Providing creative, health and wellbeing services to residents in Waltham Forest?

If you are part of an organisation, or know someone who works in one, that provides creative, health and wellbeing services, then the Council's Social Prescribing Team would like to invite you to a demonstration session on the Joy Directory.

The next sessions are:

Date: Tuesday 3rd November 2026
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Venue: Chingford Library Community Room, The Green, London, E4 7EN

Date: Wednesday 4th November 2026
Time: 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Venue: Walthamstow Library Community Room, High Street, London, E17 7JN

The sessions will provide an opportunity to learn how to register your organisation on the Joy Directory, explore its features, and understand how it can help enhance the visibility of your services to residents, social prescribers, and other health and community professionals.

What is Joy?

Joy is a website that connects residents, healthcare professionals, and community organisations with local non-clinical services and activities that support health and wellbeing. Through the Joy Directory, organisations can promote their services and make it easier for residents and professionals to find appropriate local support. The Council encourage you to take a look at the Joy website before attending the session. The Joy Directory offers some additional functionality, making referrals from healthcare professionals and social prescribers quicker and easier. It also provides benefits for voluntary and community sector organisations by promoting services and allowing direct referrals, and for residents by including information on nearby services, including those in neighbouring boroughs that may be relevant.

Many of you will already be familiar with the Wellbeing Directory on the London Borough of Waltham Forest website. This directory has been a valuable resource for local organisations and residents for several years and will continue to be available and maintained by the Council. As Joy is introduced, both directories will continue to operate alongside one another to ensure that residents and organisations can access information in the way that best meets their needs.

Over time, the Council will work with partners to understand how the Joy Directory is being used and whether it can further enhance how local services are promoted and accessed. Any future changes to directory provision would be developed collaboratively and communicated clearly with partners.