GMCVO NEWS
GMCVO’s work gets your approval
Organisations have given a resounding vote of confidence to GMCVO in a recent survey of the value and direction of our work.
In October this year we asked 2,000 organisations in Greater Manchester to answer a short survey entitled Does your organisation value GMCVO? There was a response rate of over 15 per cent with 312 organisations completing the survey.
The results were unequivocal with 98 per cent of organisations responding that they value the work of GMCVO and 97 per cent answering that they would continue to use our services.
85 per cent of organisations felt that GMCVO contributed to the quality and sustainability of their organisations and helped them to achieve their goals.
We asked a number of questions about the opportunities and services organisations would value over the next three years. Volunteering, networking, sharing knowledge, demonstrating impact, delivering public services, developing enterprise, working collaboratively to access resources and supporting communities featured highly in the areas of work organisations would be interested in.
GMCVO will use this information to inform service development and to support funding applications.
We would like to thank all organisations who took the time to respond and would like to express our appreciation of your continued support.
GMCVO in partnership bid to trial ‘Whole Place Community Budgets’
A Greater Manchester partnership is seeking funding from the Communities and Local Government department to test how all funding for local services in the city-region can be brought together into one place.
Led by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA), the partnership’s application to trial ‘Whole Place Community Budgets’ is based on a radical and ambitious public service reform agenda to reduce dependency and support growth, building on progress to date in four cross cutting themes that reflect the priorities of the Greater Manchester Strategy. The themes are:
● troubled families;
● transforming justice;
● health and social care; and
● early years.
GMCVO is a member of the partnership and the application includes much specific reference to civil society organisations (ie the voluntary sector) for which a significant role is envisaged.
Alex Whinnom, director of GMCVO, said: “We’re very pleased about the involvement of GMCVO as a partner and the significance given to the voluntary sector.”
The partners are: AGMA and the GM Combined Authority, together with the local authorities in GM, NHS GM, GM Local Enterprise Partnership, National Housing Federation (North West), Transport for GM, GM Police, GM Fire and Rescue, GMCVO, GM Colleges Network, GM Business Leadership Council, GM Probation Trust, Avanta, JobCentre Plus GM Central and Cheshire, JobCentre Plus GM East and West, and GM Chamber of Commerce.
The challenges of Social Return on Investment
Social Return on Investment (SROI) has attracted a lot of attention, particularly from among the third sector, as a way of giving social value its deserved prominence. SROI appears to address the dilemma of showing the value of social outcomes whilst at the same time using a language that can be easily understood by those interested in the bottom line.
In October 2011, GMCVO hosted Domenico Moro, a research fellow at the Birmingham-based Third Sector Research Centre, to explore the ambitions and challenges of the SROI method.
A report based on this event has now been published that shows the inherent difficulty of capturing social value, no matter which tool is being used.
The Ambitions and Challenges of Social Return on Investment can be downloaded from:
Market Place saves groups nearly £70,000 on goods and services
GMVSS’s Market Place project has saved the local voluntary and community sector £69,230 over the last five months! So far 14 organisations have switched suppliers of goods and services and more are in negotiations. As the project gains momentum we are confident the total savings will rise substantially.
Market Place provides a free, no obligation service allowing voluntary, community and faith groups in Greater Manchester to access great deals on insurance, HR support, stationery, telecoms, utilities, IT support and water-vending machines.
Members can also obtain a free audit of their organisation’s expenditure to identify where they could make savings, obtain support with existing contracts, and access special offers, approved suppliers and information on ethical purchasing.
We also offer top 10 purchasing tips on a number of products and services:
Market Place is delighted to welcome its 100th member, Fairfield Waste Management. In the latest monthly prize draw for new members, they have won a special eco-hamper.
Register with Market Place now and see what your organisation can save – please go to:
□ Test your HR knowledge and tell us what training your organisation is interested in – please go to:
GMCVO has arranged for Roots HR (the preferred HR supplier for Market Place) to deliver training on Managing restructures and redundancy in your organisation, with information on best practice and lots of practical tips.Follow this link to find out more:
GMCVO training courses for 2012
GMCVO's training diary for 2012 has been published and all courses are open for registration.
We have some great new courses to offer as well as bringing back our very popular Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTLLS).Some of the new courses include Emotional Intelligence, Building Positive Relationships and Excellence in Volunteer Management.
