Tendring Community Assets Full Final Report

19 5.2 Employment 5.2.1 Transport in Tendring can be challenging, particularly for those seeking work. Rural transport can be sporadic, but even in more urban areas public transport can be costly and not operating at times to suit working hours. Feedback from organisations such as Citizens Advice suggests that this is a real barrier for people either accessing help or trying to find work. There are excellent low cost or free transport services run by the voluntary sector but these are often over-subscribed and do not have the capacity for all requests, nor would they be able to provide transport for people getting to and from work. 5.2.2 Young people in Tendring have the lowest level of educational attainment in Essex, translating into young working age adults with little in the way of promising employment prospects. 5.2.3 Many carers are of working age, but may be unable to work outside the home due to their family commitments. There are a few community groups and activities aimed specifically at carers (such as the Parkinson's carer's group in Holland on Sea and various groups for carers of children) but no evidence of any, where respite care may be offered at the same time for adult dependents who cannot be left. 5.2.4 Some Tendring residents experience long term unemployment. There are organisations such as Signpost based in Jaywick which helps people back in to the job market and they are trying to expand their operations into Harwich. 5.3 Gendered Activities 5.3.1 There are very few community activities or services aimed specifically at working age men. There are some gentlemen's friendship groups and lunch clubs that seem to cater mostly for older men, with many groups apparently running over several years with long term established membership. Organisers report that are very few new members joining, which suggests these groups are not appealing to a new audience. For example, one men's friendship club in west Tendring apparently had around 100 active members 25-30 years ago, now with around 20; this is quite good in terms of groups attendance, but the co- ordinators are worried about the fall in numbers every year and with no new leaders stepping forward the group will eventually wither away. 5.3.2 There are a number of activities specifically for women and whilst others are open to all it is evident that groups such as "Knit and Natter", Yoga, Pilates and general fitness tend to attract mostly women. There are others that are only open to women, such as the weekly meeting of the WREG (Women's Recovery Empowerment Group) in Clacton to support survivors of abuse. There are walking groups for women, such as the WOW (Women Out Walking) in various locations where women talk a brisk morning walk together. 5.3.3 There are a few adult male activity groups in Tendring that reflect the successes that some have enjoyed elsewhere in England, such the walking football groups in West and East Tendring districts. There are a range of clubs across the district for activities such as bowls, football or model boat sailing but these mostly require a particular interest, skill or investment in equipment. There are no obvious groups or activities for the less mobile or active, or where other more generic skills might be useful, such as the national Men in Sheds project. There is a successful project operating in Maldon and partnership working may help to revitalise the Tendring project. 5.3.4 In recent years studies have found evidence that involvement in gendered interventions have a significant effect on the physical health of older men, and some evidence of a positive effect on their mental health. 14 A recent study by the Samaritans 14 Men in sheds: improving the health and wellbeing of older men through gender based activity interventions; NHS National Institute for Health Research 2013