Today, more than 24,000 people in Essex are living with dementia, and its impact reaches far beyond those diagnosed, affecting families, carers, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and professionals. With numbers expected to rise significantly by 2030, it is more important than ever that we work together to ensure our services, communities, and support are ready for the future.
2026 marks an important milestone as Greater Essex, (ECC, Southend and Thurrock) refreshes its Dementia Strategy. The strategy sets out our shared vision to help people live well with dementia through priorities such as prevention, timely diagnosis, information and advice, support for carers, dementia-inclusive communities, and high-quality care. As part of the refresh, we are reviewing what is working well, where there are gaps, and what improvements are needed.
We want this strategy to be shaped by the people it affects most. Every voice matters, and we are particularly keen to hear from people across Essex’s diverse communities so the refreshed strategy reflects a wide range of experiences, needs, and aspirations.
Your feedback will help us build a strategy that supports people living with dementia, their families, and carers, and helps make Essex an even better place to live.
The Essex Alliance is sharing this funding opportunity on behalf of Essex County Council.
The Families First Neighbourhood Grants Programme (FFNGP) is a £2.5 million grant programme which will fund targeted early intervention support for children, young people and families. The programme is funded through the Department for Education’s Families First Partnership Policy.
Eligible organisations can apply for a grant from £15,000 up to £60,000.
All funding projects and programmes will run for 30 months (two and a half years). They are required to start 1 October 2026 and finish 31 March 2029.
Who Can Apply
Applications are invited from voluntary and community organisations and not-for-profit organisations, including:
voluntary and community sector enterprise (VCSE) organisations
registered charities
community interest companies (CICs)
not-for-profit organisations limited by guarantee
charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs)
community benefit societies or co-operative societies
What It Can Fund
The FFNGP will fund targeted early intervention projects and programmes that enable children and families to:
address challenges early
build resilience
achieve positive and sustainable outcomes
Applications can be focused on direct work with children (five years plus), young people, parents and carers or a combination of those through whole family support.
We will fund projects and programmes that are already active, or have recently been delivered, and are known to achieve good outcomes.
Where It Covers
The grants programme covers the 12 districts within our administrative area (excluding Southend and Thurrock).
For the purpose of the FFNGP, a neighbourhood means a clearly defined local area within Essex. This includes a:
housing estate
ward
village
town
Applicants must explain why a neighbourhood has been chosen and how the proposed activity responds to local need. Prioritisation will be given to applications which target areas where need and demand levels are greatest.
How to Apply
The application window is open from Thursday 9 July 2026 until Monday 17 August 2026.
Clear the Air is an Essex County Council campaign supporting parents and carers to talk with children aged 10-12 about vaping. Before misinformation or social pressure becomes established.
Parents can explore information via an AI-powered chat tool or by scrolling animated key facts: Clear the air about vaping.
The campaign focuses on:
challenging common myths children hear about vaping
addressing how seeing vaping online or among other young people can make it seem normal, even though most children do not vape
supporting early, calm conversations at home
helping children feel confident, not confused
How can organisations support?
sharing campaign materials with parents via newsletters, apps or websites
displaying posters or digital assets
signposting parents to the Clear the Air website
encouraging parents and carers to have a conversation with their child about vaping
On behalf of Rocket Science, Essex Alliance members are being invited to contribute to research commissioned by Travel Essex, on behalf of Essex County Council, alongside Integrated Transport Planning. The research will work with older people and people with disabilities to understand why bus use is currently lower and what could be done to improve it.
Due to short project timescales, a planning session will take place on 8 January 2026, from 1.30–3.30pm, at Essex County Council, and representation from the Essex Alliance would be greatly valued. Ideally, this would be someone with knowledge of organisations supporting older people and/or people with disabilities.
The session will focus on:
The most effective ways to engage older people and people with disabilities in the research
Insights into potential barriers to, and opportunities for, bus use that could help shape the survey
Why this work matters
Improving bus use among older people and people with disabilities is important for several reasons:
Buses help people stay connected to friends and family. Lower use can increase the risk of social isolation, negatively affecting mental health and wellbeing, and placing additional pressure on adult social care services as people become less mobile.
Buses enable access to health and care services. Reduced mobility can lead to higher costs for health and social care providers needing to reach people in their homes.
Buses support access to high streets and retail centres, with lower patronage potentially impacting local economic development.
Funding from concessionary bus passes is vital for the commercial viability of bus services. A reduction in trips risks the sustainability of routes across the network, affecting communities across Essex.
Explore the latest public-health indicators across regions with the Health of the Region Data Explorer — a powerful free tool for voluntary sector organisations in partnership with local authorities, health services and community groups.
This interactive, publicly-available tool covers a wide range of indicators: life expectancy, disease burden, risk-factors, healthy ageing and more — broken down by region and local authority.
There is now less than one week remaining to respond to the UK Government’s consultation on the proposed formation of a Mayoral Combined County Authority for Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.
While the proposed devolution deal could bring significant benefits such as greater local control over funding and decision-making in areas like skills, transport, and business support it is important to note that the consultation also seeks views on future governance arrangements.
Voluntary sector colleagues are strongly encouraged to respond, even if they are broadly supportive of devolution overall. This is a key opportunity to help shape how governance will work in practice, and to ensure that any new arrangements meaningfully reflect and leverage the insights, experience, and community reach of the voluntary sector.
It is vital that the voice of the sector is heard in discussions about how representation is structured and how local knowledge can best inform decision-making within a future Mayoral Combined Authority.
Details of the consultation and how to respond can be found here:
This survey is being carried out by Essex County Council as part of a wider partnership of organisations planning for future pharmaceutical services.
Summary
We are inviting you to take part in a survey about pharmaceutical services (provided by pharmacies, dispensing doctors, internet pharmacies and dispensing appliance contractors) in the Essex area. The results from this survey will help us to understand how local people use the services, how they rate their experience, and what they would like in the future. These views will contribute towards the production of a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment for Essex and assist in determining what services are required to meet the needs of the local population.
The current Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment covering the Essex area is available on Essex Open Data.
If you would like more information about the survey, alternative formats (such as a paper copy, translation or an easy read copy) or have questions on how to complete the questionnaire, you can contact PublicHealth2@essex.gov.uk
Why your views matter
Completion of the survey is voluntary and if you choose not to take part it will not affect the care you receive from the NHS or your pharmacy/GP in any way.
Your answers will be kept completely confidential and won’t be collated with any information that makes you identifiable. It is voluntary to disclose this information. If you choose not to answer the ‘About you’ questions, it will not affect your participation.
Your answers will only be used to tell us about your experience of pharmaceutical services, and to help us to improve these services.
Your views are important to us so please spare a few minutes to complete the survey, it should take no longer than 5-7 minutes to complete.
The results of this survey will be available on Essex Open Data where the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment will be published in October 2025.
Essex County Council fully complies with information legislation. If you would like the full details of how we use personal data, and the rights you have about its use, please go to www.essex.gov.uk/privacy-community (Research & Citizen Insight) or call 03457 43043.
