Mid and South Essex ICS has announced a grant scheme for community-based initiatives, with the aim of improving mental health support in traditionally underserved communities.
The ICS is collaborating with Essex Community Foundation to offer grants between £5,000 and £20,000 as part of the Mid and South Essex Mental Health Inequalities Programme.
Voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations can apply for the grants for projects which focus on historically underserved communities, offer “new and fresh ideas in supporting these groups” to achieve their goals, and which help the Essex Community Foundation to learn how to improve accessibility and inclusivity of mental health support for those experiencing inequalities. The funding is to benefit residents in specific regions of the ICS’s footprint; the list can be found here.
Sophia Morris, system clinical lead for health inequalities, has commented that the fund “presents a crucial opportunity for health inequalities relating to mental health and mental health support to be addressed, discussed, and hopefully narrowing the equality gap.”
Last month, we covered the news that Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust is collaborating with health and social care partners to develop an “innovative” mental health urgent care department, following an investment of more than £5 million from the ICS.
In May, we also shared an exploration of Mid and South Essex ICS’s integrated care strategy, which highlights the ICS’s long-term goals and plans to improve their services.
