Get yourself heard!

Our team of Community Development Workers is working in Ipswich and want to hear your views and experiences of mental health services.  

We want to make sure you know what services are available to you, that you can use them when you need to, and that they are appropriate for your needs.

And if they don’t – we want hear you’re experiences to help us make improvements.

Maybe you need support with your mental wellbeing, or you need to find information. Perhaps you’re feeling down, lonely or isolated – or maybe you’re just finding the stresses and strains of life difficult to deal with?

Our team of four community development workers – Sharon Lee, Frank Clarke, Russell Clarke and Alan Bramwell – are here to listen and work with you. They are now working in Ipswich with black and minority ethnic communities to offer support.

They want to hear your views, and your voice, on how we can help improve mental health services and information in Suffolk. They’ll help suggest changes where they’re needed, and offer other kinds of practical help, such as setting up community support groups.

Funded by NHS Suffolk, the team is based within local charities including ESAN (East Suffolk Advocacy Network) and MIND.  

Sharon Lee has a background of working within Mental Health supporting people with Housing and Employment issues. She is passionate about helping communities speak for themselves and as an advocate can support members of the community who experience mental ill health.

Contact Sharon on 07540 667 500

Frank Clarke is an award winning caterer.  He has also worked within acute and treatment based mental health services for a number of years. With a keen interest in Social Sciences he believes that his work as a Community Development Worker will help services to become more appropriate and responsive to the needs of local people.

Contact Frank on 07595 086 117

Russell Clarke has a background of working with people with mental health issues within the care sector.  As an Equality Officer for Suffolk Libraries he promoted cultural understanding and awareness through education. This has made him a fervent supporter of better information on service use and needs.

Contact Russell on 07595 086 116

Alan Bramwell has over twenty year’s experience of working with communities in Suffolk in rural and urban settings.   He believes that by engaging with local BME communities will provide a way to feedback to decision makers and commissioners of whether existing provision is effective and responsive.


Contact Alan on 07904 975 389

This initiative is part of NHS Suffolk’s commitment to delivering the race equality mental health programme – a national action plan to tackle inequalities in services for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities.

If you would like this page translated into another language, please contact us on 01473 770014

For more information, please contact Alan Bramwell, NHS Suffolk Community Development Worker.