The borough council is taking a ‘radical’ approach to changing the lives of Ellesmere Port residents who are living in relative poverty.

The authority has launched a multi-agency programme called Building Futures, which is supported by almost £400,000 of funding.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has entered into partnership with a range of local service providers for the scheme, which aims to improve the health and wealth of people living in Ellesmere Port’s five most deprived wards. The idea is to help residents prosper by providing services which are relevant to those who use them.

Members of the Building Futures Steering Group will achieve this by working in collaboration with residents and placing them at the heart of the decision making process.

Building Futures offers residents the chance to share power with local decision makers so that their needs are listened to and they have influence over how services are designed and delivered.

Projects under way include a free, bespoke low-level mental health counselling service run by Healthbox CIC, which enables swift referral and support; development of career pathways for young people which reflect available jobs in Ellesmere Port, run by a collaboration between secondary schools, Cheshire College South and West and employers; and an Employment Enabler Fund which helps job seekers pay for necessities such as clothing for interviews, travel expenses and training costs.

Councillor Nicole Meardon, cabinet member for children and young people at CWaC and Mayor of Ellesmere Port, said: “The programme is a radical move away from delivering only traditional services to a new methodology which shapes services that engage with lived problems and help to resolve real people’s situations.”

The Building Futures Steering Group consists of numerous bodies including CWaC, Cheshire College South and West, Healthbox CIC, Citizens Advice Cheshire West, Cheshire Police, For Housing, EPNAVCO, Cheshire Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Brio Leisure. Other organisations and voluntary groups from Ellesmere Port are represented through the projects being developed.