuse. Women discussed wider realities from domestic and financial pressures, to the ways racism and discrimination shape both risk and access to help.  

In December 2025 and January 2026, Healthwatch Greenwich had the opportunity to share learning from our HPV project at two South London system events: the South East London Early Cancer Diagnosis Forum and the ARC South London Knowledge Exchange Event. These conferences brought together clinicians, public health teams, GPs, practice managers, cancer alliance partners and a small number of voluntary and community organisations to explore how cancer prevention and early diagnosis can be improved.

Schools are one of the key spaces where young people learn about health, from vaccination teams and school nurses to PSHE lessons and assemblies. For many, this is where early conversations about wellbeing and practical access to support begin. But for those educated outside of schools, these touchpoints can look very different.

This Trustee Week, we’re celebrating the commitment of our trustees, local people who use their skills, lived experience, and insight to challenge inequality and drive fairer outcomes for Greenwich residents.

Every October, Black History Month invites us to remember not only the struggles and achievements of the past, but the ongoing legacy of resilience and leadership that continues to shape our communities today. It is a time to reflect, to celebrate, and to renew our commitment to equity and justice.

This Mental Health Awareness Week, we’ve gone beyond raising awareness. We’ve listened to local mental wellbeing leaders, shared their stories, and worked with them to understand what it takes to build resilient, inclusive, and effective mental wellbeing support in our neighbourhoods.

Every woman deserves to feel safe, supported, and heard, before, during, and after giving birth. Yet for too many, pregnancy and childbirth remain deeply challenging experiences marked by lack of support and unmet needs. As we mark World Health Day 2025, Healthwatch Greenwich stands with the global campaign “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures,” calling for urgent action to protect the lives and wellbeing of mothers and babies, and to centre women’s voices in shaping the care they receive.

New national report shows that Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children are not being properly protected from harm.

We explore key insights from the launch of the Women and Girls' Health Hub in Greenwich and reflect on what it will take to deliver truly equitable care.

Introducing the four dynamic young researchers leading the charge in "Together We Prevent: Youth-Led Participatory Action on HPV," a pioneering initiative that aims to redefine the future of HPV-related cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.