Over the last three years, the Parson Cross Community Development Forum has worked to engage the community in a planning process that coordinates and optimises public, private, and individual assets and actions to achieve sustainable solutions to environmental, housing, health, safety, economic and social issues. It has completed community assessments and initial plans concerning basic needs, early education and care, education, workforce development, physical and mental health, substance abuse, housing, homelessness, and public safety. Each of these efforts has contributed to measuring the community's social well being, and revealed the scope of issues to be addressed and the inter-relatedness of the core drivers of social well-being.
Social well-being is the satisfaction people experience when they see themselves as part of a compassionate community they have helped create - a community in which all have an opportunity to live a satisfying life, and public and private institutions share the responsibility to secure for everyone a decent education, a comfortable and affordable home, a high standard of living, public safety, equality of opportunity, environmental protection, and unfettered religious and political participation.
In a sustainable community, equality, education, respect for human rights and the meeting of basic needs combine to create social wealth. Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy environment in which to live, work, play and learn, including contact with nature. Everyone has the right to the fulfilment of basic human needs, including safe warm homes, rewarding work, healthy affordable food, and education that meets their needs and skills. Everyone has the right to be part of a community that offers mutual respect.
In June, 2001, SOAR launched the Overall Framework Plan for increasing the social wellbeing of northern Sheffield.
As part of this plan the Forum has developed its own, complementary, plan for the Parson Cross area. We will be working with our partners to deliver each of the overall plan's seven priorities:
 | Jobs |
| Good Health |
| Environment |
| Community Participation |
| Community Safety |
| Lifelong Learning |
| Leisure |