A specialist spray tanning studio, founded by a tanning expert who trained in Los Angeles, London and Scotland, has officially opened on Crown Street in central Brentwood. Sunkiss Society by Nicole is the work of Essex-born Nicole Carson Spence, who trained with leading industry professionals and celebrity spray tan experts across Los Angeles, London and Scotland before bringing that specialist experience back to her hometown, Brentwood. It is a depth of dedicated tanning training rarely found locally, where spray tanning is usually offered as one service among many, and it underpins everything the studio does: every tan is tailored to complement a client’s individual colouring, rather than a one-size-fits-all result. For Nicole, it started with what she saw a great tan do for people. Travelling the world with behind-the-scenes access to the entertainment industry, she saw first-hand the importance of a great tan, and the difference that expert technique and a flawless finish can make. In Los Angeles in particular, she saw spray tanning treated as a specialist beauty service in its own right, rather than a last-minute pre-holiday treatment - an approach she has brought home with her. She fell in love with the confidence boost she saw a great spray tan give someone, and it set her on a mission to deliver that same feeling for others, back home in Brentwood. Crucially, Sunkiss Society is a specialist studio rather than a general beauty salon: it is dedicated entirely to spray tanning. The purpose-built studio has been designed to feel welcoming and friendly, while offering a modern, calm, spacious, clean, and luxurious environment, moving away from the traditional perception of a spray tan appointment. Sunkiss Society offers a carefully curated menu of professional spray tanning treatments, using modern equipment and premium tanning solutions, including renowned brands Dolce Glow and Vita Liberata. The studio is also bringing a modern, skin-conscious approach to tanning. Nicole has carefully selected the formulas used at Sunkiss Society for both their finish and their skincare-focused ingredients, reflecting a wider beauty movement towards products that do more than deliver a cosmetic result and truly look after the skin. The launch comes at a time when conversations around sun safety and the risks associated with UV tanning and sunbeds continue to encourage people to rethink how they achieve a bronzed look. For Nicole, creating an alternative that still gives clients the confidence and ritual associated with having a tan was an important part of Sunkiss Society. “People shouldn’t have to choose between loving the way they look with a tan and being conscious of their skin,” she said. “Spray tanning gives us the ability to create that beautiful glow without relying on UV exposure.” Nicole’s approach is personal and relaxed, with client comfort at the heart of what can be considered quite an intimate beauty treatment. Treatments include classic developing tans, clear tanning formulas, express options and premium solutions, with the final shade and formula selected specifically for each client. Rather than a simple choice of “light, medium or dark”, every appointment is fully personalised: Nicole considers a client’s natural skin tone, undertones, desired depth of colour, the occasion and their preferred finish, before recommending the most appropriate tan. The studio is built around the idea that a tan is for everyday confidence and self-care, not only for holidays, weddings or photoshoots. The name Sunkiss Society reflects Nicole’s ambition to create a welcoming community in Brentwood around confidence, self-care and feeling good in your own skin and adds a new independent beauty business to the town centre. Speaking on the launch, founder Nicole Carson Spence said: “Having trained with some of the best spray tanning professionals in the industry, I’ve seen first-hand the difference that a truly personalised experience and an expertly applied tan can make to someone’s confidence. “I wanted to bring that experience home to Brentwood, where tanning is already such a big part of beauty culture, but create somewhere that approaches it differently. “It’s rare to find a studio dedicated solely to spray tanning, rather than tanning being one treatment on a long beauty menu. I wanted Sunkiss Society to feel like its own experience - somewhere welcoming and relaxed, where clients feel comfortable, their tan is designed completely around them, and they leave feeling like the best version of themselves. That’s really what Sunkiss Society is about.”

Three railway workers from Essex and east London have shared their experience in helping people in distress as GBR Anglia highlights its support for World Suicide Prevention Day.

The theme of the day, held annually on 10 September, is about ‘changing the narrative on suicide’ and moving to a culture of understanding and support.

Colleagues across c2c, Greater Anglia and Network Rail have made hundreds of life-saving interventions since partnering with Samaritans over a decade ago. More than 900 Anglia railway staff have been trained in how to recognise someone who may be suicidal, how to approach them and how to start a conversation by Samaritans’ Managing Suicidal Contacts course.

Since July 2025, rail staff and British Transport Police have started a total of 134 potentially life-saving conversations across the railway in Anglia. Almost 1,000 have taken place since 2021, highlighting the difference a brief conversation can make when someone may be in distress.

Life Saver 1

Majid + Derrick
Majid and Derrick (credit: GBR Anglia)

Two security officers on c2c, Derrick and Majid, helped support a suicidal woman in a fast-moving situation at a station in east London.

The team were alerted that the woman was in an agitated state, before she was seen to cross the tracks at the station, informing the pair that she wanted to jump in front of a train.

Majid approached and spoke to the woman calmly, trying to keep her in a safe area before she got on a train, and then off again and generally putting herself in danger.

Throughout all of this, customer safety was kept at the heart – both for the woman concerned and others: the pair kept the driver of the train informed, along with the signaller who controls train movements and the police, who quickly arrived.

Life Saver 2

Kymmy
Kymmy (credit: GBR Anglia)

Greater Anglia customer service worker Kymmy, works at stations in Essex and was working on an ordinary shift on what was, up to that point, an ordinary day.

She spotted a man with the toes of his shoes over the edge of the platform, so she went over to check he was OK and, while Kymmy was engaging with small talk, she didn’t receive any eye contact or even a nod back.

It was then that everything changed, when the train arrived shortly afterwards and Kymmy told him to ‘have a good day’, when he said ‘I will now. I was thinking about jumping, but I’m not now.’

Kymmy was quite confused initially as it was said in such a calm and unassuming way – but it has stayed with her, and she still thinks about it even now when she is at the station.

Reflecting on the experience, Kymmy said:

“You never know what people are going through; there’s no textbook look of a person in mental distress or who is feeling suicidal.

“Everyone has a gut feeling and I’d say that you’ve nothing to lose about approaching someone: you could be saving somebody’s life.”

The trio’s stories are just two of many examples across the GBR Anglia network showcasing the care and compassion that rail staff use at work every day.

Lee Parlett, GBR Anglia’s Health, Safety, Security & Environment Director, said:

“Our colleagues across our network are highly trained and have customer safety at the heart of everything they do.

“This World Suicide Prevention Day, we are proud to showcase the stories of Majid, Derrick and Kymmy to show that both the power of care and a simple chat can potentially save a life.”

The Samaritans course provides training for rail staff working in all manner of roles, teaching them some of the essential listening skills that underpin Samaritans’ services, as well as how to safely resolve a situation and refer a person to friends, family, the British Transport Police or Samaritans to receive further support.

Network Rail Anglia also have two embedded NHS mental health nurses. In the last two years, more than 150 people have received direct support, including immediate intervention, follow-up care and coordinated help with NHS and community partners.

Earlier in 2026, c2c’s Kick4Kindness football tournament saw £5,000 raised for local mental health charities, including Basildon & Thurrock and Southend Samaritans.