Thriving communities - Our Strategy
- Thriving communities are built on the foundations of good health, strong social connections, embracing diversity, and active community involvement, including volunteering
- Despite its many strengths, Oxford is one of the least equal places in the UK, and we must collectively address this issue, including the application of the Socio-Economic Duty
- To have the greatest impact it is vital that we work with partners and communities and we will have a special focus on households facing the greatest need
Strengths – strong voluntary sector; resilient community cohesion; investment in leisure and community centres; a welcoming city
Challenges – financial pressure on council, the public and voluntary sector and local families; connecting people with opportunities through active travel/good public transport
Opportunities – locality focused approach; integrated health prevention approach
Priorities:
- Working in partnership with communities, organisations, and agencies to reduce inequalities and create thriving communities
- Championing diversity and inclusion in our own work and community partnerships
- Helping people live healthily by providing services, support, and facilities to prevent and manage physical and mental health conditions
| Commitment | Deliver ourselves | In partnership | influence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make Oxford a fairer city where everyone feels welcome, included and connected by working with partners at all levels to tackle inequalities, champion diversity and inclusion and support access to jobs, skills and cultural activities | x | x | x |
| Reduce health inequality by working with health services and communities to help residents identify and prevent health problems or manage them well | x | x | |
| Provide sustainable leisure services, linking with community facilities where possible, that support health and wellbeing | x | x | |
| Help people to move around the city more easily by supporting walking and cycling as healthier ways to travel, and advocating for better, more affordable public transport | x | x | x |
| Continue and expand our community wellbeing programmes targeted at those who are most inactive or in need | x | ||
| Manage our public places and green and blue spaces to support health and wellbeing, where people feel welcomed, safe and inspired | x | x | |
| Support partners and community groups in arts, culture, sport and community activity to promote opportunities for everyone, using our facilities, grants and external funding | x | x | |
| Manage and reduce anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and drug dealing, by working with the police and community partners and using our statutory powers | x | x | |
| Enable Oxford to play its part in supporting refugees in the UK, which includes work to achieve Local Authority of Sanctuary status by 2025 | x | x |
Measuring progress
In order to measure progress we will report annually on three key measures. These will be finalised in a separate report to follow in the next few weeks.
