We aim to give Cheshire communities a stronger voice by engaging and supporting them to influence the places, spaces and services that are important to them.

Our key aims…

Facilitate community-led housing and support the delivery of affordable housing.

Support community buildings & assets and enable community engagement.

Enable better access to health and social care services in a joined up approach.

Tackle social isolation.

We work throughout the whole of Cheshire West & Chester and Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington. Although we were originally founded to assist rural communities in recent years we have branched out to provide support in larger towns and their suburbs.

OUR HISTORY

Cheshire Community Action was established in 1930 making us one of the oldest voluntary and community organisations in Cheshire.

We started as Cheshire Community Council

Changed to Cheshire Community Action

Other rural community councils exist in England

Until April 2008 we were known as Cheshire Community Council. We are an independent organisation, a registered charity and part of the national ACRE network of 37 similar rural community councils in England.

The movement was founded by the National Council of Social Service (the forerunner of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations) in the years after World War I. The newly formed community councils were charged with two principle aims during the slump years between the first and second World Wars when agriculture and its ancillary industries were at a low ebb:

The provision of new village halls

A support service for the development of rural industries

The role of the community councils was to work with local people to build village halls and revitalise the countryside and its economy. The creation of the village hall as a community building was seen as the focal point for regeneration in the community.

Since then the work of the community councils has expanded to include most issues that touch rural areas. In addition, most community councils work in small towns and some disadvantaged urban areas using community development tools and techniques.

Community councils have a history of helping communities manage and adapt to change.