NO matter what walk of life you are from, everyone knows that if you are stressed, it can be hard to see where help could be, and how and whether things could change. If you are facing a crisis with the basics in life like food, housing, health and wellbeing, you are likely to be concentrating on how to get through the day. The fewer barriers to accessing help, the better.

This issue was identified at the Harlow Poverty Alliance Conference in 2022. Put simply – there is not enough awareness of the variety of organisations available for help in Harlow.

On Friday 15th of November, Harlow Poverty Alliance held its fourth event and Harlow Hive – a campaign group of people living in Harlow taking action to make people’s lives here better – shared the first outcome of their campaign: the “Communitree”.

It was developed for people to be able to find the right support for themselves, before it gets to crisis stage.

Dave Hobbs was one of the masterminds behind the new tree and explained the big idea:
“We created Communitree so that people can easily access and understand the services that are available to people in Harlow. By following the different branches, which include food, clothing, housing, mental health support and others, people can find the right support for them.

“We realise that there are more organisations helping with crisis than are on the tree, which is in part why we have also featured a link to Frontline. That’s an excellent online tool for local organisations to make referrals other who can help. So if people can’t find what they need through the Communitree, we will raise the profile of Frontline which will lead to other support that is out there.”

Aaron Waite, fellow member of the Harlow Hive continues: “Each of the organisations featured in the Communitree has been recommended by people who have used their services. We took these recommendations through interviews at Harlow Foodbank, the Bounty Club, online on the Harlow Hive Facebook page, through a poll shared on Facebook, and out on the streets of Harlow. A key reason for this is that here at Harlow Hive, we aim to provide footsteps to walk with you, rather than signpost you away.”

Attendees at the Poverty Alliance conference heard that an expanded version of the tree can be found online at the Harlow Hive web site https://harlowhive.org/communitree/ On that version the individual logos can be clicked to find out more information about each organisation. The QR codes on the printed Communitree take you straight through to this resource.

The Harlow Hive have printed copies of the Communittree in different sized posters, and are offering them free to organisations around the town
Dave concluded, “We want this initiative to help as many people as possible. We have lots of posters – get in touch: [email protected]”

The Harlow Hive are also developing campaigns on the following issues.
Disability and access issues
Council housing repairs
School uniform costs

If you would like to get involved, please write to that email! Again, it’s [email protected]