Healthwatch Essex is a charity which helps people get the best out of their health and care services.
We are concerned with how many people are isolated and not accessing the information which could help them, and one of the ways we are combating this is through our information service. It is a phone line which is open five days a week, and only costs the same as a local call. It is for anyone, of any age, with health or social care queries in Essex.
So if you’ve recently moved and are struggling to find a GP, or you’re unhappy with treatment you have received and are considering making a complaint, the information service can help direct you to the right place.
Likewise, if you are caring for a relative and realising you need to find out how to stay afloat, our friendly, impartial and professional team will guide you through the process.
The number is 0300 500 1895. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm or you can visit our website: healthwatchessex.org.uk/info, or email us at info@healthwatchessex.org.uk
Community Agents Essex is a countywide network of agents and volunteers who support older people and informal carers to find and develop independent living solutions from within their local community.
It is an innovative new partnership:
Promoting health and independence
Reducing social isolation
Finding practical solutions to daily living
Providing confidential trusted Information
Informing choice and reducing confusion
Increasing individual and community resilience
The service is delivered through a community and voluntary sector partnership consisting of Rural Community Council of Essex, British Red Cross, Age UK Essex and Essex Neighbourhood Watch.
Requesting a visit from a Community Agent
We accept self-referral or third-party referrals by:
Email: enquiries@caessex.org.uk
(Only include the client’s name in the email. Please include your contact details and we will call you back to obtain the clients details. We will accept protected word document attachments with a pre-agreed password)
If it is on behalf of another person, confirmation that the person knows that we will be contacting them
Who can Community Agents help?
An older person or an informal carer for an older person (no specific age definition of older person but probably over 65, isolated, more vulnerable or struggling to cope)
They must be open/willing to receive help
We can help and support older people with things such as:
Getting out and about
Independent living skills
Home adaptations
Money worries
Filling in forms
Meeting people
Healthy Living
Caring for someone
Community Agents offer a free visit to help with all of these and more…
What we need to know at point of referral?
Person’s name and telephone number (can be mobile)
Date of birth
Village, town or postcode they live in (no address unless they have no phone)
Brief details of need
Any known risk or other existing services related to the client
If it is on behalf of another person, confirmation that the person knows that we will be contacting them
Contact us
We are part of Live Well Link Well and can be accessed through the Essex Wellbeing Service
To make a positive difference for the community of Brentwood by supporting other voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations to achieve the very best they can for their beneficiaries.
Our focus is always on benefit for all the communities of Brentwood and we are clear that we do this by supporting and collaborating (never competing) other “frontline” VCS organisations in the Borough. Our values statement summarises how we go about doing this as follows:
Brentwood CVS is a friendly and approachable local umbrella organisation that delivers professional, value for money support services for voluntary and community sector organisations in Brentwood. We are determined to make a positive difference wherever we can, always being honest and realistic with our partners and beneficiaries and striving to remove barriers that might inhibit access to our services.
Our vision for the next 2-3 years is to: grow the support services we provide by both extending existing services and by developing new offers to make a bigger impact for the sector and the communities we serve. To support this we want steadily to increase our overall income and diversify our funding base to improve our financial sustainability and resilience.
Under the Crime & Disorder Act 1998, Community Safety Partnerships are required to work together in formulating and implementing strategies to tackle local crime and disorder and reduce reoffending in the area and to have in place a partnership plan setting out their priorities.
To ensure that the partnership is proactive and well informed we carry out an annual Strategic Intelligence Assessment to review existing priorities and identify any new or emerging priorities that the partnership should focus on.
The Partnership Plan takes forward the priorities identified by residents and data from the strategic intelligence assessment and sets out how the partnership will work together over the next twelve months to tackle crime and disorder and achieve its priorities.
This plan also has regard to the police and crime objectives set out in the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners (PFCC) Police and Crime Plan, as well as the Fire and Rescue Plan.
Our partnership promise:
We are committed to delivering local solutions to local problems that have been identified by local people.
Tell us your views
Each year the partnership is required to carry out a Strategic Assessment. The aim of the Strategic Assessment is to establish an accurate picture of past, current and emerging trends of crime and disorder and risks that impact upon the Borough and the communities it serves. It is an important part of the process to hear residents’ views and what is important to you. This is your opportunity to put your views across and to help to ‘Make a Difference,’ in your community!
The Essex Rural Partnership (ERP) was formed in 2002, the result of a merger between the Essex Rural Renewal Forum and the Essex Rural Strategy Steering Group. Since 2012 ERP has been a member of Defra’s Rural and Farming Network.
The Partnership, managed by Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE), and chaired by Cllr Graham Butland, brings together a wide range of organisations from the public, private and voluntary sectors, all with a responsibility for the future of the county’s rural areas. The ERP’s Vice Chairs are Philip Wilson and Mr Roger Hirst.
ERP was created to encourage co-ordination of activities to maximise effectiveness of resources and a joint-working approach to achieve greater buy-in, a better chance of securing funding and best value. As a result, local communities, rural businesses and the Essex countryside are benefiting from a more effective way of working.
As a non-statutory body, ERP enjoys the position of being an independent lobbyist and is well placed to represent and raise the profile of rural Essex at a local, regional, national and EU level.
In 2005 the Partnership was re-launched and, in order to identify the partner’s priorities, a revised Strategy was published. This was further updated in our 2009 Strategy: 2020 Vision for Rural Essex.
Information on the current Essex Rural Strategy 2016-2020 and the latest news regarding the refresh 2020-2024 can be found here
