ALIX Sheppard has had many accolades, but the one that best sums her up is “a force of nature".

Her energy and drive underpin Brightlingsea WinterFest - an annual festival of music and arts which she co-founded in 2015, with Dave Griffiths.

Several people from the town had tragically taken their own lives, including Alix's partner, musician Joe Keighley, who suffered from depression.

Alix and friends held a concert in tribute to Joe and this grew into Brightlingsea WinterFest, held each February to raise spirits and help people's mental and physical health.

Donations go towards WinterFest's Wellbeing Fund, to help people in Brightlingsea, and Mid and North East Essex Mind.

Alix emphasises that WinterFest is “powered 100 per cent by an amazing team of volunteers”.

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She said: “When we started it was reactive, responding to the tragedies Brightlingsea had faced.

"Now it's proactive and really positive.

"This year we had 22 brilliant events online.

“Many people struggle with mental health, so being united for a common cause is incredibly empowering.

“My role in WinterFest is to bring all the threads together which create the most wonderful festival a small Essex seaside town in winter can hope for.”

As well as her voluntary work at the helm of WinterFest, Alix, 43, a public health professional, has also been part of the intensive national work needed to combat the Covid pandemic.

“At first I was involved in developing training materials for frontline workers around Covid and keeping them updated, as the science kept changing,” she said.

“As more staff were taken on to cope with the pandemic, my role included development and deployment of public health staff and making sure the workforce had the underlying skills to carry out their roles.

“Quite a lot of staff needed support sessions which I was able to provide.

"In this pandemic, public health staff became front line workers on top of their day jobs, carrying out vital screening and education programmes.

“For the first time in my 20-year career, people have actually heard of public health and the work we carry out to try to prevent people becoming ill.”