SAVS Quarterly Newsletter Apr-Jun 19

APR - JUN 2019 

NEWSLETTER 

Celebrating Southend’s Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector 

Breast Cancer Clinic held 

by Welcome to the UK 

Page 6 

BBC Children in Need funding has been awarded to 

the Triple T Clubs to continue their roject for another 

three years 

Page 12 

An introduction by the 

Hungarian Community of 

Southend 

Page 9 

Specialist support for 

those with sight loss Page 4 

Southend Carers 

Page 24 

Plus more including: 

Everyone has a right to a 

social life and being actively 

involved in their community 

£7m plan to fund and donate 

revolutionary new treatment 

units for men with early stage 

prostate cancer across the UK 

Fantastic workshops by Geoff 

Evans 

www.savs-southend.org | info@savs-southend.co.uk | 01702 356 000 

SAVS Newsletter 19/20 Q2 | PAGE 1

EDITORIAL BY SAVS CEO, KRISTINA JACKSON 

Welcome to our SAVS xxx edition. 

Time fly’s - I have now been in 

post a little over seven months 

and we are now starting to 

implement our plans for change 

at SAVS. Starting with our new 

look newsletter, you will notice 

the newsletter is now celebrating 

the great work you do in the 

Voluntary, Community, Faith and 

Social Enterprise sector (VCFSE). 

The staff, board and volunteers 

have been working over the past 

few months on our positioning 

and strategic delivery for the 

next twelve months. 

SAVS is the sole infrastructure 

support organisation for 

Southend, we are there to 

support you as organisations 

to carry out your aims and 

objectives and to help influence 

and change policy for your 

beneficiaries. We have grouped 

our work under three strategic 

themes: 

Core – Sustainability of SAVS 

to do day to day work, but not 

to provide front line service 

delivery that competes with 

our members. SAVS will be 

an incubator for new ideas 

or projects where there are 

recognised gaps. 

Infrastructure Support – The 

VCFSE or civic sector is the duty 

of social activity undertaken 

by organisations that are 

non-governmental non-profit 

organisations. 

One of the VCFSE roles is to 

influence and change policy on 

behalf of their beneficiaries, 

and support beneficiaries 

with service/project/activity 

delivery. Our infrastructure work 

underpins our organisation we 

will work with the VCFSE to: 

Provide the right information to 

have a voice in shaping policy 

and decision making. 

Support organisations with; 

funding support, governance, 

information, advocacy, capacity 

building and training to deliver 

services and projects that 

benefits your beneficiaries and 

communities and tackle any 

issues you may face. 

Support both VCFSE and Public 

Sector partners to deliver there 

strategic objectives, creating a 

more collaborative relationship 

between all partners. 

Become inclusive – recognising 

that both Faith organisations 

and Social Enterprise our part of 

the civic society and therefore 

recognised in the work that we 

do in SAVS. 

Community Engagement – 

residents and communities are 

also part of the civil society and 

from our community engagement 

work we aim to: 

• Encourage residents to 

participate in society and 

strengthen local communities 

• Encourage more residents to 

become more active within 

their community through; 

volunteering, timebanking 

and take part in local 

initiatives 

• Working with public sector 

and VCFSE partners to 

promote and strengthen 

collaborative working and 

maximising resources 

• Using all our networks 

to position and better 

understand local community 

assets. 

Our resources like many 

organisations are limited and 

therefore we need to make 

use of modern technology to 

reach wider audiences. We will 

therefore start to engage with 

you via social media platforms 

to gain your views, give you 

up to date information and 

provide useful on line training 

and webinars. We will also 

be updating our website so it 

becomes a repository for useful 

information on policies and a 

community portal and a tool for 

you to share good news stories on 

the work you are doing. 

We really want to showcase 

the great work of the voluntary 

sector and will be coming out 

to you soon to ask about the 

work that you do, so that we can 

provide an annual impact report 

on the worth of the sector. 

Southend has out its road map 

for the 2050 ambition and the 

VCFSE is a key stakeholder 

and partner in the delivery of 

Southend2050. We must make 

sure we listen to residents views 

and feed this in to this key 

strategy for Southend. 

The next year presents the VCFSE 

with great opportunities and 

myself and my team are really 

looking forward to working and 

developing stronger relationships 

with you all. 

PAGE 2 | SAVS Newsletter 19/20 Q2 www.savs-southend.org | info@savs-southend.co.uk | 01702 356 000

Welcome to new SAVS 

members. 

It’s always nice to welcome 

new groups and charities to 

the Southend community and 

learn about how they are 

helping local people. 

MEET THE FUNDER DAY 2019 

On the 5 February SAVS held a 

‘Meet the Funder’ session, five 

funders attended with three 

giving 20 minute presentations 

to attendees. Members were 

invited to attend presentations 

and/or book short one to one 

slots with each of the funders. 

Over 40 people attended 

representing more than 25 

different organisations from 

Southend. 100% of those who 

attended and completed a 

feedback survey said they would 

be making an application to one 

of the funders present on the 

day, and that the one to one 

sessions were useful, with 89% 

planning to request £1,000 - 

£10,000. 

Positive feedback was received 

from the funders attending 

with Sally Page, from Heritage 

Lottery feeding back; ‘I thought 

the event went well and I 

talked to a really good range of 

organisations.’ Alix Mason, from 

Fowler, Smith and Jones Trust 

commented, ‘that I’ve met with 

15 groups today and there’s 

some really interesting projects 

there; SAVS are brilliant at 

inspiring and enabling new ideas 

that are very much needed to 

our attention.’ An attendee 

commented; ‘SAVS staff were 

very accommodating and the 

funders were very helpful.’ 

The event was once again held 

in Crowstone Church; a venue 

really positively regarded by 

attendees and funders. At the 

event those taking part in the 

Supported Volunteering project 

provided refreshments to 

attendees and supported the 

running of the day. 

We will hold another event 

in 2020, and consider inviting 

additional funders and perhaps 

workshops around how to 

complete grant applications etc. 

Whilst the meet the funder day 

cannot guarantee funding for 

those attending, it builds the 

confidence of those attending 

to do so and supports them 

in realising the opportunities 

available. Many of the groups 

attending had the chance to 

meet with other groups they 

have not connected with 

before, as a chance to stimulate 

potential joint working and 

peer to peer support in their 

activities. It is also a great way 

for SAVS to profile the work 

is does to support groups. In 

the coming months we will ask 

those who attended to inform 

us if they are successful in the 

funding applications, and have 

been working with many to 

review their applications to the 

funders they met there. 

New SAVS Members recently 

included; PROST8, HOPE for 

Chronic Illness and Disease, 

Eastwoodbury Lane Centre 

– The Lew Forge Centre, 

Southend Tinnitus Support 

Group, International Drama 

Academy Ltd, St Georges 

Catholic Church, Love on 

the street, A Better Spac, 

Highlands Methodist Church, 

Royal Voluntary Service and 

Southend Tamil Association 

Goodbye to a colleague 

and friend. 

In March, SAVS sadly said 

goodbye to our Community 

Engagement Officer, Nicky Evans. 

In the time Nicky was here at 

SAVS, she achieved remarkable 

goals across the various projects 

she worked on and helped 

so many local parents and 

individuals, especially through 

the volunteering programmes 

she ran. Nicky was a wonderful 

colleague to work with and a 

truly valued team member. 

Nicky will be greatly missed by 

all here at SAVS and we wish here 

all the best for the future. 



SPECIALIST SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE WITH SIGHT LOSS 

INTRODUCED AT SOUTHEND UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL 

A new service has been launched at Southend University Hospital NHS 

Foundation Trust providing emotional and practical support to people newly 

diagnosed with sight loss. 

Funded by the Royal National 

Institute of Blind People (RNIB), 

Tracey Meddle has started work 

as a new Eye Clinic Liaison 

Officer (ECLO). Employed by 

local charity, Southend in Sight, 

she works five days a week 

alongside health professionals 

at the hospital to offer support 

and advice to blind and partially 

sighted people on a range of 

areas. These include independent 

living, returning to work, benefit 

entitlements, emotional support, 

and coping at home. 

Tracey said: “The staff here 

are wonderful and are very 

supportive, it’s fantastic to 

have an opportunity to help 

patients within the Eye Unit with 

emotional and practical support 

straight away. 

“I’ve got a dedicated room to 

listen to patients and give them 

that private time to talk about 

their diagnosis and about how 

perhaps they are struggling to 

come to terms with it or cope 

with their treatment. I’m there 

to listen, reassure and help give 

them the best guidance.” 

Karen Looker, RNIB ECLO Service 

Manager for the East of England, 

said: “It can be an overwhelming 

experience being told you are 

going to lose your sight. That 

feeling is compounded if people 

have to deal with it alone. 

“ECLOs provide much needed 

information, advice and 

guidance. We are extremely 

pleased to be working with our 

partners to bring this support 

and advice to patients attending 

Southend University Hospital.” 

Lucy Martin, CEO of Southend in 

Sight, said: “I am delighted that 

we can offer this much-needed 

service in Southend. Support 

in those early days is vital and 

Tracey will be on hand to ensure 

that people are not alone.” 

Niral Karia, Clinical Lead for 

Ophthalmology across Southend, 

Basildon and Mid Essex Trusts, 

said: “Being told that you’re 

losing your sight can be a 

traumatic experience. The 

appointment of an Eye Clinic 

Liaison Officer will make a huge 

difference to these patients by 

providing them with essential 

support, information and advice 

when they need it most. 

“It’s great for our patients that 

we are now able to offer this 

service to them over and above 

the excellent clinical care that 

they already receive, thanks to 

our partnership with RNIB and 

Southend in Sight.” 


EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO A SOCIAL LIFE AND BEING 

ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THEIR COMMUNITY 

Friendsandplacestogether is a 

small non profit making charity 

that has been running since 

2012 but became a recognized 

registered charity in 2014. Since 

early 2019 with support from the 

lottery we have had a venue in 

Victoria shopping centre on the 

Topfloor units 13,14. The aim of 

the charity is to seek friendships 

for isolated and vulnerable 

disabled people within our 

community. Primarily this service 

has been offered to people aged 

13-25 but we are looking at what 

our community needs. 

Friendships are important to 

people with a learning disability, 

however people with a learning 

disability tend to have fewer 

friends and fewer opportunities 

for socialising than the general 

population. 

Almost 1 in 3 young people with 

a learning disability spend less 

than 1 hour outside their home 

on a typical Saturday (Mencap, 

2016). Recent research from 

Scope has also uncovered that a 

shocking 85% of young disabled 

adults from the 18-34 year 

old age group feel lonely. As a 

result, over half of working age 

disabled people who have felt 

lonely in the past year said they 

experienced depression (62%) 

and anxiety (58%); and half (49%) 

experienced stress (Scope.org. 

uk. 2018). 

Friendsandplacestogether 

facilitates friendships by working 

with the families and schools/ 

colleges to seek ways of building 

active friendships. We meet 

with the families to look at their 

needs to enable not only short 

breaks for the parents/carers 

but for the service users to share 

time together whilst working on 

their skills to be as independent 

as possible. We enable our 

service users and their families/ 

carers to feel confident, safe and 

socially included. 

So far in 2019 we have supported 

our service users by taking them 

to places like Stubber’s, Center 

Parcs, we have been on holidays 

such as Turkey and Ibiza, days 

out such as Harry Potter world, 

Chessington, Go Karting, we 

also support birthday meals and 

clubbing nights or simply support 

dog walking or a visit to the 

cinema with a friend. 

Our service is unique and 

bespoke to each family that the 

charity supports as the needs 

are very different and we aim to 

deliver to our vision statement 

that everyone has a right to a 

social life. We are innovative and 

creative, warm and friendly and 

very open minded to deliver to 

each individuals aspirations. 

Our youth group is taking part in 

the Southend Carnival Procession 

on the 17th August so look out 

for us and give us a wave. We 

are also planning a fashion show 

in Victoria shopping centre in 

September with the support of 

the retailers within the shopping 

Centre to give our young people 

the opportunity to walk the 

catwalk. In November 2018 we 

held our very first charity ball 

and this really raised the profile 

of the charity so this year we are 

holding our 2nd Charity ball on 

the 19th October at the Park Inn 

as we rely largely on grants and 

donations to continue our great 

work. We are really excited and 

looking forward to a fantastic 

evening with the resident Park 

Inn DJ Paul Gee. 

Our aim is to extend this 

wonderful service and to 

continue growing lifelong 

friendships. 



WELCOME TO THE UK 

Here at Welcome To The UK, 

we are a user led group that 

supports families from overseas 

who are newly arrived in the UK 

to engage positively in Southend- 

On-Sea, whilst supporting their 

own families to reach their full 

potential. 

We run classes which will help 

empower our users to integrate 

into their new surrounding, with 

help available for job hunting, 

ESOL (English as a Second 

Language) and always offer 

Friendship groups, with free 

childcare, to encourage our users 

to come and chat with us, make 

new friends and find out about 

their community. 

Recently, we held our 2nd breast 

cancer clinic, after positive 

feedback from the 1st session, 

we decided to hold another 

clinic, where our ladies were 

able to come and speak to 

NHS & Healthwatch Southend 

Professionals about their 

concerns, how to check their own 

breasts, what to look for, signs 

& symptoms etc. The session 

was held in a local children’s 

centre, which provided free 

crèche facilities that we are very 

grateful to utilise. 

In this clinic, our ladies were 

happily able to chat to each 

other about their health and to 

a local GP who kindly gave her 

time. As we all know, cancer 

can be very scary, but being in 

a different country where you 

may not speak the language, or 

know how to access a GP would 

be very tough, so we are hopeful 

these sessions can help give our 

end users confidence in seeking 

the right help at the right time. 

We always appreciate feedback 

and are happy to have new 

families referred to us. 

We are active on Facebook 

& Twitter and always happy 

to point people in the right 

direction - like our page, and you 

will get updates on what we do 

and how the sessions work. 

https://facebook.com/ 

welcome2theuk 


SOUTHCHURCH PARK BOWLS CLUB 

Southchurch Park Bowling Club 

has been proudly based at one of 

the best parks in Southend since 

it was formed in 1931 and is keen 

to support the Southend Council 

initiative for local sports clubs to 

work with the wider community. 

We are able offer taster bowls 

sessions for those groups who 

wish to visit the park assisted by 

qualified club coaches. We have 

steps to gain access to the bowls, 

but are currently unable to 

accommodate wheelchairs users. 

Although the bowling green 

has remained unchanged 

since 1931, the original club 

pavilion is still in use and has 

been complemented by a 

second smaller pavilion that 

was recently taken over and 

refurbished by the club and is 

used as the refreshment facility. 

Our aspiration is to work closely 

with the local community, 

including schools etc. We also 

look to establish if the club 

facilities that currently are 

unused during the winter can be 

made available to community 

groups. For now, the latter 

remains a longer term goal, but 

we would welcome enquiries to 

establish the need and potential 

take up. 

Enquiries regarding lawn bowls 

and related matters should be 

sent to the club’s SAVS liaison 

officer Gary Williams: 

garyw2251@outlook.com 

https:// 

southchurchparkbowlingclub. 

wordpress.com/ 

BEYOND CARING GROUP 

For People that have been looking after somebody 

that have either gone into care or are no longer 

with us, so are feeling isolated and lonely. 

The group meets on the first Tuesday of the month, 

once a month. 10am-12pm at Clarence Road Baptist 

Church. For a chat, coffee and biscuit. 

Please get in touch with Sheila Smith on 01702 

348899 for further details. 



CELEBRATING SOUTHEND HOSPITAL’S VOLUNTEERS 

Southend University Hospital volunteers were awarded for their dedication 

and long service at the sixth Volunteer Achievement Awards on the afternoon 

of Thursday 6 June. 

The event, held during National 

Volunteering Week, combined 

with a thankyou party for all 

volunteers, was held at the Saxon 

Hall, Aviation Way, Southend. The 

hospital has around 450 volunteers 

who, between them, rack up a 

staggering 2,176 unpaid hours of 

volunteering a week – an average 

of more than half a day a week 

per volunteer. Some do as little as 

an hour, some 15-20 hours a week. 

More than 100 volunteers were 

treated to a welcome drink and 

a celebration afternoon tea in 

recognition of their hard work. 

The event was attended by 

hospital Chairman Alan Tobias OBE 

and Managing Director Yvonne 

Blücher, who both handed out the 

awards during the event. 

Paying tribute, Mr Tobias said: 

“We really cannot thank you 

enough or often enough for all 

the hard work that you do. The 

hospital would be lost without its 

volunteers.” 

There were a total of seven award 

winners and 14 long service (10 

years or more) award winners. 

The award winners were: 

Chairman’s Award: Dr Simon Joel; 

Lifetime Achievement Award: 

John Thorogood; The Joyce Long 

Fundraising Award: Christine 

and David Searle; Unsung Hero: 

David Wiggins; Happy to Help 

Award: Ray Freeman; Personal 

Challenge Award: Kerry Jefferies; 

Team Award: A&E to GP: Marilyn 

Glass, Pam Squibb, Roger Tisi, 

Sean Edwards, June Wright, Julia 

Daniels, James Cunningham, Pam 

Dawson, Val Wilkinson. 

Long service medal recipients: 

Margaret Allen, Jean Cassidy, Brian 

Cook, Norma Cummins, Karen 

Curtis, Alan Hooper, John Pearce, 

Barry Petts, Mike Sharman, 

Loretta Shulton, Robert Smith, Sue 

Stoneham, Beryl Thompson, Sue 

Walmsley. 

“ 

We really cannot thank 

you enough or often 

enough for all the hard 

work that you do. The 

hospital would be lost 

without its volunteers. 

“ 


N-ACT THEATRE IN SCHOOLS COMPANY 

We are N-Act Theatre in Schools 

Company, a Southend based notfor-profit 

company. We deliver 

interactive theatre projects 

with the aim of keeping our 

young people physically safe and 

mentally healthy. 

Since we started in 2017, we 

have been very busy touring 

our productions for primary 

and secondary schools, youth 

centres and community venues. 

We perform in Southend, Essex, 

London and abroad! We now 

have three productions: ‘Linked’ 

is a play about internet safety’ 

‘Friend’ is a play about knife 

and gang crime and the choices 

we make; and our most recent 

production, ‘Invisible’, touches 

on the very topical theme of 

mental health. We are fortunate 

to have received funding for our 

projects from the Arts Council, 

Southend and Essex Councils and 

Essex Community Foundation. 

Thanks to Gemma and the SAVS 

team for helping us to source our 

much-needed funding! 

Young people drive and influence 

our work through involvement in 

drama activities and workshops 

which in turn contribute 

fresh and relevant ideas and 

experiences to our original 

scripts. We work with 5/6 schools 

per project to contribute to 

the content and to give young 

people a voice. The content 

of the plays also comes from 

working with N-Act’s growing 

list of educational, business, 

theatre/artistic and local 

authority partners. This means 

our productions are relevant 

and up-to-date to engage young 

people and encourage thought 

and action. 

In total we have delivered over 

115 performances, to 15,000 

people, and have increased our 

school/community audiences to 

45 unique venues. 99% of schools 

continue to re-book us. 

In July 2019, we are hosting 

the new ‘Theatre Stage’ at 

The Village Green. We are 

also delivering performance 

workshops for the Next 

Generation day on July 12th. 

