Community involvement

Useful links

• Ipswich & Suffolk Credit Union  www.onesuffolk.co.uk/ipswichandsuffolkcreditunion/iscu.org

Support for Voluntary organisations: 

• Bury  www.volunteercentre.co.uk,
• Haverhill www.hvc.org.uk and
• Havebury Housing Partnership www.havebury.com for funding for
  community projects
  

The borough council is responsible for the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the community and is able to have a direct influence on the many of the determinants of health & wellbeing.

The Health & Wellbeing strategy (PDF 105kb) sets out the council's role in improving the health of the local community in its broadest sense. Although the local population as a whole enjoys very good health, there are still pockets of health inequalities, where the community suffers reduced life expectancy and other related illnesses. It is in these areas that we aim to adopt a targeted approach which assists local residents to achieve an improved quality of life.

We can assist local communities in a variety of ways from providing support and grants to information on running a successful committee.

Residents Associations 

There are several residents associations which are supported by the council. If you have a valid constitution and a bank account your group may be eligible for an annual grant of £120 and start-up funding for new groups of £250.

Community groups 

The council supports community groups which help to address issues as identified within the Health and Wellbeing strategy. This could be an older peoples group or a group which supports disadvantaged young people.

All groups registered with the council are kept up to date with the latest opportunities for training and development and are offered the opportunity to have an input into decisions which may affect them or the area in which they operate.

For advice on how to start a group, constitutions, committees and possible sources of funding please contact the Community Development Officer on 01284 757609 or email cdu@stedsbc.gov.uk

The Compact in Suffolk

The Council is committed to working positively with the Voluntary & Community sectors within the Borough and has signed up to the principles contained within the Suffolk Compact (PDF 100kb). The Compact is supported by five Codes of Good Practice which cover Volunteering (PDF 60kb), Consultation (PDF 71kb), Community groups (PDF 46kb), BME & Diversity (PDF 59kb) and Funding & Procurement (PDF 99kb) and sets out how we will work with the third sector.