Project funding

Disability Essex relies on grant funding to facilitate the extension of its services for disabled people throughout the County of Essex, and the Unitary Authorities of Thurrock and Southend on Sea. While primary grant funding is used for the setting up and initial running costs of a project, Disability Essex endeavours to identify further funding streams to ensure that valuable health and disability initiatives continue in the longer term.

Healthy Arts

Our Healthy Arts project aims to improve health in the community and independence amongst people with disabilities. We achieve this by offering a mobile outreach service which is broken into two elements:

Health monitoring and advice

We provide a blood pressure and oxygen level monitoring service where individuals can have a health check-up without having to travel to their GP. Those diagnosed with high blood pressure will be referred to their doctor and given immediate advice on what to do to help with their condition.

This mobile unit is manned by a fully qualified nurse. Services provided include blood pressure, and oxygen level, monitoring, as well as healthy living advice and guidance.

Art Classes

We regularly host therapeutic classes and activities. These sessions are delivered to our network of over 140 disability support groups across Essex and include drawing, painting, crafts, dance, and drama.

Please visit the Healthy Arts website to find out more about this innovative project.

Disability East Data Sharing Project

Disability East is a partnership between charities of disabled people, to pool knowledge and share expertise. We have been part of this partnership since it was established in 2003. The survey 'Disability in the East of England' – an overview of structures and demands, published in September 2004 – identified the need for a regional information network.

Just over a year later the partnership launched a project aimed at creating an online regional disability database, to offer an efficient and high quality information service for the disabled community in the East of England. If you would like to know more about this project please follow the link to the Disability East website.

Intelligent Adaptive Keyboard Project

Some people have health conditions which make it difficult for them to use standard computer equipment, for example a keyboard. Disability Essex aims to develop a simple software program, which could significantly improve the use of standard computer applications by disabled people.

We work in partnership with the London Metropolitan University from whom we receive research and technical support. The project is sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry, through their Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme.

Our Software Developer is working with disabled volunteers to gain insight into the difficulties they experience when using standard computer equipment. If you are disabled, and would be interested in volunteering for this project, then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

For further information please contact the Disability Essex office and ask for Richard Boyd (Project Manager) or Jun Li (Software Developer).

Mobility Scooter Project

A pilot scheme in the Brentwood area, where we collected unwanted mobility scooters and gave them to needy individuals, was the result of legacy to Disability Essex in 2006 from the estate of the late Mary Jean Skrimshire of Ongar.

This pilot scheme was so successful that, in 2007, Disabiity Essex took the decision to fund its expansion into the whole of Essex. Unwanted scooters are collected from donors, and then professionally serviced and checked, before being given to needy disabled people. The new owners are given user training and care is taken to match scooter to the specific needs of each new driver.

Only modern scooters are given away. Older units, (for which spares are no longer available) or units in poor condition, are scrapped. In fact over 70 scooters have been donated to us so far, of which 50 have been passed to new owners.

For more details on this project, contact CEO Richard Boyd at the Disability Essex office.