June – July 2019 also sees us 

using our productions as the basis 

for mental health staff training 

events and parents’ evenings. 

Sir David Amess about ‘Friend’: 

“An absolutely brilliant play 

which was so relevant… 

youngsters aren’t going to listen 

to teachers and politicians but 

they may listen to organisations 

such as yourselves.” 

“Sharon and the wonderfully 

creative N-Act team explore 

some tough topics that empower 

children to help themselves stay 

mentally well and physically 

safe. I couldn’t recommend 

them highly enough.” Jane Banks 

Deputy Head - Pastoral Care, 

Thorpe Hall School. 



AN UPDATE FROM SHOEBURY RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION 

We are now in our 70th year 

of supporting the residents of 

Shoebury and as a baby at that 

time, I am sure things have 

changed over these years. Since 

linking with SAVS, we have 

managed to improve what we 

offer and we have witnessed the 

huge number of organisations & 

charities working as a team to 

offer all our Southend residents 

the support they need. I was 

invited to join “Shoebury Better 

Start” and I am proud to be a 

part of this fantastic team. It is 

so rewarding to see this group 

work from the bottom upwards, 

using “Parent Champions” to 

guide the commitments, leaving 

us to support the mothers & 

children in the direction they 

wish to go. 

Shoebury Residents Association 

(SRA) have increased their 

committee to the maximum of 

11 with 5 new ladies joining us 

in the last 18 months, which has 

not only balanced our numbers, 

but added so much more passion 

and new ideas to improve what 

we can offer our members. 

Our Facebook page has nearly 

reached 1200 members and we 

now have a Twitter page. We 

also have our website: https:// 

shoeburyresidents.com/ which 

offers information & advice 

about local issues, weather etc. 

We deliver our magazine every 

6 months to every Shoebury 

household. 

As an example of teamwork 

with SAVS, we joined with them 

in the opening of a new Hub in 

Shoebury to support lonely & 

isolated residents. We managed 

to find a suitable location & 

were able to support the open 

day and make sure our members 

were given full details of what 

was available, with the offer of 

collecting them from home for 

their first visit. We now hope to 

allocate a committee member 

who will attend the Hub at 

regular intervals, to ensure we 

continue this support to SAVS 

with this very important work. 

We have 4 of our committee 

members on the Shoebury 

Coastal Community Team, 

supporting them with the 

Shoebury Common North 

upgrades, the Carriage & 

Wagon Shed (Heritage Centre), 

a new Shoebury Town Council 

and extending the cycle path 

onto the Station. Due to lack 

of Council funds, the SRA is 

also raising money to provide 

a children’s Pelican Crossing 

across the busy Shoebury 

Common Road, raising £41,000 

out of the £56,000 needed to 

date. We supported C2C to 

celebrate the 135th year of the 

Station, organising a children’s 

painting competition with over 

50 entries and the best three 

being awarded prizes at the 

station by the mayor at that 

time (Councillor Jarvis). We are 

now working to run a Christmas 

Carol service, with local schools 

providing choirs & even bands to 

play at Shoebury high school in 

December. We already organise 

cleaning some of our beaches & 

the two Commons in Shoebury, 

but this year have agreed to 

support Kiko Matthews who is 

cycling around 7200 km around 

our coastline, cleaning 90 

beaches in 83 days, with her 

penultimate visit in Southend 

before she completes her 

challenge, cycling the last leg to 

London. We have invited local 

cycle clubs to join her & also 

invited local school children to 

join us, with the promise of a 

gift given to us by the Southend 

Seafront Traders. Our new Mayor 

will greet Kiko, as will Veolia, 

Pier & Foreshore and many 

others. 


COMMITTED SOUTHEND VOLUNTARY GROUP SCOOPS 

DIABETES UK AWARD 

A Diabetes UK Local group which 

supports children living with Type 

1 diabetes has been presented 

with an award from the charity. 

South East Essex Type 1 (SEET1) 

group received the East of 

England Reaching Out and 

Connecting Award at a special 

event for Diabetes UK supporters 

in Colchester on Saturday 8th 

June. 

Three local women, two have 

children living with Type 1 

diabetes and one lives with the 

condition herself, set up a group 

in 2016 to support fellow families 

and their children. The group has 

gone from strength to strength 

and now has a committee 

working tirelessly to help put on 

events. 

Events have ranged from 

trampolining and bowling to 

high ropes and roller skating. 

Children are at the heart of 

everything they do to help build 

on their confidence, increase 

their knowledge and acceptance 

through fun adventures. 

Their second birthday party 

saw more than 100 children 

and extended family members 

celebrating together. 

Sara Hadden, Sara King and Sarah 

Bullard are the amazing driving 

force behind the group and Sara 

King accepted the award on 

behalf of the whole group. 

She said: “I’m really delighted to 

receive this award on behalf of 

the group. We are all dedicated 

to supporting children and 

teenagers living with Type 1 

diabetes. The condition can be 

tough to live with day in and day 

out, so anything we can do to 

help we are happy to do. 

“We are looking forward to 

growing our group reaching more 

children and families who may 

benefit from our support.” 

Peter Shorrick, Diabetes UK 

Midlands and East Regional 

Head, said: “Through our Inspire 

Awards we thank our hardworking 

volunteers like SEET1 for 

their support and celebrate the 

difference their work makes to 

the lives of people with diabetes. 

“They really are having a positive 

impact on their local community. 

They put children first and 

always look to put on an array of 

stimulating events.” 

The Inspire Awards recognise and 

celebrate outstanding individuals 

as well as group efforts. 

ACTIVE LIFE BECOMES A 

TRAINING ACADEMY 

Active Life became an accredited Training 

Academy in January of this Year and has since 

delivered both Level 1 & Level 2 courses locally. 

The innovative and supporting training academy 

in the heart of the community, delivers courses 

to inspire and motivate local people. 

Linking to our Volunteering Programme ‘Shes 

Ready’ our courses are a fun way to upskill and 

educate our female volunteers. So far 49 ladies 

have attended our courses & workshops. 

We are so proud of our recent Level 2 Exercise 

to Music students who have all now passed and 

are now preparing to start teaching as Active 

Life Tutors in September 2019!!! Omg, is the 

Community ready for this new lot of talent! 

Massive congratulations to Michelle, Lindsey, 

Chrissie, Cathy, Leah & Adele who have all work 

so hard. 

There are more courses starting soon so if you 

fancy learning something new or meeting other 

local people why not sign up for one of these: 

Level 1 – Award in Introduction to Lifestyle 

Management 

Workshops : Event Planning, Confidence Building 

& Mentoring Workshop 

Active Life Tel: 01702 567327 

www.activelife.uk.com 



TRIPLE T CLUBS FOR 8-13YR OLDS LIVING IN THE 

MOST DISADVANTAGED AREAS OF SOUTHEND 

SAVS have recently received funding from BBC Children in Need to the total 

of £102,907. Over the next three years, the grant will fund the salary of 

two part-time staff, travel, materials, volunteers and other project costs to 

continue supporting children living on three of Southend’s Estates. 

The project has 3 key aims: 

• Improve the confidence of 

children 

• Improve the well-being of 

children 

• Build resilience of children 

against hidden harms 

The Triple T’s Youth Project 

(Turning Tides Team) was 

established in 2011 for children 

aged between eight and 13 years 

of age from central Southend. 

The clubs help to inspire them 

and raise their aspirations 

through weekly sessions run by 

a Turning Tides Team Leader, 

along with a team of local 

volunteers, where youngsters 

are given the chance to try out 

new activities such as first aid, 

swimming, internet safety and 

more. Day trips to the local fire 

and police stations also allow 

club-goers to learn more about 

where they live, the club’s 

young participants benefit from 

activities aimed at broadening 

their horizons and achieving 

their fullest potential. Currently, 

there are weekly clubs on the 

Woodgrange Drive Estate, the 

Queensway Estate and Balmoral 

Rd area. 

The Triple T clubs also include 

a club buddy scheme, which 

offers young people turning 13 

years old who have successfully 

passed through the clubs the 

opportunity to support new 

joiners as they settle into the 

clubs’ activities. Club buddies 

will also act as role models for 

existing club members. 

Clare Cannock, Regional Head of 

the South, BBC Children in Need 

commented: “At BBC Children 

in Need our goal is to improve 

the lives of children and young 

people right across the UK and 

its local projects like this that 

helps makes that happen. We 

can’t wait to see the funding in 

action.” 

Anthony Quinn, SAVS Deputy 

CEO said, “Great news, the 

Triple T clubs will continue to 

make a big difference in the 

most disadvantaged areas of 

Southend. The clubs will provide 

a safe place for young people 

to experience positive activity; 

a place to belong. This will aid 

the young people to be more 

resilient and confident, therefore 

making better decisions when 

facing future challenges.” 


SECE MIND 

VISITS SUFC 

‘FOLK LIKE US’ PROJECT EXPANDS - 

NEXT STOP SHOEBURYNESS 

SAVS and Shoebury Residents 

Association recently announced 

the expansion of the ‘Folk like 

Us’ project in to Shoebury. The 

project will provide support and 

information to lonely, isolated 

and elderly residents living in 

Shoebury. 

The project expansion is 

possible as SAVS has been 

successful in securing a grant 

of £98,869 from the Building 

Connections Fund. The Fund is 

thanks to both Her Majesty’s 

Government and National 

Lottery players. The work is 

funded until 2021. The Folk like 

Us Project is delivered through 

Turning Tides and has been 

funded through The National 

Lottery Community Fund. The 

project was established in 2015. 

The work funded through the 

Building Connections Fund will 

enable Turning Tides to reach 

more residents in Shoebury with 

the aim to reduce isolation and 

disadvantage that many older 

people in Shoebury experience 

because of a lack of access to 

and knowledge about social 

activities and information to 

improve their quality of life. 

