Sutton at Its Best: Working together for our borough

Sutton works best when we come together to face challenges. With pressures on our services and uncertainty ahead, partnership working is essential for us, and indeed all local authorities, to solve problems and improve our residents' lives.

The Sutton Plan is our guide to making this vision a reality. It’s based on an important idea - when we work together, we can achieve far more than we can alone. 

By working closely with local community groups, charities, businesses, the NHS, the police, schools and residents, we can make real improvements to people’s lives across our borough.

A few years ago, we committed, as partners, to five guiding principles shaping our joint approach to service. These principles are based around putting Sutton first which remains at the heart of our goals. They guide our efforts to work across all of the different sectors and build stronger communities.

This week, I had the chance to see this partnership approach in action. I visited the Riverside Community Centre, and spoke to the trustees about how by working in partnership they have developed new programmes and projects to create a safe space for children, young people, families and the wider community.

I also met with Luke Symons from the Alzheimer's Society this week to find out about how the Council and the Alzheimer’s Society are working together to develop a boroughwide dementia strategy and support those with dementia and their families in Sutton. 

At my regular meeting with Sutton’s Borough Police Commander and police Superintendent we discussed community safety and other policing matters. 

The meetings and visits I have remind me just how essential it is for us to work together if we want to make lasting, positive changes for everyone, of all ages.

The Sutton Plan is all about teamwork. We know that issues like mental health, social isolation, and housing challenges are too big for any one group to tackle alone. By combining our resources and working as a team, we are able to create a support system which is strong, flexible, and ready to help.

As someone who was born in the borough and whose family has grown up here, I’m so proud to work with all of our partners to give such valuable support to everyone who lives and works here. We will continue to keep working side by side to make Sutton a place where everyone can do well.