Known locally as Friends & Neighbours (FaNs), our projects help older people living in care homes across Essex to enjoy the best possible quality of life through meaningful engagement with their wider communities. These connections, which are often tailored to individual interests, give residents a sense of purpose, enable them to make independent choices and help to improve physical and mental wellbeing. Our projects aim to reduce loneliness, social isolation and importantly, improve happiness.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Developing relationships with local care homes and using these relationships to identify needs of their elderly residents.
• Developing relationships with local communities, including community groups, individuals and companies who can support our FaNs projects.
• Gaining commitment to FaNs projects from everyone involved. Completing risk assessments where necessary.
• Producing project plans, regular progress reports and gathering evidence of outcomes to align with funder reporting.
• Assisting the charity with social media updates and providing information to help the charity with its reporting to funders.
• Attending regular meetings within North/Mid Essex.

This role will suit someone who is driven to achieve outcomes, able to work independently and as part of a small team, able to plan projects and communicate effectively, is passionate about helping others, can build successful relationships and work flexibly.

A successful candidate must be able to demonstrate the following behaviours:

• Attention to detail and excellent organisational skills
• Strong communication skills
• Problem Solving
• Flexibility

A successful candidate must also:

• Hold a valid UK driving licence and have access to a reliable vehicle to be able to regularly visit local care homes, and associated venues, within the Braintree and Colchester districts.
• Be DBS checked within the last 6 months. This can be paid for by the charity if one is not available.
• Have a reliable mobile phone service to keep in contact. We will pay you a monthly allowance for your phone and reasonable travel expenses.

Who are the My Home Life Essex Community Association (MHLECA)?

MHLECA are the charity behind FaNs Network, operating predominantly across North-East and Mid-Essex, covering Braintree, Maldon, Colchester, and Tendring. We are recognised as the 'go to' charity for Essex statutory organisations (including North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, Essex County Council and Local Community Volunteering Services) needing to connect to a diverse care home sector.

Hours: 21 hours per week flexibly over 3/4 days per week, Mondays compulsory.

Pay: £15 per hour plus travel expenses and allowance for phone charges.

Please email a covering letter and your C.V. to apply@fansnetwork.org

On Thursday May 30th, Christina from the FaNs Network, along with Kerry, Shilpa and Ben from Hill’s Self Storage, threw themselves out of a perfectly safe aeroplane at 13,000ft, all in aid of raising much needed funds for the FaNs Network to undertake it’s critical work!

It wasn’t all plain sailing

With nerves jangling, (well, from Christina and Shilpa anyway), our four intrepid parachutists made their way all the way to Beccles airfield early in the morning, only to find poor weather and low cloud cover scupper their plans for an early jump. Cue three and a half hours, three coffees, a weather change and a couple of sausage rolls later, the dreaded call came from one of the diving instructors that the time had come to suit up, get their harnesses on and prepare for take off!

A quick 15 minute flight to reach an altitude of 13,000 feet, at least 8,000 feet above the cloud cover, the time had come to shuffle to the door, where one by one, our quartet of heroes, somewhat reluctantly, threw themselves (or were slightly pushed) out of the aeroplane door, with about 40 seconds of free fall, before the canopies were engaged and our awesome foursome floated gently to earth, well mostly, as Ben’s bottom took the brunt of his attempt to defy gravity!

Raising money for a great cause!

At the time of writing, these guys have raised over £3,000 for the FaNs Network, which goes towards the core funding required to sustain the incredible project supporting older people in residential care.

So, a HUGE thanks from all of us here at Team FaNs. We’ll never forget what you’ve done for us, and we’re really looking forward to our next fundraising attempt, when we are sending Ben over the Niagra Falls in a barrel.

Disneyliscious!!

Last week we held our first care home bake off in Colchester of 2024!

We certainly weren't let down, with cakes from Foxburrow Grange, Colonia Court, Milton Lodge, Loganberry Lodge St. Fillans Care Centre, Crouched Friars and our hosts, Freda Gunton Lodge.

Each cake was created by residents and staff, and boy, were they just great?

Nikki Roberts, our FaNs "Grandfriends" Coordinator, the children from Cheeky Childminding, the kids from Butterfly Barns Day Nursery and former Arsenal and England football star Perry Groves came along to judge the contest, and by the look of some of the photos, maybe had more cake than intended!

But there could only be one winner!

As with all competitions, there could only be one winner, and this time the coveted prise went to Loganberry Lodge for their amazing Alice in Wonderland cake!

Nigel whizzes through the reservoir!

Self confessed petrol head Nigel, a resident at Loganberry Lodge - Runwood Homes Senior Living in Colchester, had his wish on the Wishing Washing Line granted today by local man Graham Gasson, when he showed him around and then took him for a spin in his convertible BMW Z4 to Abberton Reservoir and back! Nigel was absolutely thrilled about the surprise and said “I just love cars and going fast! When I get my license back I’m getting an Audi TT!”