The project aims to ensure that 

older people in Southend and 

Shoebury are able to access 

information and assistance 

to attend and participate in 

social activities with others, 

because it believes that this 

will help to reduce isolation. 

Support for older people to 

access information is provided, 

including help with IT and oneto-one 

advice and support, as 

t is believed that through the 

provision of information they 

can improve their quality of life. 

In the coming months a base 

will be developed in Shoebury 

where Turning Tides Team 

Leaders can meet and work with 

the members. The team have a 

vast knowledge of services and 

organisations across Southend 

and years of experience working 

with the community to improve 

quality of life. Home visits 

will be made to those with 

restricted mobility that can not 

access the support directly. 

Membership to the service is 

free for any resident over 65 

living in Southend/Shoebury 

that experiences loneliness 

or isolation. To find out 

more, join or make a visit 

to the team please call the 

Turning Tides Team on 01702 

356070 or alternatively email 

turningtides@savs-southend. 

co.uk 


On the 20th June we had the 

pleasure of visiting Southend 

United Football Club to 

deliver a training session 

on “Anxiety Awareness in 

younger people” to a group 

of students working for the 

NCS programme. 

In today’s modern world full 

of pressure on young people, 

it is so important that 

anxiety is recognised quickly 

so that appropriate help and 

support can be put in place 

for them. 

Alongside our drop-in 

services here at South East 

and Central Essex Mind, we 

are very keen to support 

young people with their 

mental health. We are 

pleased to have recently 

secured further funding 

for a 12 month project to 

deliver training to front line 

teaching staff, to ensure 

they are better equipped to 

support their students. 

Tel: 01702 601 123 

Email: office@ 

seandcessexmind.org.uk 

Website: https://www. 

seandcessexmind.org.uk 

Social: #SE_CE_Mind 


TRINITY FAMILY CENTRE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS 

For 20 years Trinity Family 

Centre has sat in the heart of 

Westcliff, open to everyone, a 

community centre, for some a 

place of fun and freedom, for 

others a refuge from problems 

and hardship, a place where they 

are welcomed and loved. Over 

the past 20 years a moderate 

estimate of 10,000 people have 

crossed our doors: from new born 

babies to those at the other end 

of life’s journey and all ages in 

between. Friendships have been 

established and support groups 

formed. 

The community work of the 

church here was ground breaking 

from the start (see ‘Snapping the 

Stilletto’ at the Beecroft Gallery 

from 6th July) but ‘Trinity Family 

Centre’ started in 1999 with the 

church buildings refurbished 

covering three floors: a sports 

hall on the top, a computer suite 

on the middle floor and a state of 

the art kitchen poised ready for 

use. 

A grant of £250,000 had been 

awarded which was to last for 7 

years, a budget worked out and 

the doors opened. One session 

a week on a Tuesday night has 

now grown into 10 sessions a 

week and we are open every 

day. We are now seeing second 

generations coming through 

our doors, in fact one of the 

first people to come to the 

family centre in 1999 with her 

young daughters, now brings 

her grandchildren to our parent 

toddler group. 

Since the original funding ceased 

in 2007 we have had to raise an 

average of £95,000 a year. This 

challenge leading positively to 

partnership work with Mencap; 

Age Concern; and SEAS and a 

Charity Shop in West Road. 

Looking for every opportunity to 

support the community, through 

Fare Share we now collect 

surplus food from Tescos and 

Waitrose at least 3 times a week. 

Anyone can access this food, they 

just have to ring the bell. We 

provide free meals for those in 

need on Christmas, Boxing & New 

Year’s Days and Easter Monday – 

everyone is welcome. We are still 

seeing faces from our first meal 

in 1998, they have become old 

friends. We have volunteers who 

help with these meals; some of 

them travelling from Chelmsford 

& Milton Keynes, people who 

lived in the area but have moved 

away but still want to be part of 

this community. 

Last year, with Big Lottery 

funding through ‘Awards for All’ 

we were able to offer training 

and work placements at the 

shop. Partnerships with Princes 

Trust; Southend Adult Community 

College; The Making it Work Team 

(Southend Care); A Better Start 

Southend and the Community 

Payback Scheme, to name a few, 

allows this to develop. Our next 

step is to develop volunteer 

mentors and find some internet 

and computer technology for the 

shop and the Family Centre to 

literally bring us ‘up to speed.’ 

Our celebratory AGM is on 

Tuesday 27th August: call 01702 

351998 for more details. 

We often hear ‘Oh I didn’t know 

you were here/there’. There is 

no excuse now, come along and 

meet us. 


£7M PLAN TO FUND AND DONATE REVOLUTIONARY 

NEW TREATMENT UNITS FOR MEN WITH EARLY STAGE 

PROSTATE CANCER ACROSS THE UK 

There are some remarkable 

medical developments happening 

in prostate cancer right now 

and as a result 1000’s more men 

with prostate cancer can live 

longer and have better lifestyle 

outcomes. 

Sadly, as things stand right 

now, these new less invasive 

treatment options (such as Focal 

Ablation encompassing HIFU 

and Cryotherapy) and better 

screening methods are unlikely 

to be available widely enough in 

the UK anytime soon. 

That is why the Prost8 UK charity 

has been created to ensure that 

men with a prostate cancer 

diagnosis (or even those with just 

concerns) have access to the very 

best resources. 

Prost8 have partnered with 

GoFundMe, the world’s largest 

non-profit Crowdfunding 

platform, to launch a major 

campaign supporting prostate 

cancer sufferers throughout the 

UK. 

The aim is to donate equipment 

to enable the NHS to offer wider 

coverage of a brand new type of 

treatment for prostate cancer 

known as HIFU, high intensity 

focal ultrasound, across the UK 

over the next 3 to 5 years. 

This will provide literally 1000’s 

of men diagnosed with early 

stage prostate cancer in England, 

Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland 

can benefit from a far less 

invasive treatment option than 

currently available. 

HIFU is no more harmful than a 

traditional ultrasound scan, just 

like that used to scan babies 

in the womb. However, the 

device uses multiple beams of 

ultrasound which, when focused 

onto one point on the prostate, 

generates a tiny point of heat 

that destroys the cancer cells 

leaving surrounding tissue 

unharmed. 

The procudure takes about 1 to 

3 hours and is usually just a day 

stay procedure with patients 

returning home the same day to 

recover in comfort. 

The crowdfunding campaign is 

unique in that it has one national 

umbrella covering the UK but 

with 14 sub campaigns each 

focused on the NHS’s geographic 

regions. Contributers will 

fundraise directly to support the 

deployment of a HIFU device in 

a stategic hospital in their own 

region. 

Everyone who donates will 

receive a new limited edition 

Prost8 supporters lapel pin and 

will also be entered into a fun 

celebrity led draw to win one 

of three amazing ‘Once in a 

Lifetime’ experiences (more 

details to follow). Sign up for 

our email newsletter to ensure 

you are first in line to take part 

and to hear about this and other 

great events and campaigns. 

For more information visit: 

www.prost8.org.uk 

0203 858 0848 



SAVS WINS CONTRACT GIVING PARENTS A VOICE IN 

INNOVATIVE NEW SERVICES 

SAVS have been awarded a 

contract to continue delivering 

community engagement services 

for A Better Start Southend. 

The contract, potentially lasting 

up to five-years, will be delivered 

through SAVS’ Turning Tides Team 

and was awarded following a 

competitive tendering process 

with a number of potential 

service providers expressing an 

interest. 

The new contract awarded to 

SAVS builds on the work it has 

done since first becoming the 

engagement partner in January 

2017 and recognises their 

experience of providing effective 

community engagement services 

across the Borough. 

The engagement services to 

be provided by SAVS will form 

part of a wider community 

engagement strategy which will 

be developed by A Better Start 

Southend over the next year. 

A core focus will be on increasing 

the number of volunteer ‘Parent 

Champions’, with over 30 trained 

so far, and the number set to 

increase still further over the 

next five years. 

Parent Champions are fullytrained 

and provided with the 

support and resources they 

need to best represent local 

parents’ voices, bringing parental 

experience and knowledge to the 

programme. They take part in 

governance meetings, research 

groups and panels, helping codesign 

and co-produce children 

services. This voice can also be 

heard through a communications 

group, promoting the programme 

through newsletters, social 

media, TV and public meeting 

appearances. 

The continued engagement 

work will help bring even 

more families on board to the 

programme, with 637 people 

engaging through parent-led 

engagement events alone 

over the past 12 months, an 

increase of almost 450% from 

the previous year. The parentled 

events encourage families 

new to the programme to take 

part in free fun activities, such 

as storytelling, healthy eating 

workshops, interactive parent 

and baby classes and creative 

outdoor sessions. 

New Parent Champions welcomed to 

SAVS and A Better Start Southend. 

Congratulations and welcome to the programme 

Esme, Yvonne, Ellen, Emma & Betty who recently 

completed their ‘Parent Champion’ four week 

training course. The training, led by Turning Tides 

Engagement Officer Georgia, aims to develop 

communication skills, build confidence and 

teach parents about the A Better Start Southend 

programme. On successful completion of their 

course, parents received their certificates from 

SAVS Chair Maureen Longley. 


“ 

We are so proud of 

all we have achieved 

so far, A Better Space 

has aspirations, it has 

potential, this is what a 

community green space 

could look like, this 

could be a model that 

could grow. 

“ 

CREATING A BETTER SPACE 

The A Better Space project has 

naturally grown and developed 

over the last two years. We can 

now see the hard work from A 

Better Start Southend’s parents 

and what the amazing support 

from the SAVS Engagement 

Team can really do. We have 

all worked very closely with 

Southend Borough Council’s 

Parks Team, Make Southend 

Sparkle, Southend Police Force 

and local artist Dave Taylor. 

