FOUR unique public health projects have secured almost £500,000 funding from Essex County Council.

A total of £495,551 has been awarded to four projects through the council’s Public Health Accelerator Bids (PHAB) major grants programme.

The latest successful bids were chosen following an expression of interest process and assessment by a panel of experts.

The four successful projects are:

• Home Start Essex, Basildon, Braintree, Castle Point, Epping Forest and Harlow: to support a project which assists families to take a proactive role in improving their mental and physical health, enabling them to make better, informed and healthier lifestyle choices.
• Sport for Confidence, Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon and Tendring: to support the Essex Learning Arena, which will provide learning opportunities to integrate physical activity into daily practice across workforce sectors.  
• The African Well Woman Project CIC, Chelmsford and Colchester: to support a project focusing on the health needs of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) men, offering culturally sensitive and appropriate support.
• Braintree District Council: to launch Beat the Street in the district, a mass participation behaviour change programme which transforms activity level.

Supporting the aims of the Essex Wellbeing, Public Health and Communities Business Plan, PHAB funded projects aiming to tackle the health inequalities experienced in Essex.

Grants from PHAB were awarded across two funding streams, small grants less than £7,500 and major grants over £15,000.

Through the programme, more than £4.6 million of grants were awarded. The projects support the aim of improving the mental and physical health of Essex residents.

Councillor John Spence, Essex County Council Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Integration, said: “These successful projects aim to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in Essex, and support PHAB’s aims of tackling health inequalities in Essex.

“We’re assessing the impact of current PHAB projects which have got up and running across Essex and we’re looking forward to seeing these new projects get started.”