Cheshire East Council to axe Stay Well Squad after just one year

Cheshire East Council is axing its Stay Well Squad – a mobile health and wellbeing service that was launched last May, writes Belinda Ryan.

The service was set up to help residents improve their health, fitness, and wellbeing.

But now, as grant funding comes to an end and with no spare cash to inject into the service, the Stay Well Squad will cease to operate this week.

A Cheshire East spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The council is facing unprecedented severe financial pressures following the impact of the Covid pandemic.

“It’s important for people to understand the financial situation the council is in and the national factors such as high inflation, including the cost of fuel and energy, and increasing demand for care services that the council has.

“This all has a significant impact on the council’s budget and means, locally, we must make some decisions that no-one wants to make, especially when it comes to continuing to protect essential front-line services.”

The Stay Well Squad emerged from the Swab Squad, as it was originally called.

It was formed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in late 2020, and was an innovative solution to the need for a local test and trace service.

The council spokesperson said: “It offered a mobile, domiciliary testing team primarily reaching out to schools and businesses locally across the borough and was often moved to areas with high localised outbreaks.

“As Covid cases continued to fall and demand for the Swab Squad reduced, a new Stay Well Squad mobile health and wellbeing service was launched in May 2022 in partnership with the NHS, to help residents improve their health, fitness, and wellbeing, as well as supporting the Covid vaccination campaigns.

“The service was funded by a specific national grant which ends this month.

“With ongoing financial pressures and a Living Well Service mobile bus being operated by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, a decision was made by the council that the Stay Well Squad service will end on March 31 2023.”