The Essex Hub CIC

31/10/2026

A fantastic first voyage with our new delivery partner, Cirdan Sailing Trust!

This week marked an exciting milestone for The Essex Hub as our first pilot voyage took place aboard Queen Galadriel, giving a group of young people from Essex an opportunity to experience life at sea.

The group included children in care and young carers, who spent the week sailing along the River Crouch, climbing the mast, rowing the tender and getting involved in life on board.

There was even time for some Halloween celebrations, pumpkin carving and brownie making! 🎃

The British weather had other ideas at times, but that didn’t stop the group making the most of their adventure.

This is exactly why we are building The Essex Hub.

Creating opportunities for young people to step outside their usual environments, try something different, develop confidence, build connections and discover what they’re capable of.

Experiences like these offer much more than a few days away. They create opportunities for independence, teamwork, problem-solving and a real sense of achievement.

A huge thank you to Cirdan Sailing Trust and their crew for making our first pilot voyage possible.

We’re looking forward to developing this partnership and creating more opportunities for children and young people across Essex.

Prevention before crisis.

16/10/2026

Set sail on an unforgettable adventure this October half term! ⛵️

We’re thrilled to welcome Cirdan Sailing Trust based in Bradwell-on-Sea, to The Essex Hub’s growing network of delivery partners.

To launch this exciting partnership, we’re offering a fully funded, SEND inclusive sailing adventure for young people aged 11–25, aboard the magnificent Queen Galadriel!

Imagine sailing a real pirate ship, learning the ropes, working as a crew and discovering what life is like at sea. There’s even the chance to climb the rigging to the crow’s nest (in a safety harness, with full support and supervision from the experienced crew of course!). It’s completely optional, but what a view!

📆 Week commencing Monday 26 October
📍 Departing from and returning to Fambridge
⏰ Up to seven days, with shorter trips possible
👫 Young people aged 11–25, SEND inclusive
💷 Fully funded sailing trip - just a weekly food shop to provide for your group

Those taking part in a four night, five day voyage may also have the opportunity to work towards an RYA Competent Crew certificate, with activities designed around the syllabus. Certificates cost £12 each.

We’re looking for an existing group to join this adventure together, perhaps through a school, college, youth organisation, SEND group or community provision.

This is a last minute opportunity, so please message Lisa at The Essex Hub as soon as possible to discuss your group, suitability and any support or accessibility needs. Please don’t share personal information in the comments.

📧 [email protected]

This is more than a sailing trip. It’s a chance to build confidence, make memories, learn new skills and experience something truly extraordinary.

We can’t wait to see where this partnership takes us and this is only the beginning!

15/10/2026

Early intervention only works if the pathway into it is clear.

At The Essex Hub, we've built our model around a simple sequence: Need, identified early. Early Intervention, matched to that need. Appropriate Provision, quality-assured and accountable. Outcomes, tracked honestly. Next Steps, so support doesn't just stop.

For schools and commissioners, this isn't a slogan. It's infrastructure. It means when a SENCO or social worker identifies a young person who needs support before things escalate, there's a trusted route to take, not a gap to navigate alone.

We don't aim to deliver every service ourselves. We aim to make sure the right provision is available, connected, and trusted, across Mid Essex initially, with a model built to expand.

If you're a school, local authority, or funder thinking about how early intervention actually gets commissioned and delivered with accountability, we'd welcome the conversation.

10/10/2026

Everyone wants to raise awareness about mental health. But who’s actually listening to the people asking for help?

Parents fighting to be heard. Young people struggling to explain how they feel. Adults being passed between services.

Too often, people feel their voices only matter when they’ve reached crisis point.

This year’s World Mental Health Day theme, “Lived Experiences Heard: Real Voices, Real Change”, reminds us that listening isn’t enough if nothing changes.

At The Essex Hub, we believe the people experiencing these challenges should help shape the support available to them.

That’s why we’re building a community-led approach to early intervention, through Reel Impact Angling, our developing EquiMindful programme and trusted local partners.

Prevention before crisis. People before processes.

Because meaningful change starts with listening, and acting on what we hear.

We want to hear from you.

If you could change ONE thing about mental health support in Essex, what would it be?

08/10/2026

SEND reform in Essex has been approved. But what happens next matters most.

Essex County Council’s Local SEND Reform Plan has received Government approval, marking an important step towards improving support for children and young people.

But real progress isn’t measured by approved plans. It’s measured by the difference families actually experience.

At The Essex Hub, we believe early intervention and community based provision must be part of the solution.

Through Reel Impact Angling, our developing EquiMindful programme and additional delivery partners currently going through onboarding, we’re building a network of inclusive, preventative support across Essex.

We welcome the commitment to improving SEND provision, while recognising the concerns families continue to raise about access, suitable local services and accountability.

Children shouldn’t have to reach crisis point before receiving the right support.

We’re committed to working alongside schools, families, statutory services and community partners to help make early intervention more accessible.

Because prevention isn’t an optional extra. It’s where meaningful change begins.