Not satisfied with granted Nigel’s wish, Graham is now planning on granting a wish for more residents to go for afternoon tea!

“It’s what it’s all about”, said Graham. “Being part of a community means supporting that community, and I love to help”.

Thanks Graham, we salute you!

On Tuesday April 23rd, care home activities and wellbeing coordinators came together in our quarterly focus group to discuss the successes of 2023, our learnings and what we can do better for 2024.

The nature of these groups is to inspire collaborative working and encourage lasting relationships between the care homes, and judging by the attendees and their positive approach, there are going to be some wonderful successes this year.

We spoke about our Walk & Talk sessions, the GRAND Walk & Talk, Bakes Off's, The Care Home Olympics in August, Remembrance Sunday, The amendments to the Wishing Washing Line, The Last Night of the Proms, a potential animal experience day and even Christmas 2024!!

The enthusiasm shown by this small group, and that includes the representatives of the care homes who couldn't make it, is second to none. We are so lucky to have such engagement in Mid & North Essex and we cannot wait to see what this year brings!

We had some pretty decent treats too!

It goes without saying that every focus group is a joyous event, but this one was made so special by the efforts of the team at Loganberry Lodge who whipped up a smorgasbord of tasty treats, from croissants to pain au chocolat, and cream scones to cherry cake!

You excelled yourselves again!!

The next focus group is to be held at Colonia Court in July, so if you're an activities coordinator, care home manager or owner, and you would like to attend, please just drop us a message on hello@fansnetwork.org

Thanks to everyone who came along.

We would like to say a huge thanks to everyone who attended.

Loganberry Lodge for hosting us, Woodland View, The Haven, Milton Lodge, Crouched Friars, Foxburrow Grange, Springfields, Freda Gunton Lodge, and Colonia Court.

Simple wishes make a huge difference, like this one. Denise is a resident at The Lodge Care Home in Maldon, and her wish was for a nice new doll!

These types of wishes are crucial to some care home residents, especially those living with forms of dementia.

You might also think, "surely the care home has the budget for a dolly?" Well, here's the thing. The FaNs Network was started with a mission to connect care homes and their residents with their communities and the people within them, so when one of our incredible supporters granted Denise's wish a new connection or relationship is created, and thus getting us, and them, one step closer to a united community, whatever your circumstances.

Walk & Talk in May

Next month we're looking forward to welcoming Foxburrow Grange and Milton Lodge residents along for our second walk & talk on May 15th, so if you'd like to volunteer to help, just email us at hello@fansnetwork.org

When we collect wishes from care homes, all too often the ones the get the biggest audiences are the "WOW" wishes, something grand and a once in a lifetime experience, but the fact is, most of the wishes we receive are quite small and personal, such as this lovely wish from Jean, a resident of Loganberry Lodge care home in Colchester.

Jean's wish was simply to have some good old East End Pie, Mash and Liquor, so when Katie saw the wish in Tesco, she jumped into action and organised a personal delivery of Jean's favourite dish straight to her room.

Katie and Jean met for the first time, they chatted and laughed as Jean enjoyed her favourite meal, and even got a beautiful bouquet of flowers to top off the occasion.

Whilst this is simple, that one small act of kindness, reacting to one piece of card on a board on a supermarket wall, makes a huge difference, not just to Jean, but to the many care home residents who's wishes are on the Wishing Washing Line board too.

Thank you Katie.

This week, Carebears childminding Service spread double the joy with visits to not one, but two care homes – Longfield Care Home and Hailey House Care Homes in Maldon.

Katie, the heart behind Carebears, shared her heartfelt experience:

"It's so lovely to see the residents so happy and chatting away to the children, such special moments."

Greeting the residents with flowers to brighten their day and engaging in mindful activities, there were smiles all round. Such a lovely thing to do. Thank you, Katie, for making a difference!

As an avid scooterist back in the day, naturally Eileen’s wish on the FaNs Wishing Washing Line was to see some Vespa’s & Lammies again!

So the girls and boys from Writtle International scooter collective, Odds and Sods Scooter Club, 3 Amigos Scooter Club, Braintree Breakfast Scooter Club, The armed forces scooter club, Essex Scooterists and Arrows Scooter Club (A604), all came together to deliver the best of surprises for her! Eileen was absolutely overjoyed and quickly jumped onto one of the bikes to relive some of her younger days.

She spent time chatting to the scooterists, looking at the bikes, hopping on and off a few and even had time to pose for photos, including showing the bikers an old photo of her very own scooter from back in the day!

Then it was back inside for a lovely hot cuppa, some delicious birthday cake and many, many more laughs!

What an afternoon spent celebrating Eileen’s 90th birthday at Colne View Care Home in Halstead.

As an avid scooter it’s back in the day, naturally Eileen’s wish on the FaNs Wishing Washing Line was to see some Vespas & Lammies again!

