Prevention and Advocacy
 

Community Engagement Team

The Community Engagement Team head up our prevention work, and spend most of their time out in the community offering individual and groups support, and collecting voices of lived experience in Haverhill and surrounding areas in order to advocate for those people and influence policy changes. 

We know that there are wider factors that lead to financial hardship.  So, our Community Engagement Team have founded various projects that focus on tackling poverty locally, empowering the community, and preventing people from falling into crisis in the first place, equipping people with the tools they need to manage their finances and improve their futures.

 

Education

• teaching financial literacy in primary and secondary schools, and to A-level students
• cookery lessons to teach healthy meals on a budget
• financial skills education in prisons

 

Collecting local voices

• regular engagement sessions with clients
• ​attending community events, collecting stories of local experiences
• hosting events to engage with local people
• organising a Hustings event ahead of the 2024 GE at St Marys Church with candidates, and put forward questions submitted by the community

Influencing

• engaging with local, district and county organisations to improve local services
• invited to ask a question at the Suffolk County Council District meeting
• meetings with current and past West Suffolk MPs
• contributed to a national APPG addressing poverty

Organisations we're involved in:

• Tackling Poverty Sub-Group run by Suffolk County Council - discussing issues driving poverty within our communities and finding collective solutions to these
• ONE Haverhill Health and Wellbeing Sub-Group, run by the West Suffolk Alliance - increasing community engagement and local action to reduce health inequalities and improve the lives of people in Haverhill 
• Suffolk Food Partnership, run by Community Action Suffolk - helping make Suffolk a sustainable food place
• Mental Health Action Group, attended by local GPs, many VCFSE organisations, citizens advice, west Suffolk council, social prescribers, wellbeing Suffolk and west Suffolk alliance - There are 6 main priorities, but our top one is opening a Wellbeing Hub in Haverhill. This has finally launched in 2026!
• West Suffolk Poverty Alliance, set up by REACH, with West Suffolk Council - localising discussions around issues causing poverty and increasing opportunities to work together and advocate to overcome these
• ONE Haverhill, chaired by Henry Wilson, CEO of REACH - driving change for a flourishing Haverhill for businesses and people

Circles of support

• connecting people to tailored support systems through our Long-term Support
• holistic support offering a befriending scheme to reintegrate a client in the community through our Community Connector
• Welcome Spaces available across Haverhill from 2-4pm daily, where people can drop in for advice or pick up their emergency food parcel