Capacity Building

The judges, including the Lord Mayor of Manchester, have now met and decided on the shortlisted candidates for the first Spirit of Manchester Award! The nominations reflected all the exciting and diverse work happening in Manchester's voluntary and community sector. We will be making films of all the shortlisted applicants which will be voted on at the awards ceremony to determine the winner.

We are excited that the awards will be presented at the new NOMA building, thank you to the Co-operative who kindly donated the room.

Shortlisted organisations

The Community Theatre scheme aims to support the development of not for profit community theatre groups the length and breadth of the UK.

Grants awarded through this scheme will allow groups to carry out training, attract new audiences, encourage new members and raise their profile in their communities. Through the Fund the BBC wants to encourage groups to take on more challenging projects through commissions and encouraging collaboration with professional theatre makers and other local organisations.

New and existing community groups who live in Whalley Range can apply for funding for projects that will benefit the area.

Whalley Range has received some Government money to invest in the area.
The Whalley Range Community First Panel can recommend applications to the CDF from local groups who meet the criteria below.

Applications for £250 - £1000 can be submitted.

Equity Housing Group wants to hear from community projects in need of funding and support.

The Group launched the Equity Foundation in January to create employment and skills development opportunities and to promote better health. It’s already invested £150,000 in helping 47 new and established charities and projects to make a difference to peoples’ lives and communities. These include employment training centres, sports and leisure clubs and a range of activities for younger, older and disabled members of the community.

There is a move by some commissioners to purchase health and welfare services through “spot” purchasing rather than “block contracts”, using “investment frameworks” and “shopping websites for personal care”. Payments are made for each client or group of clients worked with.

Funding is available for organisations in Scotland, England and Wales to deliver the project they have always dreamed of, but never had the opportunity to bring to life.

Organisations are encouraged to collaborate to provide a more efficient service. All applications must, therefore, come from at least two organisations that have joined forces. One of these organisations must be a registered charity, who will be considered the lead organisation for the project. The other organisations can be another charity, a voluntary group, a community interest company or a social enterprise

Starter grants of up to £3000 are available for tenant groups who are interested in 'Community Cashback' agreements with their landlords.

A Community Cashback agreement is a voluntary deal for tenants and residents to take control of small-scale local services such as cleaning, gardening etc. Any cost savings are kept by the resident group to use for community benefit.

Gift Aid specialists Kvisio have launched GiftAid Online, a web-based tool for small charities (those with under 1,000 supporters), who want to make Gift Aid claims online through the HMRC Gateway.

The tool has been developed following the changes in HMRC's rules for online tax claims.

Voluntary Youth Manchester, Macc and Manchester City Council are jointly conducting an evaluation of the recent Youth and Play Fund Commissioning process.

One part of the data collection for the evaluation is an on-line survey and we would very much welcome your participation. To complete the survey, please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/youth_and_play_commissioning_evaluation, by Sunday 18 August.

Together Works is the social enterprise network for Greater Manchester and they are supporting Manchester-based organisations to create or improve their business plans to enable them to secure income by trading for profit.

The Social Enterprise sector is the fastest growing sector in the UK and can help Greater Manchester’s economy grow and create sustainable jobs. Many organisations and people have great ideas or are already successfully trading on a small scale but don’t feel ready or able to scale up. Together Works can help.