Living Well Warrington promotes health and wellbeing across the town by helping people make meaningful connections, find local support and take simple steps to look after themselves based on what matters to them.
Living Well Warrington has been highly commended in the Integrated Care Initiative Award at the HSJ Awards 2025.
Residents in the most deprived neighbourhoods can live more than 10 years less than those in wealthier areas. Many of these communities sit side by side, exposing contrasts in opportunity and wellbeing.
Healthy life expectancy is around 65 years, compared with an overall life expectancy of 80.
The number of people aged 65 and over is set to increase by 50% in the next 20 years. This will significantly increase demand for already overstretched health and social care services.
Even before the pandemic in 2020, there was high demand for health and social support in Warrington.
The pandemic then made an already difficult situation worse, increasing pressure on services and widening existing health inequalities.
NHS teams are stretched, local organisations are under-resourced and the rising cost of living adds further strain on people and families. In many ways, it's a perfect storm.
Living Well aims to tackle these challenges by focusing on prevention, early support and building community resilience, helping people take control of their own wellbeing.
Central to this mission is creating a widely recognised local brand, reducing reliance on primary, secondary and social care services, and promoting a community-led approach that makes support more accessible and proactive.
A reliable and relatable digital resource, designed to complement the Living Well Hub in the town centre, forms a key part of this approach.
Living Well Warrington connects residents to the services, activities and information they need.
Alongside the Living Well Hub, Living Well Warrington is a digital platform that makes it easier for residents, community builders and healthcare professionals to find local services, support and information.
The platform features an integrated directory, tailored resources for those at higher risk, community-based content and self-service tools that help people take control of their wellbeing.
Behind the scenes, it includes reporting tools that allow partners to track the platform’s impact on the community.
The Living Well Hub opened in March 2024 in Warrington town centre.
The three-storey building brings together over 35 partner organisations and more than 350 staff, including NHS clinicians and voluntary sector groups.
It offers flexible support, from drop-in café sessions and a welcoming reception to clinical rooms upstairs.
In its first year, the Hub welcomed over 15,000 visits and provided around 70 services, including blood testing, dementia support, maternity care and community advice.
Living Well partners also deliver services in people’s homes and communities, to ensure they are reaching everyone including the most vulnerable.
In 2023, Warrington’s community partners set out to find a technology provider to help create a platform that would complement the physical Living Well Hub in the centre of town.
After a thorough selection process, they chose Made Open to develop Living Well Warrington, which launched to the public in March 2025.
By prioritising connections, self-empowerment and proactive support, the platform aims to make lasting improvements in the lives of local residents, reducing reliance on crisis services and fostering a culture of prevention and resilience.
Our strategic vision in Warrington is to create a “go to” digital platform for residents to find information and service offers that reflects their individual health and wellbeing needs. Our partners unanimously chose Made Open from a shortlist of potential providers.
Stephen Bennett, Head of Strategy & Partnerships, NHS Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals
Together, they considered how the platform could encourage prevention, reach those at higher risk and create a consistent and trusted Living Well identity across the borough.
Partners emphasised the need to make the platform easy to use, with a powerful search and accessible content. They looked ahead to future possibilities, including personalised user experiences, broader partner involvement and the ethical use of AI.
Future developments will focus on providing better tools for professionals, offering more personalised experiences for residents and strengthening partnerships.
Made Open’s software gives us pretty much everything we are looking for but, more importantly, the Made Open team are a perfect fit in terms of sharing our vision and values. Their open and honest approach, and their willingness to listen, learn and adapt, means that our platform will be highly valuable to our local communities.
Stephen Bennett, Head of Strategy & Partnerships, NHS Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals
I have been truly impressed by Made Open’s dedication to co-designing innovative digital solutions that make a real difference. Living Well Warrington is more than an online platform - it’s a catalyst for change and strengthens our ability to work together as an integrated health and wellbeing support system.
Rachel Moran, Strategic Project Manager, NHS Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals
Packed with practical take-aways, we explore the strategies, challenges and stories behind place-based change.