The story so far is amazing and 

we have now seen the first of 

our new additions installed - 

with the funding we received 

from Make Southend Sparkle 

we commissioned Dave Taylor 

to help us produce two mosaics 

to sit either side of the main 

gates at Milton Gardens. The 

mosaic designs were developed 

and drawn from the parents’ 

ideas. For the A Better Space 

team it was important that 

designs identified Milton 

Gardens by name, that it 

connected with the children, 

the families and the community 

that use it and we thought 

using hand-prints to create the 

designs was a perfect way to do 

this. The idea of the key came 

from a discussion with parents 

about how their children 

would pretend to look for one 

to open the treasure chest, 

situated in the nature trail. 

Dave transferred our design 

drawings and then ran two 

workshops showing parents and 

their children how to produce 

the mosaics with glass tiles. It’s 

been an amazing experience 

and now for us to see them 

installed we think they look 

even more beautiful than we 

could have imagined and are so 

very proud of them. 

With the CIL funding we 

received last year from the 

council we are now looking 

forward to seeing the arrival of 

two new animals; a zebra and 

a ladybird, a large butterfly 

shaped insect hotel, three 

nature boards and raised 

flowers beds alongside the 

tennis courts. 

We are also looking forward 

to replacing the three waste 

bins over the summer using 

money that has been donated 

to us from Folk Like Us and 

The Balmoral Centre and also 

money that is currently being 

raised via the Hamlet Court 

Road Co-op. 

Watch this space, this story 

will continue to evolve and we 

will keep you updated with its 

progress. 



A WARM HELLO FROM LIFE STREAMS 

Back in 2018, Lifestreams which 

is run by Colin Baldwin (Priest 

in charge) over sees the parish 

of Saint Peter’s, Saint Cedd’s 

in Westcliff on sea and Saint 

Stephen’s which is located in 

Prittlewell. 

Saint Peter’s is an Anglican 

Church, whilst Saint Cedd’s had 

come to an end of a project of 

being associated with United 

Reformed Church both in 

Bridgwater Drive. Saint Cedd’s 

became a church plant in May in 

2018. 

The PCC (Parochial Church 

Council) discerned that a position 

should be made available for a 

pioneer, plant, pastor to take 

up the office under Lifestreams 

which is under Church of 

England but with the vision of 

re-connecting with the local 

community of Saint Cedd’s and 

surrounding area and providing a 

worship life in an alternative way 

and setting. 

I was blessed to have been 

called into that role recently 

alongside with my wife to work 

with the vision of Lifestreams to 

engage and promote meaningful 

relationships within the 

community through projects that 

bring transformation with Saint 

Cedd’s being the heart of the 

community. 

This is a long term vision building 

Saint Cedd’s as a place of 

worship and opportunities for 

all ages being fully supported by 

Saint Peter’s and Saint Stephen’s 

in the process. 

Saint Stephen’s in Alton Gardens, 

Prittlewell is also undergoing 

a major re-building project 

involving the re-generation and 

design of the original church 

building and halls. The project 

needs £50,000 to obtain planning 

permission but plans are ready 

to go. Rev Colin Baldwin is off 

on a 1000 mile cycle ride around 

United Kingdom linking up 

Cathedral’s as marker points on 

his quest to help raise funds. 

Whilst Saint Stephen’s has been 

in the planning stages, the 

congregation have been using the 

vicarage as a place of worship 

under a new name known as 213 

which is also part of Lifestreams. 

All this can be found on our 

website at Lifestreams.org.uk 

The projects we are planning for 

Saint Cedd’s on Bridgwater Drive 

is to start a back to work scheme 

that introduces learning building 

skills such as painting and repairs 

and also gaining health and 

safety qualifications using various 

equipment whilst renovation the 

church building including the 

large hall and chancel. 

We are planning to link this 

into gaining the required 

CSCS card for those wishing 

to move up the ladder in 

gaining full time employment 

but at the same time being 

part of the vision in providing 

a place that is respected 

within the community that 

those involved have achieved 

personally, whilst making new 

relationships to tackle everyday 

issues such as isolation, lack of 

confidence, build self-esteem. 

The opportunities are endless. 

What is fantastic about this 

opportunity, is the freedom 

to explore new ground and 

breakdown any barriers for 

Lifestreams to share the love of 

God into the community of the 

parish across all three churches. 


OFF THE STREETS NIGHT SHELTER 

Off the Streets is a grassroots 

night shelter which is open 

all year round in Southend. In 

Nov 2017 it was revealed that 

Southend had the 8th highest 

number of rough sleepers in the 

whole country. Off the Streets 

looked at addressing this problem 

and so opened up in September 

2018 in an old shop. Originally 

it slept 10 at night but then due 

to an EU law had to reduce its 

numbers to 5. 

The strapline of Off the Streets 

is à stepping stone and not 

a stopping point` and this has 

been the ethos of the shelter 

throughout. Del, Karen and Kirsty 

who run it are determined that 

it is more than just a shelter 

and work hard with the guests 

to help them move positiviely 

forward. Indeed in the 36 weeks 

it has been open they have 

helped 41 (and counting) people 

into permanent accommodation. 

When a guest is accepted into 

the shelter, they are sat down 

and between them and the 

shelter 1-3 targets are agreed 

which are designed to help them 

move forward not just with 

accommodation but also benefits, 

employment (they have found 9 

people jobs so far), mental and 

physical health and addiction 

help. As well as signposting the 

guests, Off the Streets will also 

attend the appointments if they 

want. People who have been 

housed include a 69 year old 

woman and a rough sleeper who 

has been sleeping on the streets 

of Southend for 10 years. The 

shelter also organises outreach 

and regularly goes into the town 

to see who is out and about and 

has helped some of them into 

housing too. 

In February they were awarded 

the Èxcellence Standard` by 

Housing Justice and are very 

keen to be part of the local 

community, despite some initial 

concerns locally Off the Streets 

has worked hard to engage 

with the neighbours and indeed 

several of them now volunteer 

for the shelter. 

One local neighbour who was 

very vocal in her opposition at 

the start, last week said Òff 

the Streets should take over all 

the empty shops and run them 

as shelters. I have nothing but 

praise for what they do.` 

Off the Streets is completely 

run by volunteers and has to 

fundraise all the money they 

need for rent etc and they are 

very grateful that they have 35 

people who regularly donate 

£10 a month but they have to 

organise monthly fundraisers to 

raise the rest of the money for 

rent, bills, treats for the guests 

etc and so any donations will 

have a massive impact on the 

shelter. It will not only enable 

them to stay open and continue 

to help people off the streets but 

it will also help them to continue 

their outreach into local schools 

and addressing misconceptions in 

our youth. 

One teacher recently retold how 

she was walking down to a school 

and 2 students were discussing 

homelessness and she heard 

one of the students turn to her 

friend and say `thats not true, 

remember the assembly Off the 

Streets did`. The teacher said 

she has never seen her pupils so 

engaged with a subject. 


SAVS Newsletter 19/20 Q2 | PAGE 19

THE SUPPORTED VOLUNTEERING PROJECT 

The Supported Volunteering 

Project, funded by the National 

Lottery Community Fund 

and delivered by SAVS, finds 

voluntary roles for people who 

may have experienced mental 

ill health in the Southend area. 

The successful project has run 

for 8 years and helped over 400 

people. 

The project co-ordinator, 

Rachel Rooks, holds one to one 

sessions to help people identify 

the type of volunteering they 

would like whilst addressing 

their individual needs and goals. 

Previous volunteering has ranged 

from looking after chickens 

to volunteering at Southend 

Hospital. 

An example of this is Janine 

who has PTSD & depression and 

first got in contact with the 

Supported Volunteering Project 

six months ago. 

Janine says: “Since finishing work 

in 2009 I felt all my confidence 

had been zapped from me. I used 

to struggle to meet new people 

and leave my home. Rachel 

found me a volunteering role 

which I could do from my house. 

She suggested volunteering from 

home to start with until I felt 

confident enough to volunteer in 

the community. Volunteering has 

given me a boost, I am feeling 

less anxious and more confident. 

I feel healthier and happier and 

I love being able to help others 

and feel useful again.” 

The project not only benefits 

individuals but also the charities, 

social enterprises and community 

groups they volunteer for. Jill 

Poet, CEO of Healthy Life Essex, 

says: 

‘Having a volunteer makes 

such a difference to our social 

enterprise. If we didn’t have 

volunteer help it would be 

difficult to ensure the events 

featured in our wellbeing web 

resource are kept up to date. 

We are very grateful to have this 

support and would like to thank 

Rachel at SAVS for finding us a 

fantastic volunteer.” 

If you would like to learn 

more about the Supported 

Volunteering Project contact 

Rachel Rooks, Project coordinator 

by calling 01702 

356021. 

“ 

Volunteering has given 

me a boost, I am 

feeling less anxious and 

more confident. I feel 

healthier and happier 

and I love being able 

to help others and feel 

useful again. 

“ 


SOUP GLORIOUS SOUP! 

The Supported Volunteering 

Project got involved with the 

newest side project going on at 

SAVS – Folk Like Us’s infamous 

soup days! 

The idea of serving soup to folks 

in the SAVS building was born 

out of having a fully working 

kitchen and using up our 

allotment veggies. 

On the day, SV Project got on 

board and served up 40 delicious 

servings of soup. Rachel, 

Project Co-ordinator, asked 

two supported volunteers if 

they would like to take charge, 

pick their soup recipes and get 

cooking. 

Nadine and Gogontle both 

expressed an interest in cooking 

but had some anxieties around 

catering for others. Rachel 

supported and encouraged 

them to go ahead and the 

event turned out to be very 

successful. 

The ‘Soup Days’ are not only 

benefiting the members of Folk 

Like Us with a home cooked 

lunch but also the people who 

are making the soups. 

