SOCIAL inclusion is the focus for Stratford bosses as the district recovers from Covid-19.
Stratford District Council’s (SDC) Cabinet has given the seal of approval to an action plan which will deliver funding and support to charities and community projects.
This follows the completion of the Covid-19 Community Recovery Plan drafted to address the impact the pandemic was having on communities.
There were eight priorities in the plan including isolation, domestic abuse and health and wellbeing.
The actions are now complete or approaching completion. They include:
– Grants supplied to four organisations with a focus on improving young peoples’ mental wellbeing.
– A Community Builder project to be delivered in Bishopton and Clopton.
– A successful Sport England Tackling Inequalities funding application 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, who has supported voluntary groups to secure over £250,000 of external funding since April 2020.
SDC wellbeing spokeswoman Coun Jo Barker 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 District Council and brings together voluntary and community sector organisations to tackle social exclusion in the district.
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 2024. Priorities remain broadly the same with the addition to deliver support to refugees and Afghan citizens.