For further information or to book a place on any of our training courses, visit the GMCVO Training pages (link below). Or if you would like an informal chat about the courses, contact Ian Taylor on 0161 277 1040.
Room hire discount at the St Thomas Centre
The St Thomas Centre is offering a 20 per cent reduction on room hire charges for any new bookings made for December 2011 and January 2012.
The Centre, which is managed by GMCVO, is within easy reach of Manchester city centre and Piccadilly railway station. The main hall can accommodate 140 people, while smaller rooms can hold up to 30 people.
Please call 0161 277 1010 or e-mail to check availability.
NEWS AND INFORMATION
A Volunteer Centre for Manchester at last
A new Volunteer Centre for Manchester opened for business at the end of November, following many years during which the city was without a generic volunteering agency linked to the national network.
Volunteer Centre Manchesterwill champion volunteering within the city and promote good practice to organisations which involve volunteers. The Centre is based in the offices of Manchester Alliance for Community Care on Swan Street, part of the redevelopment of MACC as the lead infrastructure body for Manchester’s voluntary and community sector.
The Centre aims to become accredited through Volunteering England by completing Volunteer Centre Quality Accreditation alongside other centres in Greater Manchester.
The new service will redevelop the existing volunteering pages on the Manchester Community Central website and volunteering opportunities will be advertised widely across social media, Do-it.org and discussed in one-to-one interviews with potential volunteers.
Introductory volunteering sessions will also be offered to local people considering volunteering, and these events, plus outreach drop-in sessions, will be held at local community venues to allow potential volunteers to make informal enquiries and arrange one-to-one appointments.
The arrival of the Volunteer Centre in Manchester comes as a result of a lot of hard work by individuals from various organisations, such as the GMCVO-based Volunteering Greater Manchester project, Greater Manchester Youth Network, and Manchester Youth Volunteering Project (now closed).
Organisations working in Manchester and involving volunteers are encouraged to register with the Volunteer Centre via:
For further information about Volunteer Centre Manchester, contact: Jen Halfpenny (Development Worker) or Mark Pritchard (Manager), 0161 834 9823, .
Clegg unveils Youth Contract plan
Voluntary sector umbrella body NCVO has welcomed the creation of a £1 billion Government fund to tackle youth unemployment but stresses that the voluntary sector must be involved in its delivery.
Under the Youth Contract, announced by Nick Clegg on 25th November, 410,000 new work and training places will be found for 18 to 24-year-olds from next April over a three-year period. This includes wage subsidies worth £2,275 handed to employers to take on 160,000 young people through the Work Programme.
Each of these ‘wage incentives’will be worth half of the youth national minimum wage and last for six months. They will be available for those young people who need the most help after three months, and all of those who have been on Jobseeker's Allowance for nine months.
Mr Clegg also said the contract would offer a work experience placement of up to eight weeks for every unemployed 18 to 24-year-old that wants one. Extra funding for apprenticeships and a £50 million programme to help persistently NEET 16 and 17-year-olds (not in employment, education or training) will be on offer too.
Under the plans, young people who fail to sign up to the Youth Contract will be considered for ‘mandatory work activity’, while those who drop out of work experience or jobs without good reason will lose their benefits.
With the new scheme’s focus on creating jobs in the private sector, NCVO has asked the Department for Work and Pensions for clarification about whether voluntary sector organisations will have access to the same financial incentives as private sector employers, to take on new employees or apprentices.The DWP told NCVO that: "We will be talking to providers and employers in the coming weeks and months about the most effective way of delivering it."
CSJ awards for tackling poverty
The annual Centre for Social Justice Awards recognise effective poverty fighting groups from across the UK.
Cash prizes of £10,000 are awarded to charities, small voluntary groups and other local projects that display innovation and effectiveness in addressing the causes of poverty, turning lives around and reversing social breakdown.
The deadline for applications in the 2012 round is 4th January 2012.
Not quite so grim up north
Over two-thirds of the most deprived areas of England are concentrated in the North West, according to analysis of official figures.
The Government’s 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) show that 34 of the 50 most deprived neighbourhoods (or ‘super output areas’) are in the NW region, with five of them located in wards of Greater Manchester. This is an improvement on the 2007 results when 41 of the highest ranking LSOAs for deprivation were in the North West and 19 were in Greater Manchester.
There was a very small increase in the number of LSOAs in the North West in the most deprived fifth since 2007. Overall levels of deprivation in the North West are still well above the national average. Almost all districts which fell into the 50 most deprived on the main index in 2007 were still within the list in 2010.
