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13 Mar 2018 - 19:14 by Mike Wild

"Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was “Oh no, not again”.

Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now."

Douglas Adams, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the...

28 Feb 2018 - 15:48 by claire.tomkinson

So I’ve got a question that I’m struggling with at the moment. It’s attracting some mixed views in the office, so let’s put it out there for a wider debate.

Why is it so often the case that the public sector’s answer to working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector is to create a job and additional resources within the public sector?

Now don’t get me wrong, I totally agree that you need to be “in it to influence it” I get that. We desperately need the voices of people that have experience of working within (not with) the VCSE sector within that space and...

Shared Topic Areas

26 Feb 2018 - 15:44 by Nigel Rose

This blog is going to seem really ungrateful but I know for sure I am not alone in this view.

I am a bit fed up of seeing another fund that gives out tiny grants.

I’ve just had a look at the Balfour Beatty, Laing O’Rourke and Sir Robert McAlpine Construction Fund which is £20,000 in all, and is giving out “small” grants of £500 and “large” grants of £2,000. £2,000 is not a large grant, it’s a tiny grant!

Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust is doing the same thing, though the overall pot is much larger, they are giving out lots and lots of tiny grants.

I...

Shared Topic Areas

19 Feb 2018 - 00:34 by guest.blogger

As part of Student Volunteering Week 2018, Volunteer Centre Manchester is excited to share some guest blogs from people who undertake student volunteering and those who manage and support said activity. Here's the first from the University of Manchester:

Celebrating Student Volunteering Week at The University of Manchester

19 – 25 February 2018 sees the return of Student Volunteering Week – a national celebration of all things volunteering. The University of Manchester and University of Manchester Students’ Union have teamed up again to recognise our student...

Shared Topic Areas

15 Feb 2018 - 10:08 by claire.tomkinson

So as usual, I’ve found myself frantically involved in a Twitter debate and am struggling to coordinate a response within the strict character limit, so this is the result…

Just to be clear, this is an updated version of a blog that I wrote a couple of years ago (hence the “Part Two”) but the thoughts are still relevant, and I have some stuff to add.

A couple of years ago I was running an activity at a large event in South Manchester to celebrate the launch of the hospital trusts Community Service Directorate. There was a huge variety of stalls ranging from health...

Shared Topic Areas

1 Feb 2018 - 11:05 by michelle.foster

Our latest data sets on our work with voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations and volunteers is now available on our website here: www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/policy-and-influence/open-data

Open Data Manchester has been leading the way in open data practice in Manchester since 2010. It was set up as an advocacy group to encourage and share open data practice between public bodies, business and citizens alike. It has been instrumental in the setting up of DataGM and various...

30 Jan 2018 - 11:51 by Nigel Rose

Earlier today I read part of a new report by the King's Fund called ‘Re-imagining Community Services’. It analyses the progress made toward creating new models of community services and summarises some of the key principles that should guide the development. It’s illustrated by a number of case studies (some rather less convincing than others – Wigan as an exemplar of working with local assets – it doesn't even have an infrastructure provider since Wigan CVS collapsed a couple of years ago).

One of the key findings, that particularly rang true for me, was that there has been limited...

Shared Topic Areas

17 Jan 2018 - 16:56 by Nigel Rose

Carillion Crane from Macc's WindowThe collapse of Carillion is just the latest in a long line of failures by private companies to carry out public services in an effective and cost effective manner. Does anybody really believe, anymore, that privatising the railways or electricity or water, was a good idea?

This failure casts yet more doubt on the idea of commissioning in health and social care. Circle simply gave back a contract to run a...

9 Jan 2018 - 09:54 by aneeqa.javed

 Happy new year everyone!


I hope you all had a lovely festive break and are ready to take on 2018…


2018 is a big year for all things marketing and communications, as GDPR is set to come into place on 25th May. It might be worth getting yourself onto our website to have a look at how the new legislation will affect your organisation, you may even find the odd training course we’re running before May 
In terms of what 2018 holds for all things digital, I think we are finally at a point where people and organisations are appreciating the vital role social media...

2 Jan 2018 - 10:42 by Mike Wild

I’m writing this in the final days of 2017 and a list of things which will affect charities, community groups, voluntary organisations and social enterprises even just within Manchester is something you can never actually finish writing (note to self: write more blogs this year) but here are the things which are swishing around in my head as things to think about for 2018.

Starting with a few things at national level, Office for Civil Society will start consultation on a new Civil Society Strategy. The Conservative-led governments since 2010 have sometimes...

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