Help us Empower You

Swale Borough Council wants your help with planning how to improve health, education, and cost of living support across the borough.

The council has been working with charities and other local organisations to put together a draft strategy to create lasting, positive, change over the next three years.

The strategy - Empowering You in Swale - aims to:

• Create skilled, educated, and working communities: improving access to education and training, with a focus on helping young people get on track
• Growing healthy communities: reduce health inequalities in the borough by making healthcare more accessible and promoting healthy lifestyles through partnerships with local organizations
• Empowering stronger, more sustainable communities: helping people struggling with day-to-day hardships, such as fuel poverty, through innovative and joint working solutions
• Developing strong partnerships: working with charities and other groups and creating a more resilient voluntary and community sector

The council wants to make sure these priorities are what matters most to the local community, and wants people to get involved by:

• Reading the draft strategy: https://swale.gov.uk/your-council/consultations/empowering-you-in-swale
• Sharing your thoughts: https://forms.office.com/e/JinK1uSurp
• Attending an online feedback session: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/empowering-you-in-swale-online-feedback-sessions-tickets-1020514996827?aff=oddtdtcreator.
  • Wednesday, 16 October 2024 at 10:00 AM
  • Wednesday, 30 October 2024 at 4:00 PM

Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of the community and leisure committee, emphasizes the importance of community involvement:

“We know how hard it is for some people to access healthcare, education and crucial cost of living support within the borough.

“We also know that the best way to tackle these challenges is by working with others to pool resources, skills and knowledge so we can best help those in need.

“Our partners in the community and voluntary sector have helped us develop these four priorities, but now we need to hear from the community, we want to make sure what we plan to focus on is in line with what matters most to you.

“Please take a few minutes to read over the draft strategy and have your say, this isn’t just a document, it will help shape how we work towards making the borough a better place to live, for everyone.”

The council has already been working to deliver improvements in these areas.

Their People and Skills Grant, funded by the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), is working towards this aim by enabling Swale’s non-profit organisations to deliver initiatives that help locals with education opportunities, digital skills training and access to vital employment support.

The One Swale Roadshows, which bring together organisations who can offer crucial support under one roof, have helped over 2000 people access bill reductions, food and fuel vouchers, debt advice, free health checks and much more.

The council also provided £125,000, funded by the UKSPF, to The Swale Voluntary Alliance (SVA) who are working towards ensuring the future financial stability of the local VCS in the borough. Their mission is to support the sector to become stronger together, and promote collaborative working and resource sharing, already working towards the council’s priority.

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