Reminder: Community event to share the latest on new ways of working

People are reminded that they can drop-in to an event next week to meet people from across the community who are exploring new ways of working in Church Stretton – and find out more about how to get involved.

The chance to get the most recent updates and discuss how different ways of delivering services are being prototyped in Church Stretton will be available at the event for the community at the Silvester Horne Institute on Tuesday (4 June 2013).

People are invited to stop by any time between 6.30pm and 8.30pm to find out the latest, chat to the teams, and share their thoughts on this new ‘local commissioning’ approach.

The different ways of delivering services which are being explored to the end of June focus on working better together to look after the town, support people into work, and in turn, having an economically vibrant community, as well as supporting older people to live independently for longer at home.

These prototypes aim to ensure that partners work effectively together, services are shaped for the community, don’t cost more than they should, focus further support where it is most important, are delivered by the best people to do the job, and support local jobs and economic growth.

They have been developed after talking to as many people in Church Stretton as possible about what really matters. Shropshire Council and its partners have been busy gathering statistical data, financial information, speaking to frontline staff and capturing people’s real-life stories to find out what goes on in Church Stretton, how much time, effort and money is being spent, and what is important to people who live in the area.

Leaders from across the community, including councillors and representatives from the police, fire service, health, housing, voluntary and local organisations, came together at the end of April to hear the views that had been shared, discuss all the findings and plan the new ways of working tailored to the town.

Lee Chapman, local Shropshire Councillor for Church Stretton and Chair of the Governance Board for the work, said:

“Partners will be on hand at the event to share how they are working together to get the most from the funding, expertise and resources in Church Stretton, to meet the community’s needs. We would urge people to come along to talk to the teams, find out more and tell us their thoughts.

“People from right across the community have been, and continue to be, involved in developing the new ways of working – from sharing views to delivering services differently on the ground. The event will also provide a chance to say a big thank you for their invaluable contribution.

“We are looking for more people to step forward to be part of the prototypes and we welcome the opportunity to discuss how people – whether they have been involved to date or not – can help us in making these changes for the benefit of both residents of and visitors to Church Stretton.”

Leaders will come together again at the beginning of July to look at what has worked well and what differences have been made.

Following the work, and reviewing where further refinements could strengthen this in Church Stretton, it is intended to extend this way of working to the rest of Shropshire. It is planned to do this in stages to make sure that services are effective and appropriate for each area.

For further information on local commissioning go to shropshire.gov.uk/commissioning.

For more details on the community event call Lisa Bedford, Shropshire Council senior community action officer, on 07582 002010, email lisa.bedford@shropshire.gov.uk.