Stratford-on-Avon District Council's Cabinet has given the Revised Social Inclusion Statement Action Plan a seal of approval.
This follows the completion of the Covid-19 Community Recovery Plan, which was drafted with partners to address the impact of the pandemic was having on local communities.
There were eight priorities in the plan including isolation, domestic abuse and health and wellbeing.
Actions were attached to each priority and are now complete or approaching completion. Some key achievements of the plan include:
- Grants awarded to four local organisations to deliver projects to improve young peoples' mental wellbeing.
- The development of a Community Builder project to be delivered in the communities of Bishopton and Clopton with funding committed from a number of partners.
- A successful Sport England Tackling Inequalities funding application to deliver projects to support particular groups to be more physically active.
- The extension of Citizen's Advice South Warwickshire's Reach Out and Help project which takes Citizens Advice services out into the community.
- The funding of a development officer hosted by Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (WCAVA) who has supported voluntary groups to secure over £250,000 of external funding since April 2020
Cllr Jo Barker, Homes, Health and Wellbeing Portfolio said "The pandemic has caused disruption in all sorts of ways - jobs, education, social and family life have all been affected. The Community Recovery Plan aimed to support those who had been impacted in one or more of these ways by making sure our residents knew what help was available and through financial contributions to specific initiatives."
Some actions were delivered by, or with, members of the Stratford Social Inclusion Partnership. The group is chaired by Stratford-on-Avon District Council and brings together voluntary and community sector organisations to tackle social exclusion in the district.
The Community Recovery Plan was only ever intended as an interim guide in how the District Council responded to the social challenges of the pandemic. With the plan now complete the District Council has developed a new social inclusion plan to take the work of the Social Inclusion Partnership up to March 2024. Priorities remain broadly the same with the addition of the delivery of the work to support refugees and Afghan citizens.