Gogontle said ‘Thank you for 

organising the soup day. I think 

it reminded me that I can do 

things and how great it is to be 

a part of a team and working 

towards something together.’ 

Rachel said ‘We worked through 

the challenges and difficulties 

Nadine and Gogontle were 

talking about – feeling anxious, 

worries about failing, not being 

good enough and I had the 

pleasure of seeing them both 

grow in confidence and really 

enjoy the experience. They both 

told me how much they enjoyed 

feeding people and receiving 

the compliments about their 

soups. It was an enjoyable day 

of volunteering.’ 

‘Soup day’ is now a regular 

event at SAVS with different 

projects throughout the building 

getting involved. It has been 

a positive way of bringing all 

the projects together. The 

Supported Volunteering Project 

is looking forward to all the 

Spring veggies and working out 

what is next for ‘Soup days’…. 

Jacket potato anyone? 

“ 

Thank you for organising 

the soup day. I think it 

reminded me that I can 

do things and how great it 

is to be a part of a team 

and working towards 

something together. 

“ 



THE HUNGARIAN COMMUNITY OF SOUTHEND 

The Hungarian Community 

of Southend was constituted 

five years ago with the aim of 

contributing towards community 

well-being and promoting 

community cohesion. During the 

years we have organized several 

thematic events in order to keep 

national traditions as well as to 

promote the heritage and culture 

of Hungary in Southend-on-Sea. 

In 2015 we set up our fortnightly 

Hungarian weekend school for 

children with Hungarian heritage. 

This year we had more than 35 

registered children in four year 

groups. (3 month – 12 years old) 

Families even from Colchester 

or Tilbury are regularly visiting 

our events so that our volunteer 

teachers can support them to 

keep the mother-language alive, 

to learn traditional folk songsand 

to get to know Hungarian folk 

tales. This year we have also 

focused on the preparation for 

opening the Hungarian Library 

in Southend. This library service 

is available during our school 

sessions at the Westcliff Baptist 

Church. With the help of the 

Hungarian Embassy in London 

we have been donated with 

a valuable collection about 

Hungarian history. 

Our major achievements: 

- We are extremely proud 

to announce that in January 

2019 our community group as 

presented with the Hungarian 

Culture in the UK Award 2018 

which was presented by the 

Hungarian Cultural Institute in 

London (Balassi Institute). 

- In 2018 we achieved our goal 

to create a documentary film 

about elderly local Hungarians 

who live in the UK for more than 

60 years. For our dream to come 

true we found a passionate film 

maker who carried out several 

interviews collecting memory 

fragments of these people. This 

intensely moving documentary 

presents personal histories of 

six Southend-based elderly 

Hungarians who took part in the 

Revolution of 1956 and examines 

the reception they received 

when they arrived in the UK 

following ‘Operation Whirlwind’, 

the brutal suppression of the 

uprising by the Soviet Army. We 

have been honored that our 

documentary film was selected 

for screening at the Southend-on- 

Sea Film Festival in May. 

- Last but not least our major 

project for this year was to host 

a Hungarian Culture Festival 

in Leigh-on-Sea (Strand Wharf) 

which was also a celebration 

of our community group’s 5th 

anniversary of its foundation. On 

11 May 2019 there were several 

craft exhibitors, lovely homemade 

Hungarian food and cakes 

stalls on the Strand Wharf while 

folk dance groups, musicians, 

puppet theatre as well as the 

Southend Hungarian Choir made 

colorful performances on the 

stage. 


FANTASTIC WORKSHOPS BY GEOFF 

EVANS 

“ 

If you’re feeling worn 

down and doubting 

yourself and your 

parenting abilitiesplease, 

take some 

time to recharge. Do 

something for yourself, 

lift your mood a little 

and take another look. 

You are enough, you can 

do it. 

You are enough. 

“ 

For those of you that are 

familiar with Little Heroes 

ASD Support Group you will 

recognise we work extremely 

closely with our local SENDIASS 

service and are fortunate 

to have a positive working 

relationship. Over the past year 

we have been collaborating 

and together we felt as though 

our local families could benefit 

from a visit from Geoff Evans, 

with many years experience in 

the world of autism we knew he 

would empower so many. 

And without fail that is exactly 

what he did! Four parent 

workshops were delivered 

locally offering over 240 seats in 

total for people within our local 

community in early June. No 

words can express the positivity 

in the room better than how 

MRS T puts it: 

Today I attended a free 

information event hosted by 

SENDIASS and Little Heroes. I 

had the pleasure of meeting 

today’s speaker Mr Geoff 

Evans, who talked passionately 

and shared his expertise and 

wealth of knowledge on all 

things Autism- more specifically 

Autism and anxiety, stress 

and managing behaviours of 

concern. 

Within the first half hour 

of Geoff’s presentation I 

found myself overwhelmed 

emotionally and temporarily 

removed myself from the room 

to have a little cry… why? 

Before me stood a man 

with years of experience of 

understanding and helping 

individuals with Autism. He has 

made a difference to so many 

children’s lives, helping whole 

families. But more than that. 

He not only understood and 

helped… he really, truly got 

it. I was completely caught off 

guard to be made to feel like 

I was doing the right thing. To 

be built up. To be made to feel 

valid- my parenting is right. My 

concerns are right. The way I 

choose to deal with things are 

good enough and sometimes 

just doing what it takes to get 

through the day- is ENOUGH. 

So often as Autism parents 

we are made to feel less 

than enough. Perhaps offered 

parenting courses. Being told a 

lot of the things we are doing 

wrong. I’m sure the intentions 

are well meant, ‘you should 

be doing this instead’ always 

offered in consolation. But not 

today. 

Today felt like a real 

connection, a genuine 

understanding of what we go 

through as parents and there 

was SO much useful information 

and insight delivered, but 

in an empowering way. The 

whole family is important when 

it comes to helping a child 

with Autism. The whole team 

around the child- professionals 

included- matter. Everyone 

has to be ok. If you get the 

opportunity to hear Geoff 

Evans speak in future I highly 

recommend you do, whilst funny 

and engaging he brings a wealth 

of information to help us along 

through our Autism journeys. 

If you’re feeling worn down 

and doubting yourself and your 

parenting abilitiesplease, 

take some time to recharge. Do 

something for yourself, lift your 

mood a little and take another 

look. You are enough, you can 

do it. 

You are enough. 

To follow MRS T and ASD please 

visit: https://www.facebook. 

com/MrsLTblog 



HELPING YOUR COMMUNITY 

ONE HOUR AT A TIME 

Timebanking is about people 

helping people. It’s about an 

exchange of skills. And it’s FREE 

to join. 

Time Banking is flexible, 

reciprocal volunteering using 

time as a currency for exchange. 

Time Banking is based upon the 

principle that one hour’s time 

spent voluntarily supporting your 

local community is valued as one 

Time Credit. All activities are 

valued equally. Time Banks are 

comprised of members who take 

part in these exchanges. It is set 

up to help with social isolation 

and to “knit the community 

together”…excuse the pun, as 

one example of a Timebanking 

project in Southend is our 

knitting group held at SAVS 

every Thursday 1pm-3pm. 

We provide free refreshments 

and our volunteer knitting buddy 

is at hand to help with any 

knitting projects that you may 

have started. Or perhaps you 

would like to get in to knitting? 

We have kind donations of wool, 

needles and patterns that can 

start you on your way. Please 

come and join our friendly group 

with like-minded people for 

company and fun. 

“ 

Timebanking is such a 

great way for me to be 

able to share my skills. 

I don’t have a lot of 

spare time and this fits in 

perfectly. It’s nice to help 

people by sharing things I 

know. 

“ 

Southend-on-Sea Cycle Parking Scheme 

Voluntary sector groups in Southend-on-Sea are 

eligible for free cycle parking. You must install 

the cycle parking on your own property (you 

can’t dig up the pavement!) in a location agreed 

with ParkThatBike. The cycle parking scheme is 

supported by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council 

with funding from the Department for Transport. 

These top-quality cycle parking products reduce 

the likelihood of bikes being stolen or damaged and 

they tell the world that your organisation is doing 

its bit to encourage more people to use their bikes. 


ALZHEIMER’S 

/ DEMENTIA 

WELLBEING 

GROUP 

Thursday 25th July 

2019 

10:00 - 12:00pm at 

SAVS Centre 

SOUTHEND CARERS 

Southend Carers is an 

independent charity with a 

mission to make life easier and 

fairer for carers. We work in 

partnership with other specialist 

charities and our service covers 

a whole range of support for 

carers of all ages; including, 

advice and information, support 

groups, emotional support, 

respite and emergency planning. 

A carer is a person of any age, 

who provides unpaid care for 

a relative, friend or neighbour, 

who needs help because they 

are; frail, living with a long 

term or terminal illness, have a 

physical or learning disability or 

experiencing mental illness. 

“Better Lives” is our support 

programme for young carers 

- children aged 5-17 years. It 

provides regular after school 

clubs and monthly fun events. A 

great opportunity for children to 

try out different activities, have 

fun and make new friends. 

“Very good advice and 

information” 

“This is an excellent service” 

“The group has been a lifeline 

to me “ 

“Very Helpful” 

“It was a friendly atmosphere” 

“Thank you, I knew you 

wouldn’t let me down” 

“I feel so much better for being 

listened to” 

Carers are invited to come 

along and have a cup of tea 

and a bite to eat with other 

carers and listen to this 

Month’s guest speakers from 

the Dementia Team. 

To book your free place or 

for more information, please 

telephone Southend Carers 

on 01702 393933 or email 

info@southendcarers.co.uk 

“ There are over 17,600 

carers in Southend. 

Carers save the economy 

£132 billion per year. 

3 in 5 of us will be a carer 

at some point in our lives. 

