Are you a young mum or birthing person in Essex under the age of 25—or do you work with someone who is? We want to hear from you.
We’re running a short, anonymous survey to better understand the needs, experiences, and challenges faced by young mums and birthing people aged 16–25. The feedback gathered will help shape future peer support services, making sure they are relevant, meaningful, and designed around what matters most to you.
It only takes a couple of minutes to complete, and every response will make a real difference.
Why it matters
Becoming a parent at a young age can be both exciting and challenging. By sharing your experiences, you’ll help ensure that services in Essex provide the right kind of support, at the right time.
How you can help
If you work with or know young mums and birthing people in Essex, we’d be so grateful if you could share the survey link—or the flyer—through your networks, during appointments, or on social media.
Together, we can make sure young parents across Essex feel supported and understood.
A new Government consultation has been launched, inviting views on proposals to strengthen partnerships between emergency responders and voluntary, community, and faith-based organisations.
This consultation follows recommendations made by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and considers whether there should be legislative changes to reinforce these vital partnerships. The goal is to ensure Category 1 emergency responders—such as Essex County Council—are better supported through effective collaboration with civil society during times of emergency.
The Government is actively seeking feedback from a wide range of organisations, including those involved in:
Community support and mutual aid
Faith and religious communities
Emergency planning and response
Social services and disability advocacy
Culture, education, youth programmes, and more
This is an important opportunity for organisations across Essex to shape future policy and ensure the essential role of the voluntary, community, and faith sectors is both recognised and strengthened.
We encourage members of the Essex Faith Covenant, voluntary and community sector (VCS) networks, and other relevant groups to review the consultation and consider responding.
Essex-based charity CanalAbility has reached a major milestone in its mission to make the waterways more inclusive.
Thanks to the incredible support of volunteers, donors, and the National Lottery Community Fund, the charity has now placed an order for a brand new fully-electric, specially adapted and accessible canal boat.
The new boat will allow CanalAbility to offer more trips to people with disabilities, long-term health conditions, and those facing social isolation — all while reducing the charity’s environmental impact.
But the journey doesn’t stop here. CanalAbility is now appealing for further support from the local community, businesses, and funders to help equip the boat and sustain its long-term impact.
““This new electric boat will offer a quieter, cleaner experience for our clients, giving more people the opportunity to enjoy the peace and beauty of the waterways in an accessible and inclusive way. It will allow us to run more trips for those who need them most while helping us reduce our carbon footprint and champion the benefits of green technology.”
1 in 4 pregnancies ends in loss, yet only 10% of UK employees say their workplace has a baby loss or miscarriage policy. Even more concerning: over 20% report receiving no support at all from their employer.
As of 2024:
🔹 Only 36% of organisations have a pregnancy loss policy
🔹 Just 24% of leaders say employees feel comfortable speaking about it
🔹 38,000 employees have been trained in bereavement support by Sands — a great start, but we need more
🔹 In sectors like private equity, only 7% have a written policy in place
🔹 NHS England has advised trusts to offer 10 days’ paid miscarriage leave — a step in the right direction
This isn’t just about policy — it’s about compassion, culture, and leadership. Employers must do better in supporting colleagues through unimaginable loss.
👉 If your organisation hasn’t yet implemented baby loss training or support policies, now is the time.
Our next workplace training session takes place on 10th October in Witham and is only £60 per person!
As part of Carers Week, Essex County Council are working with carers organisations to host webinars to highlight the importance of carer identification and early support offers available to carers. Your team may play a vital role in this. These webinars are aimed at all front-line practitioners and services working across Essex.
Support for young carers: Monday 9th June 10:00 – 10:30am
Young carers often balance their school and social lives with their caring duties and that can have a huge impact. The Essex Young Carers Service work with partner organisations to provide support to young carers in Essex to navigate school, work and life. This webinar by the Youth Service will cover the support available to young carers and where you as a professional can signpost/refer young carers.Support for adult carers: Tuesday 10th June 10:00 – 10:30am
The physical and mental health of carers can be significantly impacted by the demands of their caring role, with many experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness, often leading to burnout and a decline in their overall well-being. This webinar by Action for Family Carers, Carers First, Essex Wellbeing Service and Adult Social Care Connects will give an overview of some of the organisations supporting carers across Essex so that you can be more confident in identifying carers and then signposting/referring to specialist support available.
