Join the Conversation toolkit

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Join the Conversation engagement toolkit

We want to have a conversation to understand what people like and value in west Cheshire, as well as their ideas on how the borough could be improved. This will help us to develop a plan for the borough, setting out how the Council, our partners and communities can work together to make a difference on the things that matter most.

This toolkit outlines some ways you can get involved and help take that conversation out into your community.

About the Borough Plan

This plan will set out how the Council, our partners and communities can work together to make a difference to the things that matter most for the borough. It will focus on the shared strengths we can build on and the context for how we respond to the financial challenges facing public services across the country. Working with partners and residents, this plan will be about the borough, and the diverse places and communities within it.

Why get involved?

If you live in, work in, or visit west Cheshire this plan is relevant to you. We want your help to develop a borough plan for what we all want west Cheshire to be like and how we can achieve that ambition. This is your chance to get involved and shape the conversation and we want to hear from as many people as possible.

How to get involved?

There are lots of ways you can get involved. You can:

This toolkit sets out:

  • the key questions we are seeking answers to
  • ideas for ways you can help encourage thoughts and conversations
  • information on how to share the feedback you gather and next steps.


The key questions we are seeking answers to

We want to understand what people like and value in west Cheshire as well as how the borough could be improved through these key questions.

  1. What do you like most about life in your community?
  2. What would improve life in your community?
  3. What do you think local public services could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?
  4. What do you think local people could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?
  5. What one thing would make west Cheshire a better place to live, in ten years’ time?


Activities and discussion groups

This toolkit gives you some ideas about how you could run activities or a discussion with a group of people you work with, a club or society you are part of, or just a group of people with a common interest. This could be as part of a face-to-face or online meeting/event you are already having or at a specific activity to encourage people to join the conversation.

Discussion group

Depending on the size of your group, you may need to break into smaller groups for these discussions, a group of around 8 to 10 people usually works well. For each group, you will need one person to facilitate the discussion and one person to take notes and write up the feedback.

The following pages set out our suggestions for running a discussion group. You know your group best, so may have other ideas for how to run a discussion group with them – that’s great. The important thing is that people can contribute to the conversation, and that someone records and shares the feedback with us.

Optional warm-up (5-10 minutes)

A warm-up activity can help to relax people and get them used to talking to each other within the group. We would suggest going around the group and asking each person to share:

  • Their name
  • The area where they live, work or visit
  • How long they’ve lived in, worked in, or visited west Cheshire.

This could be done simply by going clockwise around the group, or by asking people to choose who speaks next by throwing an imaginary ball to the next person, who catches the ball, introduces themselves and throws the ball again.


The key questions (30-50 mins)

We have listed some questions which we would like to know the answers to below. Some people may find it hard to answer questions, so the prompts (in italics) could be helpful. We’d suggest spending around ten minutes on each question, but you may find that the group has more ideas or wants to focus on one question more than another. That’s fine – the important thing is that people can share their opinions with us.

1. What do you like most about life in your community?

2. What would improve life in your community?

  • What would make your community feel more vibrant?
  • How do we create a better sense of belonging in our communities?

3. What do you think local public services could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?

  • Public services include the Council, NHS, health centres, Police, Fire and Rescue, schools, colleges, and universities, amongst others.
  • What one thing could local services do to improve your quality of life?

4. What do you think local people could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?

  • What one thing would make your community feel more connected?

5. What one thing would make west Cheshire a better place to live, in ten years’ time?

Alternative approaches

You could also ask people to think about the questions from different perspectives – thinking about their work and livelihood, their family and their loved ones, or future generations.

Other activities

There are lots of different activities you could use to help people join the conversation, we have made some suggestions below:

Writing on the wall

As part of a group session, you could ask people to write their thoughts and ideas on a piece of paper or post-it note and stick them on a wall or flip chart. By moving the ideas around, you can come up with common themes raised by the group.

You could think about each question in turn or focus on one question and consider it in more depth.

Ideas tree

An ideas tree is a more interactive version of a suggestion box. You could create an outline of a tree trunk and branches on a large sheet of paper and display it on the wall next to one of the key questions. Use post-it notes as ‘leaves’ and ask participants to write their ideas or wishes onto the ‘leaves’ with marker pens and then attach these to the ‘tree’.


Recording your feedback

It’s vital that you record the discussion and share it with us, so that we can include your group’s feedback in our development of the next Borough Plan. Please do ONE of the following:

  1. Write up the notes from your discussion or activity using the feedback form provided alongside this toolkit, and email that form to jointheconversation@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
  2. Post your group’s ideas on the electronic ‘ideas boards’ at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/jointheconversation

What happens next?