“ 

Contact Details: 

Tel: 01702 393933 

Email: 

info@southendcarers.co.uk 

Website: 

www.southendcarers.co.uk 



INTEGRATED FAMILY CENTRE HUB PILOT 

We’re delighted to announce 

exciting developments on the 

Integrated Family Centres Hub 

pilot, a six-month pilot project 

that A Better Start Southend is 

working on in partnership with 

Family Action and Southend-on- 

Sea Borough Council, with the 

project nearing its launch date. 

The project brings together 

Partners to support developments 

in the effective delivery of the 

children’s centres in Southend, 

building on the excellent work 

being undertaken at present. 

Back in March we held two 

workshops with stakeholders 

delivering the services and 

parents as part of the initial 

research phase, collecting 

information around some key 

questions, such as: What are the 

Children’s Centres for? What role 

can the community play? How 

can we better bring together the 

services the community wants? 

And how can we best share 

information? 

The responses we received from 

the workshops were collated 

and shared with partners and 

used to inform the new pilot 

project. This has helped us 

better understand the vital role 

Children’s Centres play in the 

community, and how we can 

build on the already fantastic 

work currently happening in 

order to integrate the services 

the community needs. Key in 

helping to shape the project are 

parents, families and ABSS Parent 

Champion volunteers. 

The project, which may involve 

a new name and branding for the 

centres involved, will initially be 

introduced at Friars Children’s 

Centre and Centre Place Family 

Centre for six months from 

autumn 2019, and Partners 

will be supporting the project 

collaboratively in order to 

effectively develop best practice 

and integrate all services a 

family may need to access. 

On top of this, the project will 

increase knowledge and provide 

training to partners around what 

is available locally to support 

families as well as increase the 

reach and use of a wide range of 

services. 

Keep an eye out for 

developments on this new 

pilot project, and an exciting 

new launch date! If you have 

any questions related to the 

pilot project, please contact 

abetterstart@eyalliance.org.uk / 

01702 880370. 

SOS ADVOCACY HUB – SERVICE UPDATE 

South Essex Advocacy Services, 

together with BATIAS and Shields 

Parliament, joined forces in April 

to create SOS Advocacy Hub – a 

brand new service for people 

needing advocacy in Southend. 

But what is advocacy? Advocacy 

seeks to ensure that people, 

particularly those who are most 

vulnerable in society, are able 

to: have their voice heard on 

issues that are important to 

them; defend and safeguard 

their rights; have their views 

and wishes genuinely considered 

when decisions are being made 

about their lives. If you are 

isolated, struggle with your 

mental health, are elderly or 

have a learning disability we can 

support you to make your voice 

heard. We advocate for people 

without judgement, ensuring 

that you are empowered to make 

informed choices. 

Our ‘Hello Life’ project aims to 

help anyone aged over 60 who 

may be experiencing loneliness 

and isolation, we provide 

information about a whole 

host of clubs, activities and 

can assist with an introductory 

visit to an activity, or we can 

refer you to our partners Age 

Concern Southend who provide 

a befriending service. If you 

need any further details about 

this project, please contact Lisa 

Bartlett on 01702 340566. 

We are also seeking more 

volunteers to assist us to speak 

up on behalf of vulnerable 

people. If you can spare a few 

hours each week we would love 

to hear from you. In particular, 

we are looking for volunteers 

that have good attention 

to detail and who are good 

communicators. We provide 

all our volunteers with training 

and support to enable them to 

fulfil their role, and we have an 

annual thank you event each 

year. If you are interested in 

supporting people to improve 

their wellbeing, please contact 

us. 

For more information on the 

services we offer, and to find 

out the sessions of our local 

Hubs, please go to www. 

sosadvocacyhub.org or contact 

us on 01702 340566. You can 

also email us at advocacy@ 

southessexadvocacy.org 


S.H.I.P - SOUTHCHURCH HALL INSPIRATIONAL PARKERS 

In January 2017 Patricia 

Sampson, a local resident to 

Southchurch Hall Gardens, 

organised a meeting with 

Southend Police, Southend Beach 

Clean, Southend Borough Council 

and local residents to take action 

and transform the local historical 

Park. The Park is the scheduled 

monument gardens belonging to 

Southchurch Hall a Grade 1 listed 

Manor House. 

The park had been in decline for 

a number of years attracting all 

kinds of anti social behaviour 

where drug and alcohol abuse 

was rife as well as unlawful 

sexual activities which created 

an unsafe environment resulting 

in the decline of people young 

and old visiting the park. 

Patricia was passionate about 

turning it around as were the 

others (who are known as 

Shippers,) in making it a safe 

environment again. 

From this initial meeting a 

community group was formed 

S.H.I.P (Southchurch Hall 

Inspirational Parkers), sharing 

the same passion and supported 

by “Make Southend Sparkle”. 

Litter picking started and 9 full 

bags of litter mostly alcohol 

bottles and beer cans but also 

included such items as used 

condoms, drug bags and used 

needles were collected on the 

first litter pick alone. 

A further meeting was held 

with S.H.I.P, Southend Police, 

Restorative of Justice, The Local 

Council and two street drinkers. 

This meeting was a chance to 

bring forward and share ideas to 

improve the park. 

This resulted in a variety of tasks 

being allocated to the Council, 

The Police and S.H.I.P. 

From this meeting we also 

formed a community group which 

included S.H.I.P. The Police and 

the Council Parks Dept and more 

recently the museums Dept. We 

continue to meet today. 

The tasks that were allocated 

to S.H.I.P were to keep the park 

tidy, carry out gardening projects 

and organise and run Events. 

S.H.I.P’s initial aim was to make 

a cleaner greener safer space 

for the use y all the community 

while at the same time 

protecting a part of Southends 

rich history. 

Over the course of the past 

two years we have held several 

Events which included: a 

special day for artists (budding 

or professional) to paint some 

inspiring pictures, a nature 

event promoting the protection 

of our wildlife, in fact one of 

our poetic messages can now 

be seen in many of the parks 

in Southend. We also held an 

event to celebrate the end of 

WW1. The event itself went back 

100 years including the food, 

costumes, toys and weights and 

measurements of the era. 

Our events were attracting more 

and more people which was 

highlighted at our last major 

event when over 500 people 

came to a traditional family 

Easter day. This particular event 

was held jointly with A Better 

Start Southend and was plastic 

free, only let down by plastic 

bottles of water. This was proof 

that how working together can 

create success. 

We have showcased a couple of 

interesting flora and fauna tours 

in support of events that were 

hosted by Trustlinks. These tours 

are also something that we are 

planning for the future. 

We meet every week in order to 

keep the gardens maintained, 

clean and attractive to its 

visitors. 

The park is now a hub for 

the Duke of Edinburgh Award 

Scheme, giving opportunities for 

people to get involved. 

A Green Flag has been awarded 

to the park for the first time in 

its history. 

We’ve only been able to achieve 

this success because of the 

volunteers who give up their 

spare time and funding from Big 

Lottery, local businesses, Carers 

for Causes, Southend Soup, 

Double Whammy and Southend 

Council, as well as individual 

donations. 

The park has been highlighted 

in both the Echo and Essex 

Radio multiple times for various 

reasons including the success 

of community action and when 

the founder Patricia Sampson 

was a finalist in the police 

commissioners award for her 

outstanding contribution for 

community safety. 

We were also highlighted in a 

program called House Trap (The 

Suckers List) that was aired on 

channel 5 last October. 

S.H.I.P’s main objective now is to 

bring the park back to the days 

when it was known as the jewel 

of Southend. 

If anyone would like to 

get involved by either 

volunteering or donating 

please visit our website: www. 

southchurchhallgardens.co.uk 



MEET THE COUNCIL 

Each Newsletter we’ll be introducing you to some of the staff at Southend-on- 

Sea Borough Council to learn a little bit about the work they are doing. 

JO DICKINSON 

Hello, my name is Jo Dickinson 

and I have recently become 

a Locality Development 

Manager within the Integrated 

Commissioning Team at Southend 

Borough Council. I’m really 

excited to be in the role and look 

forward to connecting with as 

many of you as possible in the 

coming months. The role is new 

for Southend Borough Council but 

builds on the work already taking 

place to move to a place based 

approach, focusing on the needs 

of local communities as opposed 

to the amalgamated needs 

within traditional organisational 

boundaries. 

The ambition is to move from 

a reactive model of care and 

enable an improved focus on 

prevention, self-care, personal 

responsibility, empowerment 

and wider community resilience. 

The way localities develop will 

closely align with the Southend 

2050 vision. Southend has divided 

up the area into four localities; 

East, East Central, West Central 

and West. I am going to be an 

enabler within both West Central 

and West Localities. There will 

be another role, like mine, being 

recruited to and that person 

will focus on East and East 

Central localities. We have had 

one engagement event for West 

Central and are planning a follow 

up in a couple of weeks’ time so 

if you would like to be involved 

– please let me know. Any 

other ideas relating to Locality 

development please get in touch 

by emailing me on jodickinson@ 

southend.gov.uk 

AMANDA BLAKE 

My name is Amanda Blake and I 

am a community development 

manager within Southend 

Borough Council. My remit 

is to promote the integrated 

working of social workers in line 

with Southend 2050 vision and 

NHS long term plan. This has 

seen me lead a small group of 

social workers to work within 

GP surgeries; A Parish Church 

Health and Wellbeing Clinic 

and more recently within 

sheltered accommodation. The 

social workers are networking 

with other community links to 

promote independence and 

strength based practice, utilising 

assets and resources that sit 

within the communities. This in 

turn gives a more local presence 

of social workers and we are 

working to reduce, prevent and 

delay people utilizing social care 

by using this practice in line with 

The Care Act 2014 

The vision is this work will grow 

and social workers will become 

community based utilising space 

from partners such as health and 

other community resources. 


