CVF Forum - Crisis and Resilience Fund Special

Join Us for a Sector Listening Event: Navigating the Transition from HSF to CRF hosted by the CVF Forum

As Wirral moves through a significant period of change—from the Household Support Fund (HSF) to the new Community Resilience Fund (CRF)—we’re bringing the sector together for an open listening and conversation space. This event is designed to strengthen collaboration, acknowledge the complexity of the transition, and ensure local voices directly shape what comes next.

Over the past three years, Wirral has taken a pioneering and sector-led approach to the HSF, working closely with communities to respond to hardship in a coordinated, compassionate and innovative way. The learning, relationships and successes developed through HSF form a strong foundation for what comes next. Now, as we collectively move into the CRF, this is a critical moment to build on that progress while shaping a more sustainable, long‑term approach to community resilience.

Why This Event Matters

The shift from HSF to CRF isn’t a simple like‑for‑like change. It will involve new processes, realigning Council functions, and rethinking how we collectively support residents. While HSF has largely focused on crisis response, CRF comes with a longer‑term ambition: building stronger, more resilient communities less reliant on emergency interventions.

This will be a three‑year, stepped journey beginning in April as HSF phases out and the foundations of CRF are built up. To ensure this transition is informed, inclusive, and effective, we want to hear from those closest to communities—you.

This session is, at its heart, a listening exercise. Both the Council and the voluntary and community sector will have space to share experiences, concerns, opportunities, and insights to help shape CRF implementation in Wirral.

There will be the opportunity to be updated on the HSF exit and the CRF implementations current position with Peter Cosgrove from Wirral Borough Council, and then a reflective round table workshop session where we will capture sector feedback on the experiences and risks associated with HSF ending, and the opportunities and ideas for shaping CRF moving forward.

The insights gathered will feed into a report that informs CRF planning.

Who Should Attend?

This event is ideal for voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise organisations across Wirral—particularly those supporting residents affected by financial hardship or community resilience work.

If you want to influence how the next three years of community support is shaped, this is the space to do it.