The 2010 indices are based on data collected in 2008, so do not reflect the effect of the recession across the country, particularly its disproportionately negative impact in northern cities.
A list of the 50 most deprived LSOAs in England can be seen at
Free commissioning guide for trustees
A free guide to commissioning and tendering for public services has been published by NAVCA and the Local Government Association.
Aimed at trustees, the guide was produced as part of Trustees Week 2011 which ran until 6th November.
The guide outlines all the key issues that trustees of local charities should be aware of when deciding whether to embark on public service delivery. It is not a ‘how-to-tender manual’ but provides information to help trustees understand the potential implications and impact of commissioning on their charity. It also contains information to help them bid for service contracts and ensure their organisation is ready for the tendering process and able to deliver the contract.
At Your Bidding can be downloaded from:
Localism Act gives new rights to communities
The Localism Bill has received royal assent, granting new rights to communities to bid for land and run local authority services.
The legislation will require local authorities to maintain lists of ‘assets for community value’. If one of these assets is up for sale, the local authority must allow a moratorium of six months on the sale of the asset, so that local groups have time to put together a bid to take it over for community benefit.
Steve Wyler, chief executive of Locality, the umbrella body for community organisations, said he was particularly pleased that a strong ‘community right to bid’ had been introduced by the act.
"The Localism Act brings opportunities for local groups to take on the planning system, to take over failing services and to take ownership of the land and buildings that matter most to them," he said.
The right to bid is weaker than was originally proposed by community groups, because it does not give community organisations first refusal when community assets come up for sale. Community organisations had, however, successfully lobbied against attempts to water it down further by reducing the moratorium period from six months to three.
[from: Third Sector Online 17.11.11]
Helpline supports hidden families
The Offenders' Families Helpline was launched last year to provide support to anyone supporting an offender through their contact with the criminal justice system.
Set up and run by the Manchester-based POPS (Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group), the helpline provides accurate, up-to-date information and signposts families to relevant support services in their community assisting them to address the issues they face in the wake of a prison or community sentence.
Families of offenders frequently gounnoticed, hidden victims of the criminal justice system struggling to come to terms with the circumstances in which they find themselves. Often, shame and stigma cause them to shy away from accessing support.
Families can call the helpline for free on 0808 808 2003 or e-mail the service at .
Concern over Work Programme providers not paying for services
Volunteering England has reported that some Volunteer Centres have been asked by Work Programme providers to work with their clients for no payment. This has led to employment minister Chris Grayling saying that the Programme providers should always pay charities for their services.
Grayling has responded to a letter from Volunteering England, which had raised concerns that Work Programme providers had been referring their clients to Volunteer Centres, but had been unprepared to enter into a formal agreement to pay for their services.
Grayling says that providers and their sub-contractors “should not be approaching voluntary organisations if they have not entered into, or are intending to enter into, an agreement with them and they are outside the supply chain”.
Volunteering England has also reported to the minister that one of its members was approached by a private-sector provider and asked to provide volunteers to help deliver one of its projects to prepare clients for employment. It remains an isolated incident but the situation is being monitored by Volunteering England which is concerned that volunteers are being considered as ‘free labour’ or a replacement for paid staff.
Community Learning Grants from WEA
Nearly £2million is available to be given out over the next two years in the North West as ESF Community Learning Grants.
These are grants, up to a maximum of £12,000, to support some of the hardest to reach communities and individuals, to help people access further learning or training that could lead to employment.
The funding can be applied for by small community and voluntary groups, registered charities and social enterprises, with preference given to organisations with a turnover of no more than £300,000 per year in each of the last two years.
The grants can support a wide range of activities including:
● initial help with basic skills;
● taster work experience including voluntary work;
● training, advice and counselling;
● job search assistance;
● confidence building and personal development;
● support to individuals to overcome barriers to learning or employment.
The programme is aimed at all people out of work, or those recently made redundant, but with a particular priority given to support for:
● people with disabilities or health conditions (including those with learning difficulties, mental health issues or drug and alcohol dependency problems);
● people aged 50 or over and seeking employment;
● people from ethnic minorities;
● women;
● lone parents.
The programme for the North West is being managed by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), in partnership with Community Matters and Locality, and the first of several rounds has just been launched, with a closing date of6th January 2012.
The application guidance notes and application form for the first round of ESF Community Learning Grants aredownloadable from or ring 0161 277 5411.