07/10/2026

Your business has a to-do list. Essex has people waiting for support. Let’s tackle both.

The admin needs sorting. Your IT needs attention. The bookkeeping isn’t going to do itself.

What if getting those jobs done could also help fund local wellbeing programmes?

That’s the next part of The Essex Hub Prevention Partners.

Through The Essex Hub Business Support, we offer admin, social media and operations support and we’re now inviting Essex based IT specialists, accountants, bookkeepers and other business service providers to join us.

The idea is straightforward: you buy a service your business needs, and an agreed contribution from that work helps fund our prevention-focused programmes for children, young people and adults in Essex.

You don’t have to organise a fundraiser or become a sponsor. Your everyday business spending can make a local difference too.

Need business support?
Tell us what’s on your list.

Provide business services in Essex?
Let’s discuss how you could become a Prevention Partner, using your expertise to support clients and give something back to your community.

Email [email protected]

https://www.theessexhub.co.uk/business-support

24/09/2026

Good provision isn’t about getting the most people through the door.

It’s about choosing the right delivery model for the outcomes you’re trying to achieve.

Reel Impact Angling is one of The Essex Hub specialist delivery programmes, providing structured angling-based early intervention, re-engagement and wellbeing support.

Small group sizes are a deliberate part of that model, allowing for individual attention, consistent coaching and meaningful progress monitoring.

For commissioners, schools and partner organisations, that matters.

Because sometimes smaller delivery creates bigger impact.

More participants doesn’t always mean more impact.

It would be possible to take on more participants per session. It would also make it harder to deliver the programme properly.

Small group sizes mean each coach can genuinely observe every participant, notice what's changed since the previous week, and respond to individual needs rather than managing a larger group generically. The same coach knows every name, every baseline, every small pattern worth watching for, across all six weeks.

For commissioners and schools comparing provision, group size is worth asking about directly. It's a clear indicator of whether a programme can actually deliver individualised, evidence-informed support, or whether it's spread too thin to do so.

If you'd like to discuss group sizes, delivery capacity or commissioned placements, get in touch.

22/09/2026

If a young person is struggling, the answer isn’t always another classroom, another worksheet or another person asking them to talk.

Sometimes they need something completely different. Somewhere the pressure drops. Something they actually want to engage with. A trusted adult who isn’t there to judge, diagnose or tell them what they’re doing wrong.

At The Essex Hub CIC, we believe early support should meet people where they are. That’s why our programmes use real world experiences to build confidence, connection, emotional regulation and wellbeing.

🎣 Reel Impact Angling uses fishing and the outdoors to create space for young people to slow down, connect and experience success.

🐴 EquiMindful uses horses, nature and relationship based activities to support confidence, self-awareness, regulation and connection.

We’re not a school. We’re not a clinical service. And we’re not waiting until somebody reaches crisis before deciding they deserve support.

We’re building another route in.

If you’re a parent, social worker, family support worker, alternative provision, SEND professional or organisation supporting young people in Essex, and you have someone who might benefit from a different approach, message The Essex Hub.

We’ll have a conversation first and work out whether one of our pathways is actually right for them.

Because the right support doesn’t always look like support.

22/09/2026

What if the behaviour everyone is trying to stop is actually the biggest clue?

When a child refuses, withdraws, becomes angry, shuts down or struggles to engage, our attention naturally goes towards the behaviour we can see.

But behaviour can also give us information.

A young person might be overwhelmed.
Anxious.
Frustrated.
Disconnected.
Struggling with sensory demands.
Unsure what's expected.
Or simply unable to meet an expectation in that moment.

Understanding that doesn't mean removing every boundary or expectation. It means becoming curious before deciding what response is most likely to help.

One of the principles behind The Essex Hub's approach is:

Regulation before expectation.
Connection before correction.

Because when somebody is overwhelmed, increasing the pressure isn't always going to increase their ability to cope. Sometimes changing the question changes what we notice. And what we notice can completely change what happens next.

📌 SAVE this for the next difficult day.

And if you work with children or young people, we'd love to know: what question has helped you look beyond behaviour?

18/09/2026

There's a huge space between "everything is fine" and "we're in crisis" and that space matters.

It's where a child starts struggling to get into school.

Where anxiety begins affecting everyday life.

Where someone who used to join in starts withdrawing.

Where emotions become harder to regulate.

Where confidence disappears.

Where a family knows something is changing but doesn't know where to turn.

Too often, support systems become easier to find only once difficulties have escalated.

We believe there needs to be more available before that point.

The Essex Hub CIC is developing prevention and early-intervention pathways connecting children, young people, adults and families with appropriate community-based support across Essex.

Sometimes that may be an Essex Hub programme. Sometimes a trusted delivery partner. And sometimes the right next step will be specialist, statutory or clinical support outside our Hub.

The important thing isn't who provides it. It's helping someone reach the right support, from the right provider, at the right time. That is what prevention before crisis means to us.

💬 What do you think is missing in the space between "coping" and "crisis"?

Parents, schools, professionals and community organisations, we'd genuinely like to hear your experiences.