As a brand-new member of staff, I am excited to be part of an important new project happening across the region. Eating Distress North East (EDNE) have been supporting people and their loved ones affected by eating distress for over 30 years. We are the only dedicated eating distress charity in the North East, and our services are open to anyone aged 16 or over; quite an achievement for such a small team!

We are part of the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System’s Adult Eating Disorder Provider Collaborative. We’re there to represent the voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) sector and the people who use our services.

Whilst EDNE are the only eating distress charity in the region, we know we’re not the only VCSE organisation to be working with people affected by eating distress. Many other charities, community groups, peer support networks, and services will be providing support to people affected by eating distress and their friends, family, and carers.

The Provider Collaborative recognise this and understand that VCSE capacity in the support and service pathways for people living with eating distress are inconsistent across different parts of the region.

They have commissioned EDNE to lead a project which will map support and test where the most meaningful added value from the VCSE sector might be in specialist eating disorder pathways, and this work will then help inform commissioning intentions across the provider collaborative and at local authority level.

I am extremely pleased to have secured the role as Network and Development Officer, and over the next 12 months we’re going to be reaching out to other organisations that are supporting people in eating distress or their loved ones, asking them what support they need, and highlighting how the VCSE and health sectors can work together to improve outcomes for people affected by eating disorders and distress.

Our first step will be to conduct some data collection and research into what support already exists in the North East and elsewhere, and crucially, what is working well so we can learn from it.

We’ll be releasing more information about this shortly, but in the meantime please do get in touch with me via email sarah.marrison@edne.org.uk to find out more, and to highlight your organisation and the work you do.

Sarah Marrison

Network and Development Officer

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