Community action programme

Tender description

There are many examples of excellent social action taking place in communities across Cheshire East. As such,the Council and NHS Commissioners wish to coordinate and stimulate this further, by providing assistance through a ‘Social Action Partnership Service’. This service will provide a range of support to the Voluntary Community Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Sector to help them to undertake social action. This will enable the sector to develop and flourish locally, particularly through the building of local connections and partnerships between organisations and sectors. The service will be delivered as a long-term partnership with the local authority founded on a series of core values including mutual trust, collaboration and innovation. This relationship will help to guide how the Council works with the VCFSE in the future, as well as its approach to transforming the wider health and social care system. Social action is about people coming together to help improve the life outcomes of local people, by identifying and solving problems or issues that are important to them. Some kinds of social action happen naturally. But the extent to which social action is joined up, effective and thriving may depend on how much encouragement, support and leadership it has in a local area. There are many examples of excellent social action taking place in communities across Cheshire East. As such, the Council and NHS Commissioners wish to coordinate and stimulate this further, by providing assistance through a ‘Social Action Partnership Service’. This service will provide a range of support to the Voluntary Community Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Sector to help them to undertake social action. This will enable the sector to develop and flourish locally, particularly through the building of local connections and partnerships between organisations and sectors. The service will be delivered as a long-term partnership with the local authority founded on a series of core values including mutual trust, collaboration and innovation. This relationship will help to guide how the Council works with the VCFSE in the future, as well as its approach to transforming the wider health and social care system. The commissioning of this service affirms the Council’s commitment to VCFSE organisations by recognising the vital role they play in supporting local people around local strengths and needs. This ‘thread’ runs through a number of other Council initiatives such as the social action charter and early help framework. This contract will be for 3 years with the option of 2 extensions of 1 year. The maximum price for this contract will be 150 000 GBP per annum. The service vision is to develop a strong local social impact culture through effective social action, which is underpinned by a thriving voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector. The overall aim of the service is to enhance social action in Cheshire East leading to greater and more effective social impact.