Once we have heard from people, we will be developing a draft plan in response to all the comments we receive. We will publish and consult on this draft plan in Winter to make sure that it reflects what you told us. It will be made available in multiple formats on the Council website at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/jointheconversation

Join the Conversation engagement toolkit

We want to have a conversation to understand what people like and value in west Cheshire, as well as their ideas on how the borough could be improved. This will help us to develop a plan for the borough, setting out how the Council, our partners and communities can work together to make a difference on the things that matter most.

This toolkit outlines some ways you can get involved and help take that conversation out into your community.

About the Borough Plan

This plan will set out how the Council, our partners and communities can work together to make a difference to the things that matter most for the borough. It will focus on the shared strengths we can build on and the context for how we respond to the financial challenges facing public services across the country. Working with partners and residents, this plan will be about the borough, and the diverse places and communities within it.

Why get involved?

If you live in, work in, or visit west Cheshire this plan is relevant to you. We want your help to develop a borough plan for what we all want west Cheshire to be like and how we can achieve that ambition. This is your chance to get involved and shape the conversation and we want to hear from as many people as possible.

How to get involved?

There are lots of ways you can get involved. You can:

This toolkit sets out:

  • the key questions we are seeking answers to
  • ideas for ways you can help encourage thoughts and conversations
  • information on how to share the feedback you gather and next steps.


The key questions we are seeking answers to

We want to understand what people like and value in west Cheshire as well as how the borough could be improved through these key questions.

  1. What do you like most about life in your community?
  2. What would improve life in your community?
  3. What do you think local public services could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?
  4. What do you think local people could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?
  5. What one thing would make west Cheshire a better place to live, in ten years’ time?


Activities and discussion groups

This toolkit gives you some ideas about how you could run activities or a discussion with a group of people you work with, a club or society you are part of, or just a group of people with a common interest. This could be as part of a face-to-face or online meeting/event you are already having or at a specific activity to encourage people to join the conversation.

Discussion group

Depending on the size of your group, you may need to break into smaller groups for these discussions, a group of around 8 to 10 people usually works well. For each group, you will need one person to facilitate the discussion and one person to take notes and write up the feedback.

The following pages set out our suggestions for running a discussion group. You know your group best, so may have other ideas for how to run a discussion group with them – that’s great. The important thing is that people can contribute to the conversation, and that someone records and shares the feedback with us.

Optional warm-up (5-10 minutes)

A warm-up activity can help to relax people and get them used to talking to each other within the group. We would suggest going around the group and asking each person to share:

  • Their name
  • The area where they live, work or visit
  • How long they’ve lived in, worked in, or visited west Cheshire.

This could be done simply by going clockwise around the group, or by asking people to choose who speaks next by throwing an imaginary ball to the next person, who catches the ball, introduces themselves and throws the ball again.


The key questions (30-50 mins)

We have listed some questions which we would like to know the answers to below. Some people may find it hard to answer questions, so the prompts (in italics) could be helpful. We’d suggest spending around ten minutes on each question, but you may find that the group has more ideas or wants to focus on one question more than another. That’s fine – the important thing is that people can share their opinions with us.

1. What do you like most about life in your community?

2. What would improve life in your community?

  • What would make your community feel more vibrant?
  • How do we create a better sense of belonging in our communities?

3. What do you think local public services could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?

  • Public services include the Council, NHS, health centres, Police, Fire and Rescue, schools, colleges, and universities, amongst others.
  • What one thing could local services do to improve your quality of life?

4. What do you think local people could do to help improve life in west Cheshire?

  • What one thing would make your community feel more connected?

5. What one thing would make west Cheshire a better place to live, in ten years’ time?

Alternative approaches

You could also ask people to think about the questions from different perspectives – thinking about their work and livelihood, their family and their loved ones, or future generations.

Other activities

There are lots of different activities you could use to help people join the conversation, we have made some suggestions below:

Writing on the wall

As part of a group session, you could ask people to write their thoughts and ideas on a piece of paper or post-it note and stick them on a wall or flip chart. By moving the ideas around, you can come up with common themes raised by the group.

You could think about each question in turn or focus on one question and consider it in more depth.

Ideas tree

An ideas tree is a more interactive version of a suggestion box. You could create an outline of a tree trunk and branches on a large sheet of paper and display it on the wall next to one of the key questions. Use post-it notes as ‘leaves’ and ask participants to write their ideas or wishes onto the ‘leaves’ with marker pens and then attach these to the ‘tree’.


Recording your feedback

It’s vital that you record the discussion and share it with us, so that we can include your group’s feedback in our development of the next Borough Plan. Please do ONE of the following:

  1. Write up the notes from your discussion or activity using the feedback form provided alongside this toolkit, and email that form to jointheconversation@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
  2. Post your group’s ideas on the electronic ‘ideas boards’ at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/jointheconversation

What happens next?

Once we have heard from people, we will be developing a draft plan in response to all the comments we receive. We will publish and consult on this draft plan in Winter to make sure that it reflects what you told us. It will be made available in multiple formats on the Council website at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/jointheconversation