Support for Poverty Commission Report

Support for Poverty Commission report

GMCVO provided the secretariat to the Greater Manchester Poverty Commission whose report, published in January, called for action to help more than 600,000 Greater Manchester residents who are experiencing the effects of extreme poverty.
Over 120 pieces of written evidence were gathered from individuals living in poverty and from organisations working directly with those experiencing poverty.
Working in partnership with Church Action on Poverty, we also helped to organise local hearing across the 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester, where Commissioners could hear the views of people with first-hand experiences of poverty.
The Commission found that those living in poverty face hunger, isolation, fear, and frustration. Many who are in poverty are part-time workers, low waged, and suffer from fuel poverty, food poverty, and have reduced access to basic services such as transport and technology.
The report received widespread coverage in the media and its recommendations have already prompted actions from the sectors concerned.
Contact: Andy Rawling, 0161 277 1032,
Higher profile for volunteering

An external review of stakeholders involved with our VGM volunteering project, combined with a major volunteering conference last autumn, concluded that a “real achievement of the VGM work over the past three years was the higher profile and influence around volunteering issues across Greater Manchester”.

It recognised the ‘increased clout for volunteering’ with local authorities, influential bodies and volunteer-involving organisations leading to recognition of the strategic importance of volunteering and volunteer management.

Volunteer Centres valued the support of the VGM team in supporting their partnership approach to achieving Volunteering England Quality Standards, closer and more co-ordinated working and peer-to-peer support. Another success was VGM’s contribution to the establishment of Manchester Volunteer Centre.

The challenge now, highlighted in the review, is how to build on these strong foundations to develop A Vision for Volunteering in Greater Manchester and set the direction for the remainder of the project and its legacy.
Contact: Lynne Kent, 0161 277 1027,
Supporting community renewable energy projects

Our Generating Success project, a partnership between GMCVO, Carbon Co-op and MERCi to enable community organizations to develop renewable energy projects in rural Greater Manchester, has its first ‘Trailblazer’ project generating energy.
The installation of solar PV panels at Millgate Arts Centre in Oldham – ironically on the shortest day of the year – means that the Centre can now look forward to benefiting from reduced energy bills and income from feed-in-tariff.

This is the first of what we hope will become a stream of community initiatives.
Other Trailblazers to follow are Affetside Community Venue, Bury; Ellenroad Engine House, Rochdale; Moss Brook Growers, Wigan; and we are working intensively with Mellor Country House, Stockport to add them to our Trailblazer portfolio.
We are building our experience of different technologies which, so far, include solar PV, solar thermal and biomass boilers.

The Generating Success team offers a range of support including information, training, networking, technical support and is keen to help more projects.

Further information from:

Contact: Alison Crush, 0161 277 1022,

Raising standards for community transport groups

GMCVO and Transport for Greater Manchester have been working with community transport organisations to help them reach quality benchmarks for the sector.
These verify that the organisation understands and can respond to community needs, employs a rigorous vehicle management and maintenance regime, is committed to high standards of service, and has governance, finance and business planning in place underpinning its sustainability.
Transport for Sick Children was certified under the scheme in December. The charity provides transport to medical appointments for children most affected by deprivation, through volunteers using their own vehicles. In 2011-12 their drivers travelled over 86,000 miles, taking more than 1,000 children to over 2,500 appointments, with a budget of only £100,000.

Contact: David Campbell, 0161 277 1014,

Consultancy work yields Lottery grant for prison project
GMCVO acted as consultants to help Salford Prison Project (SPP) secure £434,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.
The project is an initiative of Salford Community Unemployed Resource Centre (SCURC) and arose from concern about lack of support for people leaving prison after short sentences. SPP takes a holistic, person-centred approach, offering a range of services including information, advice and training opportunities to people with complex needs. It also provides a practical example of the value the voluntary sector can bring to the emerging ‘Transforming Justice’ agenda.
The grant enables SPP to strengthen their mentoring work.
Contact: Morag Rose, 0161 277 1039,
Training partnership with Morgan Centre

GMCVO has just added a brand new series of research training for the third sector to its portfolio, thanks to a partnership with the Manchester University-based Morgan Centre.

We have been working for years to make academic expertise more accessible to third sector audiences through events, such as workshops, lectures and conferences. However, this is the first time we have partnered with a university to offer fully-fledged training.
The Morgan Centre is a suitable partner for two reasons. Firstly, because of its focus on innovative qualitative methods that are particularly suited to capture the social value the voluntary sector creates. Secondly, GMCVO had hosted Morgan Centre staff for short research workshops and the teaching style proved to be really popular with the local third sector audience.
In October 2012, we finally arrived at a deal that would enable us to offer the training at a price that VCS organisations are able to afford and that offers good value for money.
Contact: Susanne Martikke, 0161 277 1031,

Gold award for GMCVO's green credentials
In autumn 2012, GMCVO achieved the Environmental Business Pledge Gold Award in recognition of our green credentials. This followed awards in the bronze and silver categories made over the last two years.
The award scheme, run by Manchester City Council in partnership with Groundwork, aims to help organisations in Manchester improve their environmental performance and generate cost savings.
To achieve the gold award, we undertook a number of initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint, improve our green supply chain and take more sustainable purchasing decisions.
Contact: Tanya Coutts, 0161 277 1002,