Community Engagement Team

Elaine Hewes – Community Connector
I have lived in Haverhill for over 30 yrs I am married with 3 children and 5 grandchildren who keep me very busy.  When moving to Haverhill I registered at the Haverhill Volunteer Centre and was volunteering as admin support at the Volunteer Centre, I also volunteered as a Family Support volunteer.  I have volunteered with a variety of organisations while during my teens and all through my adult life.

My first working role after moving to Haverhill was in the Haverhill Library, I also managed the Haverhill Volunteer Centre for 15 yrs, building the Volunteer Centre up and supporting and matching volunteers to a variety of local volunteering opportunities.  I worked at the Befriending Scheme Hub supporting people with learning disabilities and my last role was with a pilot project called LifeLink, supporting people to make positive changes in their lives.  

I have enjoyed all my roles while working in Haverhill, I am passionate about volunteering and the Haverhill community.  I like to make a difference to people and support them to move forward in their lives.

I have admired and worked alongside REACH since its inception and appreciate the service REACH offers to the Haverhill community. I am looking forward to my new role as Community Connector, and as part of my role I will building relationships with organisations and groups.  I will be supporting REACH clients to move forward, using a social prescribing approach, which will hopefully build the clients confidence and enable them to make a new network of friends and support for them.  I will also be setting up Focus groups to get feedback from clients to see what is working well and what doesn’t work to see how we can improve our services.