KAMIL PACHALKO 

Hello, my name is Kamil Pachalko 

and I have the privilege of 

managing the Adult Service 

Transformation Team. We 

support our colleagues, partners 

and reach out to communities 

to foster integration so that 

residents interacting with 

social or health care have to 

“tell their story only once”. 

We promote strength and asset 

based approaches starting with 

“What matters to you” and 

“What is strong” to build on 

peoples gifts. This way we hope 

to promote sustainable wellbeing 

while addressing real challenges 

present in people’s lives. 

We have been supporting the 

development of the Integrated 

Multidisciplinary Team in 

the Localities to strengthen 

relationships and collaboration 

amongst staff and partners to 

improve care. With partners we 

stimulated the development 

of community hubs as spaces 

where both professionals, charity 

workers and the community 

members can work together 

to provide one stop shops for 

support and involve people in 

making their communities more 

resilient. We supported the 

placement of social workers 

in GP surgeries and Hubs to 

take pressure off primary care 

and have early, preventative 

conversations. We are running a 

Moderate Needs Multidisciplinary 

meeting to discuss amongst a 

diverse team complex cases to 

provide support early before 

the crisis point is reached and 

we building on the adults and 

the professional and social 

networks assets. We have 

rolled out training in strength 

and asset based approaches, 

started mapping community 

resources to make them more 

accessible to the public and 

services and have stimulated 

conversations around Asset 

Based Community Development 

to strengthen positive action by 

individuals and communities, 

with the local authority being 

there to help where needed. 

We have run events focused 

on wellbeing to promote local 

services and resources and to 

engage community members 

in a conversation about what 

does living well mean to them. 

We are testing how technology 

might facilitate wellbeing by 

using Pepper the Robot in care 

homes and community groups 

and exploring how Virtual Reality 

could help people improve their 

wellbeing through, for example, 

experiencing a woodland walk 

in Belfairs Woods even though 

they might be housebound or 

help someone work through their 

anxiety of visiting one of the 

local Hubs. 

I hope you will find something 

relevant for you in the list above. 

Please come and talk with us at 

the locality events. If you wanted 

to be in touch with my team to 

find out more please email adultredesign@southend.gov.uk 

or call 

me on 01702 212845. 



30 SECOND SHOWCASE 

During Small Charities Week 

2019, SAVS held a Networking 

Breakfast to bring the commuity 

together, share their stories and 

discuss their aspirations for the 

Third Sector. As part of that, we 

gave all attendees 30 seconds 

to promote their charity/group 

or provide everyone with an 

update. Here’s what they said: 

John Perry – St Cedds Life 

Streams 

Operating out of Kent Elms, this 

project aims to be the life & 

heart of the community. Current 

focusses are a youth project, 

developing their buildings, 

helping carers and providing 

training such as PPE. 

https://www.stceddschurch.org. 

uk/ 

Gareth Gault – A Better Start 

Southend 

A project focussing 0-3 year olds 

and their families in the 6 most 

deprived wards in Southend. 

There is a community Innovation 

Fund being launched in the 

Autumn with a potential £1,000- 

£10,000 for community projects 

supporting families. 

https://abetterstartsouthend. 

co.uk/ 

Kim Drake – Little Heroes ASD 

Has been supporting families of 

children with Autism for 7 years. 

Their services include Weekly 

support groups, activities and 

respite. Their moto is to ‘Enable 

not disable’. 

https://littleheroesasd.co.uk/ 

Sara Hadden – SEET1 (South 

East Essex Type 1) 

Support for Type 1 diabetics. 

They have recently won an Aspire 

Award. Their aim is reaching out 

and connecting. 

https://seet1-diabetes. 

diabetesukgroup.org/ 

Dan Crook –TB Youth Music 

Project 

Based in Thorpe Bay, this Youth 

project is aimed at Young People 

aged 11-18. Dan told us the 

wonderful news that a Young 

Person who previously attended 

the Youth Club has now become a 

volunteer. 

https://www.tbmchurch.org/ 

youthclubs 

Eric Clark – Pier Talk 

A community group all about 

helping lonely people including 

those who are bereaved, which 

mainly supports older people. 

Activities include walking, 

dinners and cinema. 

https://www.piertalk.com/wp/ 

Tim Watts – Southend Pier 

Museum 

In 1980 this project helped to 

save the pier from closure. Still 

going strong to this day, but are 

looking for volunteers to help. 

https://www. 

southendpiermuseum.co.uk/ 

Tim Watts - Leigh-on-Sea Lions 

Club 

Local Lions Clubs are looking 

to support local charities and 


community groups, but need to 

know who to give money to. 

http://leighlions.co.uk/ 

Gary Williams – Southchurch 

Bowls Club 

A key focus is engaging Young 

People and youth, which they 

have received funding form the 

council to do. They would like to 

work with groups who can go to 

play bowls and get free coaching. 

https:// 

southchurchparkbowlingclub. 

wordpress.com/ 

Joan Brown – Southend Carers 

Offer Family & friend support 

for those with illness, disability 

or addiction. They have recently 

created a consortium which 

means they can offer wider 

support, groups and respite. 

https://www.southendcarers. 

co.uk/ 

David Yallop - Dial 

Helps people with filling 

out benefit forms. They are 

currently Looking for money for 

refurbishment to help support 

their staff/volunteers who have 

disabilities. 

http://www.dialsouthend.org/ 

MCM Iqbal – ATES (Tamil 

Speaking Elders) 

A group 50 people. It aims to 

help battle loneliness, with 

elders typically being alone all 

day. It Provides social meetings 

and aims to build bridges in the 

community. They regularly have 

specialist speakers. 

Rajani Iqbal – ATES (Tamil 

Speaking Elders) 

Helping with dementia and 

battling isolation and loneliness. 

Julianna Kaldi-Hegiji – 

Hungarian Community of 

Southend 

This project was started 5 years 

ago. It provides a community 

school for 40 families. It aims 

at keeping their heritage and 

language alive. 

https://www.savs-southend.org/ 

community-directory/14904/ 

hungarian-community-ofsouthend/ 

Patricia Sampson – SHIP 

A group of local people aimed 

at rejuvenating and making 

the most of Southchurch Hall 

Gardens. They have recently 

been given the Green Flag Award. 

Needs people to help. 

https://www. 

southchurchhallgardens.co.uk/ 

Kelly Wingfield – Southend 

Borough Council 

Kelly is a Community Partnership 

Officer who recently worked on 

the Southend 2050 project. Her 

role is to connect communities, 

people and residents. 

Cathy Turner - Volunteering 

Matters 

Working with Families at Risk, 

they have supported over 400 

families in the 10 years they 

have operated. One of their first 

members is now a volunteer. 

https://volunteeringmatters.org. 

uk/project/vsf/ 

Peter Lovett – Shoebury 

Residents Association 

Providing support to the 

Shoebury community including 

projects, representation and 

planning. They have Beach Clean 

taking place on the 27th July 

and welcome any support. SRA 

has a committee of 10. Recently 

they opened Shoebury Hub in 

partnership with Turning Tides. 

https://www.shoeburyresidents. 

com/ 

Jill Poet – BSTLC (Businesses 

Supporting their Local 

Communities) 

Encourages businesses to support 

local charities. This is based on 

non-monetary donations and 

support. £5 with them could 

result in £50 or more. 

http://www.jillpoet.co.uk/ 

Sonny Green – Trouble Tongues 

CIC 

People saying what they mean 

and meaning what they say. They 

represent freedom, challenge the 

status quo and feed your mind 

with thoughts that no-one wants 

you know. 

http://www.troubletongues. 

com/ 

Denise – Friends and Places 

Together 

Offers support to those with 

disabilities age 13-25 and gives 

opportunities to socialise, 

meet new friends and have 

experiences outside school, 

college or other settings. 

https:// 

friendsandplacestogether.org.uk/ 

JOIN SAVS AT THEIR NEXT NETWORKING EVENT 

Being held on 18th September from 8a,-10a, at ATTIC, 48 Eastern Esplanade, 

Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 2ES. 



PROVIDING THE THIRD SECTOR WITH A VOICE 

Over the coming months, we’re improving the way we share your news, gather 

your feedback and make your voice heard in Southend-on-Sea. 

YOUR news online, in 

our weekly email and 

in the SAVS Quarterly 

Newsletter. 

We’re developing an online space 

where all community news and 

events will be stored so that 

everyone can see your mportant 

information, whenever they like. 

We’ll continue to promote local 

groups and organisations with the 

SAVS Weekly Email. 

The SAVS Quarterly Newsletter 

will now include news from the 

whole community, as well as the 

important updates from SAVS as 

an organisation. 

YOUR views on important 

local and national issues, 

policies and consultations 

shared. 

We’ll be increasing the ways that 

you can provide us with insights, 

concerns and feedback so that 

everyone can have their voice 

heard. This will be online and 

accessible so that if you have 

something to say, you can easily 

let us know. 

We’ll provide advanced 

notification of meetings we are 

attending as representatives 

of the sector so you have time 

to consider and then send your 

thoughts. 

YOUR needs and feedback 

used to design the 

services delivered by SAVS 

to the Third Sector. 

Our role here at SAVS is to 

support and represent the groups 

and organisations in Southendon-Sea. 

To do that in the most 

effective way, we need to know, 

from you, how best to do that. 

We’ll be conducting in-person 

and online interviews and surveys 

to collect essential reviews of 

our services and how we can 

develop them in the future to 

best serve the thriving Third 

Sector in Southend-on-Sea. 

If you would like more information on how SAVS is developing the way it supports and represents the 

Third Sector in Southend-on-Sea, you would to promote your charity/group or you have any questions 

please contact Roger Savage, SAVS Development Officer: 

rsavage@savs-southend.co.uk | 01702 356 000 | www.savs-southend.org

SAVS Quarterly Newsletter Apr-Jun 19

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?