News - Welcome Network moves over to Cheshire West Voluntary Action

Cheshire West Voluntary Action (CWVA) is delighted to have the Welcome Network joining as part of its team from Wednesday 4 May.

Since April 2017, the Welcome Network has been part of Healthbox CIC, bringing together community groups, charities and Council partners, such as schools and housing associations, with the aim of reducing food poverty.

A key part of the Welcome Network’s role has been coordinating food support across west Cheshire to help fill any gaps and providing much-needed funding and development support for local projects.

With the COVID-19 pandemic and current cost of living crisis, more people are needing to access food support so the role of the Welcome Network has never been more important.

CWVA has been more heavily involved with the food agenda in recent years and employed Steph Ellis last year as a Food Strategy Lead alongside her Welcome Network role.

Steph, with the support of other members of the CWVA team and organisations in the community sector, has been working on a Food Strategy Plan for west Cheshire to help bring together all the work in this area.

With this agenda being a key priority for CWVA and the wider sector, the Welcome Network has been brought into the team to complement the existing service offer to CWVA members.

It will continue to be funded by Cheshire West and Chester Council and is part of the Council Plan.

While Steph will now increase the hours she works for CWVA on the back of this move, Rebecca Story will also join the team as a member of staff. You can contact them both by email for any support you might need: stephanie.ellis@chesterva.org.uk or rebecca.story@chesterva.org.uk.