Transgender

Manchester City Council Advice Tender

A new tender from Manchester City Council has been advertised on The Chest. The tender is for advice services and is in 3 parts. Part 1 is for City-Wide Advice Services. Part 2 is for Targeted Individual/Family Advice Services. Part 3 is for a Framework Agreement for the Provision of Innovative Advice Solutions. All the tenders are for 1 year with the possibility of an extension for another year.

Macc wins Council Infrastructure Contract

As you may be aware, earlier this year the City Council launched a competitive tendering process for the contract to provide support to the city's voluntary and community sector for the next three years.

We are delighted to announce that Macc has been awarded this contract.

Surviving the Recovery

During the recent bout of hot weather, I somehow managed to come down with a cold. I not only felt ill, I also felt ridiculous: I mean who gets a cold in the middle of a heatwave? As I write this, figures have just been released showing that the country’s economy is slowly starting to grow again after the recession. It’s a similar feeling: I’m being told it’s lovely out there but it feels dreadful. No matter what the economic analysis says, when I look around I see incomes reducing, prices rising, services closing and life generally becoming more difficult.

Spirit of Manchester

I've mentioned previously that there's a danger that this blog becomes a series of rants about things I'm angry about. Well not today, at least!

Our State of the Voluntary Sector report shows there are over 3000 voluntary and community groups in Manchester. I don't know them all but I do know a lot of them and one of the great pleasures of my job is that I get to see some of the amazing things happening in groups across Manchester and meet some fantastic people.

8 things you should know about the Voluntary Sector in Manchester...

1. In 2012/13 there were 3,093 community and voluntary organisations, co-operatives and social enterprises in Manchester

2. In 2012/13 the total income of the sector was £477 million

3. Medium and large organisations receive 95% of the total sector income

4. 1,987 organisations are micro (with an annual income under £10 thousand)

5. There are 94,300 volunteers in the sector

6. Volunteers give 370,000 hours each week

7. The contribution of volunteers in the sector is valued at £332 million each year

State of the Sector 2013

This morning I was in the happy position of being able to present our new research into the state of the voluntary sector in Manchester. It has been a long-held ambition of mine to be able to show the full extent of the enormous contribution which voluntary organisations, community groups, social enterprises and the community work of faith groups make to the city. 

Network(ing)

Hi, and welcome to the new VYM Blog. Although this is entered as Ross’s blog, VYM is much more than Ross Grant, but more of that later. In particular though, it is also Sarah Gilston, VYM’s much valued Communication Support Worker, without whom you would receive very limited communication from VYM, and there's the Board of Trustees that governs and supports VYM staff.

Welfare Reform and Advice Support

One of the dangers for me in writing a blog is that I'll end up writing only about things I'm angry about (there seems to be quite a lot at the moment) and it will become a terribly depressing read. However, I'm not going to apologise for the bleak picture I'm about to paint because it's what's really happening to people in our communities.