Check out what we’ve been up to this year!

We’re delighted to share with you our latest Annual Report, which highlights all that we have done throughout 2020/21  to ensure that your voice and experience shapes health and social care in Essex.

Below you’ll find a short film with highlights from the report as well as a written summary of some of our activities. To keep abreast of what we do on a more regular basis, please subscribe to our newsletter using the link in the menu bar on the left.

Highlights of 2020/21

  • We conducted a study focused on Child Criminal Exploitation, making a number of recommendations to the wider system about how support and intervention could be improved
  • We collected data for a research study on men’s experiences of living with obesity
  • We published our report into mental health on the frontline, exploring the experiences of emergency services and frontline hospital staff
  • Throughout the pandemic we shared public health information to keep the people of Essex safe as well as capturing their stories in our project ‘Zooming in the Pandemic’
  • In response to concerns raised by members of the Collaborate Essex Disability and Carers Forum, we launched a sensory awareness campaign, to increase understanding of the challenges of living with a sensory impairment during COVID-19
  • We explored the topic of digital literacy, working with Healthwatch Suffolk, and commissioned by Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System
  • More than 1000 people contacted our Information & Guidance Team for information and support over the course of the year
  • Our Young Mental Health Ambassadors participated in a social media takeover during Children’s Mental Health Week, sharing video diaries, graphics and their thoughts on how they were staying well during the pandemic
  • We continued to run a number of ambassadors programmes, covering topics of maternity, disability, carers and mental health
  • We worked with Community 360 and Community Voluntary Services Tendring to map community assets across Colchester and Tendring
  • We are working with Essex County Council to gathering the experience of residents in Essex who are the recipients of a Personal Budget, with the focus on understanding the positive and negative aspects of the current scheme.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of an incredible year!