Supporting carers of people with dementia: Wednesday 11th June 10:00-10:30am
Supporting dementia carers is crucial because they often experience significant stress, isolation, and emotional strain. When carers are well-supported, they can provide better care, feel better in themselves, and are more likely to continue caring. This webinar by Alzheimer’s Society will raise awareness of some of the challenges carers supporting people with dementia experience, along with examples of some of the key places you can refer/signpost carers too for support.
Advocacy support for carers: Thursday 12th June 11:30am – 12:00pm
Carers may not know what help to ask for, how to ask, or indeed who to ask. Services are available to support carers to understand their options, make informed choices and decisions about their caring role and be heard when they face a challenge or issue. This webinar by Voiceability will raise awareness of some of the challenges carers experience with themselves and/or those they care for not having their views heard, and provide information on how to access for carers you support who might need this service.
Employers support for carers: Friday 13th June 1 – 2pm
Supporting carers to continue providing care and to participate in everyday life through employment is in everyone’s best interest. Employers have a responsibility to develop an inclusive workplace where carers are enabled to work, recognised, respected and supported, which helps to retain valued members of staff. This webinar by Employers for Carers will cover things employers should consider to support carers in the workforce, including tools and resource templates available.
Thanks to the diversity and passion of partners across the County, The Essex Affordable Food movement is really gaining momentum and if you’d like to be part of the developing network that is being led by the providers themselves, there are three new opportunities to get involved.
The Affordable Food Network Coordinator will support and oversee the development of the Affordable Food Network (made up of social or community supermarkets and other affordable food initiatives in Essex), providing centralised support to social supermarkets and other affordable food initiatives. The coordinator will work as part of a countywide team to develop and embed a culture of peer support, peer learning, and network capability, ensuring the network’s sustainability and impact.
𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 9am Monday 9th June / 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 25th and 26th June
This is a strategic post that leads on delivery of the Essex Public Health ambitions for the Essex Affordable Food Network, (made up of social or community supermarkets and other affordable food initiatives in Essex). The role will maximise the opportunities for impact, sustainability and investment.
The Uttlesford Community Supermarket will increase the proportion of people able to live healthy lifestyles by giving convenient access to affordable, healthy food and ingredients close to where they live. Uttlesford is a large rural district with a low population density. We will therefore provide a Mobile Community Supermarket, delivered by a partnership of TAWS and UCAN, and including other local, public, voluntary and community sector stakeholders. https://lnkd.in/egeU8_D4
Essex County Council is seeking compassionate individuals to join their community of foster carers. With more children than ever needing a safe and loving home, your support can make a world of difference.
Essex County Council offer exceptional support, award-winning training, competitive fees and have a whole community around you. New foster carers in 2025 will receive a £2000 welcome bonus. With various fostering options to suit your lifestyle, there’s never been better time to foster.
Become a foster carer and provide a child with the safe and loving home they deserve. Learn more at an information event where you can meet foster carers and ask questions. Join them in-person on Saturday 17 May or find a virtual event.
Fraud is on the rise in Essex — with a 6.1% increase in offences over the past year, totalling 9,604 incidentsand a staggering £68.5 millionin losses.
Despite the scale of the issue, many residents still feel unsure or anxious about reporting fraud. In fact, Essex Police estimate that many people experience fraud at least once a month, yet most cases go unreported.
To help tackle this, the Multi-Agency Approach to Fraud (MAAF)has launched a new anonymous surveyto understand public awareness and experiences of fraud and scams — whether or not you’ve been a victim. The goal is to better focus resources, improve prevention strategies, and ultimately reduce fraud across Southend, Essex, and Thurrock.
MAAFbrings together key organisations including:
Essex County Council
Essex Police
Essex Trading Standards
Victim Support
The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
We’re asking all Alliance members and partners to support this important initiative by sharing the survey widely — through your communications channels, networks, and with your communities. Every response counts.
Councillor Mark Durham, who oversees Essex Trading Standards, said:
“Fraudsters are always looking at new ways to scam people to a point where it’s not always immediately clear when you’ve been a victim. This can make fraud a difficult crime to combat and means we have to constantly evolve our tactics. However, if enough people come forward and engage with our anonymous survey, we can get a better understanding of the issues faced and start stamping out what has become a rampant issue across the UK.”
If you’ve been affected by fraud or want to learn more, visitEssex Police.
Hearing Help Essex are looking to recruit more Volunteers in the districts of Southend, Castle Point and Rochford.
Do you have a few hours to spare each month?
Are you looking for a rewarding and fun volunteering opportunity?
We would love to hear from you!
We are looking for 3 new technical volunteers to join our award-winning team of volunteers to enable us to help more people across Southend, Rochford, and Castle Point districts.
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:
