Young People Archives - Healthy Life Essex

April 04, 2019

High Sheriff of Essex Award for N-Act

N-Act Theatre in Schools are winners of a prestigious award from the High Sheriff of Essex in recognition of “outstanding dedication to educating young people of Southend and adjoining areas on internet safety and the dangers of gang culture.” N-Act performs interactive theatre projects for young people. The motivation is to use the power

January 30, 2019

Kelly Swain: a driving ambition to support emotional wellbeing

Kelly Swain: a driving ambition to support emotional wellbeing I’m Kelly Swain. You may have read my introductory article ‘Kelly Swain – My Journey’ published on this website last September? I spoke about my personal journey with mental health issues which were compounded by physical problems resulting from the traumatic birth of my second child.

October 12, 2018

Fun Ideas for Family Fitness Activities

Fun Ideas for Family Fitness Activities Children today spend more time playing on a screen than they do outside. A recent study showed that one in nine children in the UK have not physically been to a beach, forest, park, or any other natural environment. The study also revealed that only 10% of children have

September 27, 2018

Kelly Swain – My Journey

My name is Kelly Swain and I have had a long journey with mental health issues, compounded by physical problems as a result of the traumatic birth of my second child and subsequent medical procedures. I have come so close to killing myself with lethal concoctions of medication and alcohol. But a friend gave me

April 11, 2018

Benefits of Pets for Kids – The Essential Guide

Benefits of Pets for Kids – The Essential Guide Did you know it’s estimated there are around 19 million families with children living in the UK? Plus, one in every two households owns a pet of some form. From dogs to reptiles, and cats to rodents, there are a considerable number of different options when

March 05, 2018

Could you help support Milton Gardens?

Milton Gardens is a park in Milton Ward, one of the most deprived wards in Southend. There are plans to develop the park and funding has been secured for a Nature Trail, but one of the problems is litter. New, enclosed bins to help deal with the problem effectively. Could you help? A group of

March 04, 2018

N-Act: using interactive theatre to impact gang culture in Essex

N-Act is a Southend-based Theatre in Schools not-for-profit company that creates interactive theatre projects for schools. The most recent production was Linked which was about internet safety. The company tourned to 29 schools with 31 performances.By the end of the 4-month tour the show was seen by almost 5,000 students. GANG CRIME IN ESSEX We

November 30, 2017

Stop the Coca Cola Christmas Truck!

I’m often amused and despondent in equal measures by the Southend Echo with so many obvious grammatical errors, orphaned text, duplicate content, and doom and gloom. But this morning I was furious: the front page triumphantly announced the arrival of the Coca Cola Christmas Truck with a double centre-page spread, mostly of pictures of the

September 29, 2017

The truth about student stress

For students, September means freshers’ week. Cue making friends, meeting future flatmates and, of course, plenty of fun. But what about from October onwards? As the partying draws to a close and students are forced to face the truths of independent living, is the stereotype of the carefree student a reality? What is the truth