A charity that has supported Sutton Coldfield residents for 500 years has set out its future plans – after commissioning the biggest piece of research into life in the Royal Town for a quarter of a century.

Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust (SCCT), which traces its history back to Tudor times, revealed its Five Year Plan to enhance the quality of life for all in Sutton Coldfield, at an inspirational event called ‘Working Together’ on Tuesday.

The Charitable Trust, which provides almshouses and gives out annual grants of £1million, based its plan on the Social Needs Review, an exhaustive research document on life in Sutton, carried out by Dr Lee Gregory of Nottingham University, previously University of Birmingham, and research team.

More than 3,000 Sutton households and 600 residents were involved in the landmark study, which aimed to capture and reflect changes in the town since a similar research project was last carried out, in 1993.

The ‘Working Together’ event, at the Trinity Centre, invited local charities, volunteers, schools, churches, support groups, Food Banks, sports clubs, arts groups and political leaders to learn about the Five Year Plan and then provide their own feedback and thoughts on its ambitions.

Chief executive Tina Swani, who presented the Five Year Plan, said: “The response surpassed my expectations, in that it really showed the power of bringing people from your local community together for one purpose – to enhance the quality of life for all in Sutton Coldfield.

“After all, we are all here to do that, and it was inspirational to have so many like-minded people together in one room, to share our plans and to hear their thoughts.

“Clearly, by working together, we can all be more effective and ultimately do more good.”

The Five Year Plan sets out SCCT’s direction up to 2028, a year in which both the Trust and the Royal Town celebrate a 500-year milestone.

The plan is based around Five Aims:

• Almshouses – to research and assess the future need for the Trust’s almshouses. Aims include understanding the current and future housing needs of the Town, reaching any potentially overlooked groups, and assessing the energy impact of the current almshouses.
• Grants – An expansion of the current grants programme, with equitable, informed decision making and impact reporting.
• Heritage, green spaces and community – working with other agencies in the town to help support developing plans and ambitions. These could include SCCT support for a heritage centre, contributing to the infrastructure of Sutton Park, and supporting the concept of a coordinated network of community centres.
• How the Trust is run – Developing financial strategies to increase grant making potential, as well as improving the Trust’s digital accessibility.
• Assets – To effectively manage the Trust’s assets, from land to buildings. That includes the replacement of acreage sold and the potential use of assets for charitable purpose and community projects.

The Social Needs Review was first commissioned in 2019, and sent out 5000 surveys to Sutton Coldfield residents, mapped 246 community organisations, engaged with over 600 residents, carried out 50 interviews and a series of focus groups.

Dr Lee Gregory lead the team behind the Social Needs Review, said: “This event essentially started the conversation that we need to now have in Sutton Coldfield to think about new ways of addressing the needs highlighted in the review.”

Keith Dudley, chair of the Trustees of SCCT, said: “It was great to get so many local organisations together here because this really is just a starting point, and now we need to carry on the conversations that were started here today.”

Pictured: Dr Lee Gregory, Tina Swani, and Keith Dudley with the Social Needs Review