How Sunderland City Council aims to bring communities together following 2024 disturbances
A new council strategy aimed at improving “community cohesion” on Wearside has been backed by senior councillors.
Sunderland City Council’s Labour cabinet have approved the strategy Stronger Communities: Sunderland’s Strategic Framework.
The framework is part of the council’s City Plan which aims to ensure Sunderland is a “dynamic, vibrant and smart city where everyone benefits from high‑quality services, support and opportunities”
Developed over the past year and following the civil disorder of 2024, the framework draws on feedback from residents, community groups and partner organisations.
The council stated engagement activities highlighted a “strong desire to rebuild trust, strengthen relationships and celebrate the city’s diversity”.
Priority themes guiding the framework include more resident involvement in “shaping local services”, improved access to education, employment and culture, “strengthening community safety”, “improving relationships” with the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and “encouraging positive connections across communities.”
Councillor Michael Mordey, the council’s leader, welcomed the strategy and said: “It was something that we always intended to get to but was really brought forward because of the disorder we witnessed in the city in August 2024.
“What’s come out of that horrendous day is a piece of work that I think will strengthen our communities, we all know that Sunderland is and always has been a welcoming city, a city that’s proud of its heritage but is excited about the future.
“But we do have to acknowledge that some of our residents, because of factors out of their control, including 15 years of austerity, have felt that often things are done to them and not with them.
“This is our attempt as a city council to convene the partners across the city into one framework and our joint efforts to rebuild some of that trust that has been lost.”
He noted the Labour cabinet had put £1.2 million behind the strategy and said he was “optimistic” work with VCS organisations would lead to “improved community cohesion”
Councillor Beth Jones, cabinet member for communities, culture and tourism, added the framework “demonstrates our values as a council”, adding: “Values of hope, opportunity, resilience, inclusion and most importantly, choosing unity over division because that’s our real city and that’s our real Sunderland.”
The framework is available to view via Sunderland City Council’s website.