Essex organisations working to keep the community safe will be talking about the importance of collaboration at an annual conference this week.

Hosted by Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, this year’s event is themed around “Partnerships in Action”.

Braintree MP James Cleverly will be the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Boreham House event and Jo Turton, who will become Essex’s Chief Fire Officer next month, will be talking about the importance of collaboration in the afternoon.

More than 200 people from a range of Essex organisations are expected to attend the event, some of whom will be taking part in a series of “lightning talks” showcasing how partnerships can work to solve safety issues.

There will also be workshops focussing on gangs, volunteering and collaboration as well as a question and answer session with experts including Mr Hirst, deputy chief constable BJ Harrington, Adam Eckley, Essex’s chief fire officer, Karl Edwards, deputy director of service delivery, East of England Ambulance Service and Lorraine Jarvis, the chief officer of Chelmsford’s Centre Supporting Voluntary Action.

Mr Hirst said: “For me, safe and secure communities are the bedrock on which we build wellbeing and prosperity for all. It will be great to hear from all of our partners on how we are working together to make Essex a safer place for all who live, work or visit our amazing county.”

Mr Hirst will also be announcing the winner of this year’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s Community Safety Award at the conference.

Those who can’t attend can follow #UnstoppableEssex on social media.