Nine organisations will benefit from more than £85,000 to help tackle health inequalities in Essex.
The groups have all secured grants through our Public Health Accelerator Bids (PHAB) programme.
Grants are awarded across two funding streams:
- small grants less than £7,500
- major grants over £15,000.
So far, more than 30 projects have received small grants through the programme.
The latest successful projects, which have received a total of £87,339, are:
- The MAZE Group CIC, Tendring: to provide one-to-one emotional wellbeing support to parents and carers of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
- Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust, Basildon: to extend the Essex Pedal Power project by 100 additional bikes.
- Rhiannon Faith Company, Harlow: to host year-round weekly creative workshops followed by a ‘Care Cafe'.
- The Flex Youth and Community Group CIC, Basildon: to support the 'We are Kings' project, offering targeted support groups for men across two age groups.
- Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Tendring: to develop a new pathway within Children Learning Disability Service to support parents through compassionate psychoeducation workshops in Clacton.
- Tiptree Community Hub CIC, Colchester: to provide a programme of mental health support for children via a five-week course.
- The Next Chosen Generation CIC, Basildon: to support a project improving the mental and emotional health of young people and parents.
- Reach Group Community Projects, Basildon, Clacton, Braintree, Chelmsford and Uttlesford: to support a ten-week programme of boxing and therapeutic mentoring for young girls as well as three CPD training courses for schools.
- Mind in West Essex, Uttlesford: to support the creation of the Saffron Walden Community Garden.
One previous small grant recipient is Muscle Mind Care CIC. The grant has allowed the community interest company to offer free fitness classes for pregnant women and new dads.
Classes, which take place in Colchester, are led by Director Emma Carpenter.
She said:
PHAB funding has empowered us to offer our parent and baby exercise classes for free, reaching more families in need.
With this support, we’ve created a welcoming community where parents can improve their physical and mental health, building connections and resilience.
We ensure no parent faces the challenges of parenthood alone, something I know firsthand as a new mum myself now. Our classes put a massive smile on my face.
It makes me so happy that this funding has made our classes welcoming, inclusive, and a place where parents look forward to coming week in and week out.
One of the course attendees, Cheyenne, said:
Emma provides a very welcoming class and it’s so refreshing having a class that enables parents to take babies along. The fact it is fully funded is so helpful, especially due to the cost of living.
Find out more about our PHAB programme.
