Connected Communities

Social Franchise

We have partnered with a range of churches, community centres and other settings to create our Connected Communities Social Franchise and host a range of activities and support services closer to where people live.

Each setting delivers services tailored for their community, from coffee mornings, computer classes and line dancing, to learning a language, sharing a problem and support for stroke sufferers – there’s something for everyone!

We’ve provided support to the settings listed below to enhance their digital offer, and if you’re looking to start your own group then the Centres listed below may also be able to provide free room hire – contact them to find out more.

For more information email socialfranchise@cheshireeast.gov.uk

Nantwich

Crewe

Sandbach, Middlewich and Alsager

Congleton and Holmes Chapel

Knutsford

Chelford, Wilmslow and Alderley Edge

Macclesfield

Bollington, Disley and Poynton

 Support for Ukrainian Crisis

We are providing a range of support Ukrainian families escaping the war in Ukraine, including the Ukrainian Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.

• Cheshire East support for Ukrainian Crisis

Community Grants

Cheshire East Council is developing opportunities for the VCSFE sector to apply for grant funding over the coming weeks to enable projects to start from 1 April 2023. Through utilising external sources of funding, grants will be available to organisations able to implement projects which support outcomes linked to the following themes:

• Rural Community Transport
• Health and Wellbeing
• Cost of Living Crisis

We will be holding engagements events prior to the application deadlines, to provide an opportunity to discuss projects, ask questions and give further details on fund objectives. Please see our Community Grants web page for full details on each fund, including objectives, maximum application amounts and deadlines. 

Cheshire East Crowd

Cheshire East Council has recently launched our new crowdfunding platform, Cheshire East Crowd, with up to £10,000 available to support great community projects.

This exciting new initiative, in partnership with crowdfunding platform Spacehive, will enable local people, businesses, the council and other organisations to pledge alongside each other to crowdfunding campaigns that bring your ideas to life.

For more information please see our Cheshire East Crowd webpage, email communitygrants2@cheshireeast.gov.uk or visit Spacehive's website.

Neighbourhood Partnerships

We set up and facilitate Neighbourhood Partnerships to bring together a range of partners including the Voluntary, Community and Faith (VCF) sector, Police, children’s centres, schools, Youth Services, Youth Offending Team, local elected members and businesses.

The purpose is to understand local priorities based on local intelligence. We work as a partnership to create local projects that impact on those local priorities. Agencies and local residents work collaboratively to create and tailor projects to suit that community.

We have a number of Neighbourhood Partnerships across Cheshire East. Each of them serve an area across the borough where we have identified a need to reduce health inequality.

Contact your Community Development Officer to join an existing Neighbourhood Partnership or to set one up in your community.

Care Communities

Care Communities bring together Health and Social Care professionals to understand local priorities. They provide a range of integrated Health and Social Care services within a community and in primary care settings to best suit local residents and impact on local priorities.

We have eight Care Communities across Cheshire East, governed by local clinical leads. Each of our Care Communities serves a population ranging between 30,000 and 50,000 people. You may hear us use their acronyms a lot, so the handy table below shows which areas are covered by each community!

Our team

Our team operates in four distinct workstreams;

1. Community Development – to support local communities and develop new projects with local organisations
2. Grants and Infrastructure – to ensure that groups have the funding and resources required to support our communities
3. Community Connectors – to support vulnerable residents, including those who may need the help of a volunteer
4. Community Liaison – to support hard-to-reach families, refugees and asylum seekers, veterans and others

You can use the key contacts below to get in touch

Cheshire East Social Action Partnership

Delivered by Pulse Regeneration, the Cheshire East Social Action Partnership aims to develop a strong local social impact culture through effective social action, underpinned by a thriving Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Sector.

The  VCFSE  sector in Cheshire East is close to communities; understands local needs; provides local services, resources and facilities; and has a vital role to play in reducing pressure on demand for statutory services such as social care and health services.

The Cheshire East Social Action Partnership supports the Communities team in four key ways;

1. Increased capacity and sustainability of the  VCFSE sector
2.  Builds better connections between individuals and the  VCFSE sector
3. Supports partnership working between organisations and across sectors
4. Work with businesses to foster collaborative working, helping them meet their social value,  CSR and employee volunteering commitments

More information on the Cheshire East Social Action Partnership website.