EALING has been awarded £5m by the National Institute for Health and Care Research to meet the health challenges facing its diverse communities.

The borough’s seven towns have inequities in education, social connection, housing and good jobs.

This leads to poorer health and shorter lives for disadvantaged communities.

To address this, the council has formed a new team called NIHR Health Determinants Research Collaboration Ealing.

It has successfully bid for funding that, over the next five years, will help the council understand better where health challenges lie.

Ealing was the only London borough to win funding in this round.

Cllr Josh Blacker, cabinet member for healthy lives, said: “The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age impact our health.

“Creating a society where everyone can thrive needs all the right building blocks in place: good education, quality housing, stable jobs, and good pay.

“But for too many of our communities, blocks are missing or are inadequate, and we need to learn how to fix the gaps.

Research partners in the project are the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Imperial College London, and the Institute of Development Studies.