Embedding Ambassadors in Community Health - EACH Project

The EACH Project is a collaboration between the East of England Strategic Migration Partnership, the Health Service and community groups run by and for minority ethnic women in the eastern region. The project aims to bring representatives from the community groups together with health professionals to improve outcomes for both, now and in the future. There are two strands to the project:

- EACH Community Health Ambassador Training

EACH for the NHS

Health professionals will receive FREE training from minority ethnic community 'ambassadors' about their healthcare needs and cultural preferences. This project will benefit those who work at the sharp-end, meeting patients and guiding them to services to improve their health and well-being and want to see an improved take up of these services. Please see below for details of the Community Groups which will be working in your area. See also the additional training workshops available for those working with translators and interpreters, also below.

The project will also be of benefit to those managing health teams or implementing the Equality Delivery System who want to understand their service users better and learn about what data to capture to enhance that understanding. If you want to attend a local workshop, please register your interest with the project team and we will ensure you are invited to a session as soon as the programme of workshops is announced for 2012. What to know more - take a look at our promotional DVD to get a flavour of what the workshops are about: Workshop 5 minute promo

EACH for Community Groups - successful groups

We have been funded to work with Community Groups run by and for women who have come to the UK in the last ten years from outside Europe (but not those who have come through the asylum/refugee route) - so-called '3rd Country nationals'.

We went through a tender process and these are the community groups who we are working with to devise and deliver culturally competent health improvement training workshops for health service professionals:
Norfolk The NEESA Project
Peterborough Millfield Medical Centre
Public Health team Peterborough
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire Ethnic Community Forum
Bedfordshire ACCM (UK)
Luton Luton All Women's Centre
Hertfordshire MUSKAAN
Southend and South Essex Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS)
North Essex Bangladeshi Support Centre in partnership with Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre
CSV Media Clubhouse in partnership with Anglo-Chinese Cultural Exchange
Suffolk Bangladeshi Support Centre in partnership with Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre
CSV Media Club House in partnership with Anglo-Chinese Cultural Exchange


- EACH working with Translators and Interpreters Training workshops

Building on the Commissioning framework for language support.pdf we have been through a tender process and have selected a range of local translating and interpreting agencies across the region to deliver best practice, cost effective guidance for health professionals who work with clients with language needs. We are pleased to announce those agencies which have been invited to contract with us:
Norfolk INTRAN
Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough Cintra
Bedfordshire including Luton Hertfordshire Interpreting and Translating Service (HITS)
South Essex, including Southend INTRAN
North Essex Translating and Interpreting Provider
Suffolk Translating and Interpreting Provider
 
The sessions being delivered by these agencies will be either stand alone or in partnership with the nominated community groups. If you are interested in attending one of the sessions, please register your interest with one of the project team and we will make sure that you are invited to a session near you.


Where is the project now?

Having mappped the health needs and NHS barriers encountered by some new migrants to the East of England and having officially launched the project, we are now delivering the first EACH workshops across the east of England. There will be separate sets of workshops taking place across for NHS staff, for no charge, on 'Intercultural Awareness' and 'Working Effectively with Interpreters in Healthcare Settings'. 

Following the launch event in October 2011, members of black and minority ethnic community groups working to develop and deliver the EACH Intercultural Awareness workshops attended a series of 'train the trainer' sessions with the project team to work up their materials and session plans.

We rolled out the first tranche of sessions in February 2012, to 100 NHS professionals, in Southend, Cambridge, Norwich, Bedford, Luton, Ipswich and Welwyn Garden City. If you follow the link below, it will take you to where all remaining workshops are listed, under the title of EACH. Check the 'where' to find a workshop near you, and follow the link to register to attend.

EACH workshops

If you want to be part of this project and have not yet had contact with us, please get in touch with the Project Team.

Contact Us

Sue Hay t: 07920 257 964 e: sue.hay@eelga.gov.uk

Gosia Strona t: 01284 729433 e: malgorzata.strona@eelga.gov.uk

Louise Gooch t: 01284 729438 e: louise.gooch@eelga.gov.uk 

Supported by the regional health support worker:

Rachel Heathcock t: 07920 257952 e: rachel.heathcock@eelga.gov.uk