Chair
Priorities
- Improve mental health and wellbeing.
- Community cohesion.
- Supporting hubs to bring services together.
Other information
East Suffolk operates eight Community Partnerships, each structured around natural clusters of communities, aligned to the East Suffolk Council ward boundaries. These partnerships bring together elected East Suffolk councillors with a broad range of stakeholders, including representatives from town and parish councils, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Police, Health partners, businesses, voluntary and community sector organisations, and youth voices. The aim is to collaboratively address locally identified challenges and deliver measurable improvements within each area.
How do Community Partnerships function?
The Partnerships operate as informal, flexible bodies designed to encourage cross sector collaboration. They convene workshops, thematic sessions and networking events in local community venues across the district. Several partnerships also establish multi agency task and finish groups to work on specific, place based issues.
Robust evidence underpins all partnership activity. Each area is supported with a regularly updated data pack, providing socio economic, health, environmental and demographic insights that help shape strategic focus.
Local intelligence is equally crucial. Stakeholder workshops use the data as a catalyst for deeper discussion, identifying priority themes for each Community Partnership. Priorities are reviewed on an ongoing basis, ensuring alignment with emerging needs and enabling partners to maintain a clear focus on outcomes.
Chairs of the Community Partnerships sit on the East Suffolk-wide Community Partnership Board, enabling collaboration at a district level and providing a mechanism to address cross cutting issues affecting multiple partnership areas.
What outcomes do Community Partnerships create?
Our Community Partnerships are tackling some of the most important issues we face in our communities including isolation and loneliness, mental health and wellbeing, transport and travel, the impact of Covid, and financial inequality.
These YouTube clips show just a few of the many projects and initiatives that Community Partnerships are delivering or supporting in their local communities:
- Siren working with East Suffolk Council young apprentices in 2022
- Meet Up Mondays
- East Suffolk Period Poverty
- Good Neighbour Schemes
- Pathways Care Farm
- Britten Pears Arts x Kesgrave High School community music session, Participate!
What resources are involved?
Community Partnerships represent a major investment by East Suffolk Council, with a total delivery budget across all eight Community Partnerships and the Community Partnership Board of £1,730,000. This money is earmarked to tackle priority issues that have been identified as important to our people and places in East Suffolk and each Community Partnership is spending their own budgets on projects and initiatives to make a difference on the ground in their communities.
Which Community Partnership covers my area?
Funding application top tips
If you are a community or voluntary organisation seeking funding, we have put together some tips that may prove useful, whether applying to the council or any other funder.
Social Isolation and Loneliness Network (SLIN)
The SLIN has kindly shared their findings and details about progress they are making. It is an excellent resource, when considering what are the local priorities across the district. For more information about linking with the network, please email communities@eastsuffolk.gov.uk.
Current community partnerships
Aldeburgh, Leiston, Saxmundham and villages
Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth and villages
Chair
Priorities
- Tackling social isolation and loneliness for all ages.
- Improving physical and mental health and wellbeing, enabling people to live healthy lives.
- Conserving and enhancing the natural environment and heritage assets.
Other information
Carlton Colville, Kessingland, Southwold and villages
Chair
Priorities
- Strengthening connections within communities to co-create activities and services that enhance wellbeing, improve access and inclusion.
- Partnering with young people to co-design programmes that build on their skills and interests.
- Supporting Rural Communities to achieve equity.
Other information
Felixstowe Peninsula
Chair
Priorities
- Childhood health and safety.
- Social isolation, community support/cohesion.
- Adult health.
Other information
Framlingham, Wickham Market, Kelsale, Yoxford and villages
Chair
Priorities
- To increase awareness of transport services available and work to ensure gaps are filled.
- To promote the offer of existing health resources and activities around physical health, mental health and dementia and create new opportunities based on identified gaps in provision.
- To enable communities to share skills and knowledge within and between communities to increase resilience and preparedness in the community.
- To facilitate opportunities for local people to care for the environment and biodiversity.
Other information
Kesgrave, Rushmere St Andrew, Martlesham, Carlford and Fynn Valley
Chair
Priorities
- Reducing social isolation and loneliness across the CP area;
- Enhancing existing community assets and strengthening local partnerships for all;
- Promote environmental well-being.
Other information
Lowestoft and Northern Parishes
Chair
Priorities
- To reduce social isolation & loneliness in all areas but especially, Lowestoft Central, Kirkley, Gunton West and Pakefield North.
- To Improve Mental & Physical Health & Wellbeing (across all areas)
- To ensure that our spaces and places are Clean and Safe, and that people are proud of where they live.
February 2026 Community Partnership project - Healthy Eating Escape Room
This project was funded by Lowestoft & Northern Parishes to deliver interactive sessions to year 5s, to five primary schools in Lowestoft. Sam Lee is the college innovator and leads this programme. Pictures are from Northfield primary school (given permission for pics) and the pupils were put into teams to complete various exercises which were about healthy/unhealthy foods but also had elements of leadership and team building skills.
They all loved the climbing through a tunnel with a full cup of water and working as a team standing on place mats to get to the course end. They had food quiz, word search and a come dine with me exercise where they had to choose their teams three course meal – some interesting team names with my favourite being “Bananas in Vagas.”
The pupils were given certificates and slow cooker cookbook at the end of the morning to take home.
The children loved the excitement of entering the college, being active and being challenged. Schools were given the choice of coming into college/Energy building or Sam and her team going to the schools. They have third school in March and fourth/fifth schools in April.
Other information
Woodbridge, Melton and Deben Peninsula
Chair
Priorities
- Promoting physical and mental wellbeing.
- Building stronger connections.
- Championing equality for everyone.
Other information
East Suffolk Community Partnership Board
Chair
Leader of the Council, Councillor Caroline Topping
Priorities
- Promoting physical and mental wellbeing.
- Building stronger connections.
- Championing equality for everyone.
Other information
East Suffolk Community Partnership Annual Forum
Community Partnership Forum 2025 - Innovation to Impact
The annual Forum brought together stakeholders to celebrate, share knowledge and expertise, and work together to take practival action against local challenges.
Our keynote speaker was Dr Emily Murray - Director of the Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Essex. She kindly shared her insight on how young people on coastal communities face greater inequality, and what can be done to address it.
Save the date - Community Partnership Forum 2026
Thursday 22 October 2026, Woodbridge School
For more information, please contact communities@Eastsuffolk.gov.uk