CO-OPERATION is the key to improving Halton - and thanks to a slice of £36m national funding, the borough's voluntary groups will soon be more effective than ever.

After being identified as an area suffering from problems of depravation, Halton has been given the funding in the form of the Community Empowerment Fund, designed to work with voluntary groups to find out how best to organise services and other facilities.

The cash is not a grants programme, aiming instead to provide a sustainable co-operative whose work will go on for years, even after the funding is gone.

Kath Parkes, executive officer for group and community development at Halton Voluntary Action, administrators of the fund, said: 'It's really the same principle as is often said about Africa - you can use the money to buy people food and feed them in the short term, or you can use it to buy seed and teach them how to farm, and find a more long-term solution.

'With the Community Empowerment Fund, it's a long-term use of the money, looking at ways to improve the resources and communication between voluntary groups.

'For example, we will be using the money to send representatives on training courses, then they will be able to come back and teach other people what they have learnt.' Under the umbrella Halton Together, a website has now been set up to promote the benefits of becoming a member of the cooperative, and raise awareness of the work of different voluntary groups in the borough.

In fact, the website itself is one of the first success stories, having been designed by volunteers who attended a Community Empowerment funded web design course -and will soon be helping individual voluntary groups to set up their own pages.

At www.haltontogether.org.uk, members will be able to post details of their current projects as well as advertising forthcoming events and appealing for more volunteers.

As part of the work of Halton Together, various forums are being established to tackle the main areas of concern to people in Halton - including health, urban renewal, life chances and employment, wealth and equality, safe and attractive neighbourhoods.

These specialist strategic part-nerships will invite representatives from related voluntary groups in the borough to sit on a panel alongside key figures in the police, schools, religious leaders, the Primary Care Trust, JobCentres, Chamber of Commerce and others.

Already, more than 215 voluntary groups in Runcorn and Widnes have signed up, and Kath is urging any others to come on board.

'Unless these groups tell us how they want the money spent, it could end up being spent in the wrong way, so it's important for everyone to play their part.

'The only criteria is that you're some kind of volunteer, or you're a professional looking to join one of our forum panels.

'It's an opportunity to have your voice heard. And, if you don't feel confident enough to come to a meeting at the moment, we can arrange a buddy system, whereby somebody will talk you through the whole thing, the agenda, and how to understand the system.'

Anyone interested in more information can contact Kath Parkes or Debbie East on 01928 592405.