The Essex Alliance is sharing this opportunity on behalf of Mind in West Essex.
Mind in West Essex have a few places remaining for their Mental Health First Aider (MHFAider®) training on July 29-30! 📆
The 2-day course will train you to provide first-level support and early intervention – whether it’s in your workplace, a volunteer role, or the community.
You’ll gain:
The knowledge, awareness and skills to spot signs of a person experiencing poor mental health;
The confidence to start a conversation and signpost a person to appropriate help;
The support to feel empowered and motivated to carry out the role.
After the course, you’ll be able to join England’s largest community of trained MHFAiders – gaining access to exclusive resources, ongoing learning, and 24/7 digital support.
The Essex Alliance is sharing this opportunity on behalf of Hamelin.
We’re seeking an experienced senior leader in health and care to join our Board of Trustees. This is a unique opportunity to use your expertise in quality, safety, safeguarding and governance to help shape the strategic direction of a charity dedicated to supporting autistic adults and people with learning disabilities.
As our Health and Care Trustee, you’ll provide independent oversight, chair our Care Committee and work alongside out board and Executive Team to ensure our services remain safe, person-centred and of the highest quality. If you’re passionate about making a meaningful difference and have senior leadership experience in health or care, we’d love to hear from you.
The Essex Alliance is sharing this on behalf of the Making It Count Project, a partnership between Essex County Council and the University of Essex.
In speaking with many community and voluntary sector organisations, a key challenge they face is evidencing the impact of their work. Many have told us that the issue is not counting activities, but demonstrating outcomes such as:
Increased confidence
Reduced isolation
Sense of belonging
Improved wellbeing
Long-term change
These outcomes matter deeply, but they can be difficult to measure consistently and meaningfully.
Addressing this challenge is at the heart of the Making It Count project– a partnership between the University of Essex and Essex County Council. This project aims to support Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE) organisations by creating a simple, practical toolkit to help them measure their impact. We are looking for VCSE organisations and community stakeholders in ESSEX to join us in developing this toolkit together.
There will be opportunities to contribute through:
Workshops
Feedback sessions
Reviewing draft approaches
Sharing challenges and priorities from practice
Whether you work in a food bank, community organisation, wellbeing service, social prescribing programme, volunteer-led project, or another community setting, your experience could help shape the future toolkit.
Are you delivering services in Essex and interested in getting involved? Contact us below.
The Essex Alliance is sharing this news on behalf of Essex County Council.
The Community Exchange is a FREE of charge platform connecting commercial businesses with voluntary services, social enterprises and community groups.
It acts a notice board for organisations to exchange:
volunteering time
materials or equipment
work placements
training and apprenticeship opportunities
careers support
Check out our Suppliers’ Offers to see what is on offer. Simply use the email address provided next to what you are interested in.
Or if you can’t find what you’re looking for, add what you need help with to our Wishing Wall. Just submit your answers to the below questions to Craig.Johnson@essex.gov.uk.
Mind in West Essex have added several new dates for their online Suicide Awareness workshops. The sessions are free for anyone who lives in Harlow, Uttlesford or Epping Forest (or £30 for people outside of West Essex).
This 2.5-hour workshop aims to give you the knowledge and confidence to have supportive conversations with people who are feeling suicidal, so they can access the help they need.
It covers everything from the law, language, statistics and stigma around suicide to risk factors, possible warning signs, having supportive conversations and available support and resources.
Alcohol Awareness Week takes place from 6–12 July 2026, providing an opportunity to get people thinking and talking about alcohol and the role it can play in our lives.
Organised by Alcohol Change UK, this year’s theme is ‘Alcohol and me’, encouraging us to take a few minutes to reflect on our own relationship with alcohol and consider how it may be affecting our health, wellbeing and everyday lives.
Alcohol can often feel like a normal part of many social occasions and everyday experiences, from celebrations and nights out to relaxing at home. Alcohol Awareness Week offers an opportunity to think about our drinking habits without judgement and to better understand the impact alcohol can have.
For some, this might mean learning more about alcohol and its effects. For others, it could involve cutting down, trying an alcohol-free alternative or seeking additional support.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and even small changes can be a positive step.
Finding support in Essex
If you, a friend or a family member are looking for support, there are organisations and community services available across Essex.
The Essex Map is a free online directory designed to help local residents discover community groups, charities, services and activities in their area.
By searching The Essex Map, you can explore local organisations and support services and find help available within your community.
Alcohol Awareness Week is an important reminder that it is okay to reflect on our relationship with alcohol, ask questions and seek support when we need it.
Taking the time to think about ‘Alcohol and me’ could be the first step towards making a positive change.
Join the Parents 1st UK team as a Marketing Assistant (Maternity Cover)
Location: Essex (home-based with occasional travel across Essex) Hours: 15 hours per week (hours can be worked flexibly, but must include Tuesdays and Thursdays)
We’re looking for a motivated Marketing Assistant to join the Parents 1st UK team. This is a fixed term contract to September 2027 to cover maternity leave.
If you’re creative, passionate about helping others, and have at least 1 years’ experience in marketing, then we’d love to hear from you!
We are seeking:
– An all-rounder – you must have experience of social media, paid ads, email marketing, copywriting and asset creation
– An individual with a high level of attention to detail and a positive can-do attitude
– A confident communicator with excellent IT skills
– Someone who is well organised and able to manage multiple projects at once
The Men’s Health Community Fund is a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Care, Movember, and People’s Health Trust, and offers £6.3 million in grants to voluntary and community voluntary sector organisations (VCSEs) in England to support men and boys aged 16 and over to improve their physical and mental health.
The fund supports delivery of the Men’s Health Strategy for England by investing in preventative, community-led approaches that improve health and wellbeing and build understanding of what works to engage men.
It is designed for VCSEs in England that are already doing meaningful work with men and who want to strengthen, develop and share learning about what makes that work effective.
The fund is now open for applications and closes at 5:00pm on 15 July. To apply, please visit the government grants webpage.
Mid and North East Essex Mind are pleased to offer new Suicide Awareness workshops for organisations and the communities of Mid and North East Essex. This course is designed to help you have potentially life-saving conversations and provide practical tools to help stay calm, respond with confidence, and know what to say (and what not to say) when someone may be at risk. It looks at warning signs, and how to hold a supportive and boundaried conversation, whilst connecting the person to the right kind of help – without taking on the role of a therapist or clinician.
During this workshop, participants will:
– Discuss warning signs to look out for, even when the person may not be engaged with mental health services or specifically have spoken about suicide
– Learn appropriate language to use when talking about suicide
– Explore strategies for self-care both during and after conversations about suicide.
