Community Development

The Cheshire East Council Communities Team aims to ensure that individuals, local groups and charities have the opportunity to access the help and support they need to make positive changes in their community, support health and wellbeing, and be proud of where they live. 

We do this by taking an asset-based approach to community development, recognising the unique strengths in each community and empowering local people to build on these. We help build relationships, develop new services, promote community cohesion, and reduce barriers for people needing support.

Community Development Officers

Each area in Cheshire East has a dedicated Community Development Officer who can support residents and groups to identify support needs. These may include social isolation, digital exclusion, developing green spaces, developing foodbanks and community pantries, opportunities for young people, and many more.

The Community Development Officer will bring the different stakeholders together to find a way of helping with these issues, such as making sure they know what support is already available, identifying opportunities to extend existing services, and empowering people to start up their own groups to tackle the problems.

Community Development Officers can support a wide range of organisations including food banks, befriending support, community cafes, faith organisations, businesses, environmental causes and more! We can help with finding and applying for grant funding, recruiting volunteers, advise on project plans and processes, and act as a critical friend to help turn ideas into real-world projects.

Key contacts