Village Friends connecting people and places

The award-winning Four Ts Village Friend initiative is a partnership initiative developed by Maldon District Council, Maldon CVS and the Diocese of Chelmsford, with support from Essex County Council.

The project aims to support residents in Tollesbury, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Tolleshunt Knights and Tolleshunt Major by using a range of opportunities for residents to socialise and access help and support, to reduce social isolation.

The Four Ts Village Friend initiative formally launched on 5 July 2018 when the partnership came together with the community to map existing activities across the villages to understand their needs and plan new activities to develop a network that will enable groups to better support one another.

A number of additional activities have been supported to find premises and launch and a new Four Ts ‘Village Friend’ leaflet has been developed and circulated to local residents informing them about the dates and locations of the coffee mornings and lunch clubs taking place in each of the villages.

The local community transport provider, Community 360, and other organisations running local activities are being connected into the initiative.

A new volunteering opportunity known as a ‘Village Friend’ is being made available to promote activities and/or to provide informal support to local friends and neighbours

The Four Ts Project won the “Age Well” award at the Marvels Of Mid Essex Awards (MOMAs) in September.

The awards, held by Mid Essex CCG, celebrate the stars of Mid Essex who help and support people to live well in our communities. The “Age Well” award gives recognition to groups and organisations across mid Essex who help care for people as they get older - to give them support, advice and the tools to remain healthy and independent as possible.