Please note that our offices will close at 4pm on Friday, 24th December, and will re-open at 9am on Tuesday 4th January 2022.

On behalf of all the staff at GMCVO, we wish you a peaceful and healthy festive season.

As previoulsy reported, a new VCSE Accord was signed in September 2021. This new document supersedes two previous agreements that the H&SC VCSE Engagement work (delivered by GMCVO on behalf of the GM VCSE Leadership Group) was part of.

While the VCSE Accord implementation plan is developed and whilst the new Integrated Care System structures are established between now and April 2022, there will be a lull in communications around H&SC VCSE Engagement work.

Please click the link below to read more and find how you can stay up to date with developments.

GMCVO is running a short-term targeted project to produce recommendations for reducing cancer-related inequalities in Greater Manchester.

As part of this, we are gathering existing data on inequalities for marginalised groups as well as evidence of good practice and successful initiatives for reducing inequalities for specific groups.

We are able to contribute to people’s time to help us with this exercise.

Our Academic Perspectives Lecture series aims to link VCSE practitioners to academic ideas and evidence. At our most recent lecture Emma Dowling, Assistant Professor for the Sociology of Social Change at the University of Vienna, spoke about the ways in which austerity, marketisation and financialisation have exacerbated a deep-reaching care crisis.

Thursday, 2nd December
Online

The third in GMCVO's Academic Perspectives Lecture series will look at the symbolic power of ‘doing something for charity’; ‘The Good Glow’. We will consider how much the sector can rely on this automatic goodwill anymore, and the practical implications of this for local charities’ own efforts in fundraising and volunteer involvement.

Another two cohorts of a programme to create race equality champions within organisations has been commissioned.

The Race Equality Change Agents Programme (RECAP) is open to front line staff through to middle managers and provides participants with the tools and support to run a project in their organisation to create change for people from ethnic minorities in the workforce.

Closing date for applications: Friday, 3rd December

A Social Enterprise Support Fund has been launched, providing grant financial support to help social enterprises rebuild from Covid-19.

The grant funding aims to help get social enterprises back on track and helping them to work with communities that are recovering.

Eligible organisations can apply for grants from £10,000 to £100,000. Most grants will be between £10k-£50k. 

The funding is being released in two rounds. Round 1 closes on Tuesday 21st December

Groups and organisations in Manchester are being offered a small grant (up to £500) to deliver engagement, events and training which help to build awareness and capacity to tackle hateful extremism.

Deadline: 3rd December

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support sustainability in small-medium sized mental health voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations who offer a helpline provision.

Deadline: 6th December.

Two-year grants of up to £40,000 are available to Black and minoritised-led women’s and girls’ organisations in the UK to address longer term strategic planning and sustainability.

Deadline: 10th January 2022

The NHS in Greater Manchester is looking to develop its understanding of why some people within Greater Manchester inappropriately access urgent and emergency care and wants to support people to access the right services and understand how to make that choice.

Findings from the survey will be used to help health and care professionals in Greater Manchester better understand why people access the NHS services in the way that they do and what communications might help to support people to make the best choices to get the help they need.