Capacity Building

Manchester wants to end hate crime by building on the city's reputation for celebrating diversity. You can help do this by holding an event or activity in your neighbourhood during Hate Crime Awareness Week. Your event should raise awareness of hate crime, including what it is and how people can report it.

Your group can apply for a grant of up to £200 to assist you to put on an event or activity in your neighbourhood. Events must take place between Monday 20 January 2014 and Sunday 26 January 2014.

The fund is available to support small scale community projects that will improve the quality of life for Adactus Group residents and make a real difference to the neighbourhoods where Adactus Group residents live.

This can include physical improvements such as gardening projects, security lights, play equipment, or community projects such as activities for young people, community fun days and luncheon clubs for older people.

Manchester celebrates International Women’s Day every 8 March. The theme for 2014 is Women as Peacemakers.

Manchester’s International Women’s Day Women’s Awards 2014 is a great opportunity to celebrate women and inspire future generations of Manchester girls.

If you know a fantastic woman or a group or women who deserve recognition, take this opportunity to nominate them in one of the ten award categories.

Localgiving.com is giving away £500,000 as Grow Your Tenner returns for another year of match funding.

On 15 October 2013 at precisely 10.00 am, Localgiving.com will double all donations up to £10 that are made to local charities and community groups registered on its website. Any voluntary and community group in England that has signed up to receive online donations on Localgiving.com may participate.

All donations up to £10 will be doubled which means that £10 becomes £20 or £22.50 with Gift Aid. Monthly donations can be doubled up to £10 a month for six months.

Charities need to register for Charities Online, the Government’s new digital system to claim Gift Aid by 30 September 2013.

From 1 October 2013, charities will no longer be able to claim Gift Aid using the paper R68i forms.

Edge Fund supports communities, campaign groups and activists struggling for social, economic and environmental justice, in particular they fund work that:
• Is run by and for people facing discrimination and injustice (due to their class, ability, gender, race, nationality, religion, sexuality, or other factors) who are actively working to challenge these injustices and to create just and healthy communities, and / or

Manchester Community Central is running a series of workshops specifically for voluntary community sector organisations to help secure their future and survive in a rapidly changing business environment.

Sessions will run subject to demand and there will be a charge applied to attending any of the sessions.

Themes include:

There will be a fund of £550k from the three Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) available soon to Manchester’s VCS. The main aim of the programme of work will be to reduce social isolation and loneliness for people over 50yrs old in Manchester.

The programme will also aim to build greater understanding of how the Manchester CCGs can work with VCS organisations to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for Manchester residents over the age of 50yrs.

Manchester’s chosen theme for International Women’s Day 2014 is ‘Women as Peacemakers’. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, International Women’s Day 2014 is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the role that women have played and continue to play in conflict resolution and peace building. There will be grants of up to £500 to create IWD events and activities in March 2014, and groups are invited to apply.

People are being urged to nominate community groups and volunteers who have made a genuine difference to their local area.

The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, a unique UK national honour, was created over a decade ago by Her Majesty to mark the Golden Jubilee in 2002 to recognise the outstanding contributions made to local communities by groups of volunteers. It has an equivalent status for voluntary groups as the MBE has for individuals.