Five organisations have been awarded more than £450,000 to launch projects to improve the health of Essex residents.
A total of £464,963 will be awarded via the first round of our Public Accelerator Bids (PHAB) major grant programme.
Projects are aimed at improving the physical and mental health of residents in Essex. They support the aims of our Essex Wellbeing, Public Health and Communities Business Plan.
The five successful projects are:
- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust – to support its cancer wellbeing and information centre. This provides tailored support for patients, improving their quality of life by offering a comprehensive prehabilitation and rehabilitation programme. PHAB funding will support patients in Harwich, Clacton and Jaywick in Tendring, as well as central Colchester.
- ATF Southend - will receive funding to support its Neighbourhood Connectors programme in Basildon. Neighbourhood Connectors will work to identify young people experiencing poor mental and physical wellbeing. They will offer a wide-ranging programme of support, including through sport and creative opportunities.
- Headway Essex - to introduce a new hospital link-worker role and a 'What Happens Next after ABI’ booklet. The grant will also help the charity introduce general health reviews and health goal planning at its day centres and support groups.
- Maldon District Council - to launch Beat the Street in the district in summer 2024. Beat the Street will aim to improve the health and wellbeing of 5,000 Maldon residents. Through the app, participants earn points by walking, running, cycling, scooting or rolling between Beat Boxes.
- Tendring Wellbeing and Intervention Services CIC - to support more than 350 residents with around 2,500 one-to-one therapy sessions in 2024. This will support people remotely, face-to-face and in schools.
Councillor John Spence, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care and ICS Integration, said:
We want our PHAB programme to tackle some of the health inequalities we know exist across Essex, helping to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of some of the county’s most disadvantaged residents.
I’m hugely impressed by ambition of the first projects to receive funding and look forward to seeing the difference they make in our communities.
Lucy Wightman, Director of Wellbeing, Public Health and Communities at Essex County Council, said:
PHAB is about laying the foundations for supporting residents in Essex to live a healthy life and achieve their full potential.
There are opportunities available to organisations of all types and I would urge groups across Essex to consider whether the PHAB programme could benefit them in future.
All five successful bids were chosen following assessment by a panel of experts.
PHAB major grants funding is awarded following a two-stage process, with initial expressions of interest followed by a formal application process. The third round of expressions of interest will open on Monday 8 April, 2024.
Find out more about PHAB and how to apply for funding.