So the girls & boys from Writtle International Scooter Collective, Odd & Sods Scooter Club, 3 Amigos Scooter Club, Braintree Breakfast Scooter Club, The Armed Forces Scooter Club, Essex Scooterists and Arrows Scooter Club (A604), all came together to deliver the best of surprises for her!

Edwina was a resident at Crouched Friars Residential Home and her wish was to have a West End musical experience. A trip to London wasn't appropriate for Edwina, so the students and staff at Philip Morant School and College stepped in brought the West End to Colchester with an epic school production of Matilda!!

Edwina had a truly magical evening, even being made guest of honour at the school, and being presented with a beautiful bunch of flowers from the cast and crew! So a huge thank you to everyone that made this wish and experience come true for her.

Anne from Boucherne had a wonderful morning at Essex Wildlife Trust Habbingfield Resevoir and Nature Discovery Park, having had her wish granted on the FaNs Wishing Washing Line.

There were so many birds (and other wildlife) to see, and Anne even bought her own binoculars! Anne, Ann & Mick from Boucherne also stayed for lunch!

At the end of last year we approached schools in the Braintree and Maldon areas to see if they would like to make some handmade Christmas cards for a care home local to them and we were overwhelmed by the care, attention and love that the students put into making the cards.

Some of the cards were delivered to the care homes by students, accompanied by some Carol Singing and chats. Below are pictures of just a few of the cards that were made.

Fortunately for the residents of Willowmead, Tiptree Hand Bell Ringers were more than happy to oblige. Dressed in their Christmas hats, the 15 strong group spent the morning with residents playing festive favourites.

Jingle All The Way

WOW! What a Christmas it’s been, and where do we even start?

Care homes across Tendring, Colchester, Maldon and Braintree were treated to a festive festival this 2023, with over three hundred residents from care homes across Mid and North Essex coming together across four events to celebrate like never before. We had Santa, Nancy May singing in Braintree & Colchester, Mick O’Connell in Maldon & Tendring, food and refreshments provided by our friends and partners from Tesco and dancing like never before!

Thanks everyone!

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped make all this possible this year. The National Lottery Community Fund, Colchester Catalyst Foundation, The East Suffolk & North Essex Foundation Trust, Tesco, Mick & Nancy for their incredible entertainment as ever. To Earls Colne Village Hall, The Princes Theatre Clacton, Maldon Community Centre and to the Lakeland’s Centre in Colchester.

We love and thank you all.

When St Dominic's care Home mentioned they were having a silver band into play for their residents in early December, we couldn't help but ask if they were happy to have a few extra guests, and in turn grant a wishing washing line wish at the same time. The homes wonderful activity coordinator, Robyn, was more than happy to oblige.

Bea, activity coordinator at Southminster Residential Home was over the moon to be able to fulfil Judith's wish and was more than happy to drive her and her friend Maureen to Kelvedon to surprise Judith on the day.

It was a magical start to Christmas for Judith, Maureen and the residents of St Dominic's Care Home and it was a really beautiful collaboration between care homes to make a dream come true.

The Princes Theatre hosts FaNs for Christmas 2023

71 care homes residents from 13 care homes across Tendring joined us for our 2023 Christmas Extravaganza.

The staff at the Princes Theatre were incredible and very festively dressed. Oscar from Gfitness did an activity session to warm everyone up, Mick O'Connell strummed his guitar and created the oldest collective Hokey Cokey ever seen and DJBuzby provided hit after hit and almost everyone made it onto the dance floor.

As part of our multi generational "Up!" initiative, 39 students and staff from Clacton Coastal Academy came to enjoy the fun and hand out hugs and chocolates.

See you again in 2024!

Back in 2018, respected Colchester childminder Kim Barnetson made the decision to try to engage with her local older people's care home, a decision which has borne fruit ever since. Since then, Kim has been a regular visitor at four local care homes, taking the children in her care to meet, interact, play and learn with the elderly people living there.

Kim would encourage anyone leading in child care, be it a nursery or childminder, to engage with their local care home and reap the same benefits they she and the children in her care have received.

If you would like to know more, just email hello@fansnetwork.org and we can set you on the path to a beautiful and sustainable connection for you and your children.

Back in March at one of our activity coordinator forums we were discussing the upcoming walk and talk sessions for the year. Unfortunately at that stage we weren't able to offer any sessions in Clacton, to the disappointment of Glengariff care home. Knowing how much it would mean to the residents of the Clacton home to get out and about, Alderwood kindly offered their bus and driver for the day, allowing Glengariff to visit Colchester castle for a walk and talk session yesterday.

The residents of Glengariff were thrilled to have a day out and to come to the castle. We were lucky enough to be joined by children from Butterfly Barns Day Nursery, who all wanted to help push the residents who were using wheelchairs.

After a gentle stroll and some feeding and fattening of the pigeons and squirrels we headed to the Lucas vault for refreshments and a look at some of the artefacts, we wandered around the museum looking at the exhibits.