Play Your Part

Play Your Part

In 2024, Cheshire West and Council refreshed the vision for the borough, asking local communities to ‘play your part towards a stronger future,’ where we all work together to tackle shared challenges. This is a continuation of the play-your-part approach set out in 2020 and a recognition that social partnership is fundamental to enabling a stronger future for the borough, where local communities are integral to the planning and delivery of the support that they draw on.

This is not a new approach, but one that proved its worth during the local community response to the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and the need to welcome and house guests from Ukraine.  Cheshire West and Chester Council are working to develop a council-wide and borough-wide approach to social partnership, building on the many existing activities within the Council and local communities.

Community-led working

The Council is developing a community-led support approach, driven by a comprehensive transformation programme within adult social care, to design and deliver different ways of working which maximise the strengths and community connections of people locally.  This has meant establishing five ‘Let’s Talk’ sites that offer community drop-in, conversation and face-to-face advice about, and signposting to, wellbeing and wider support and services available locally.  Work is ongoing to boost the number of people who opt for a Direct Payment and take greater control of how their care and support needs are met, but also to encourage the wide development of micro-enterprises that offer a range of choices of alternative, outcome focused care and support providers.

Community groups are being supported through projects such as Cheshire West Crowd, a community crowdfunding programme that has enabled £2million funding for over a hundred local projects, from a slow-cooker loan scheme to a village arts trail. Enabling local people to take ownership of and finance their own ideas, for every £1 the Council has invested it has generated another £1.89 in project success.  Not only that but it has made funding more accessible to a wider range of smaller, local organisations and community groups.