As I write this, the team are just about to head over to the Mechanics Institute for today's Emergency Voluntary Sector Assembly event to discuss the impact of Council budget proposals on the work of the voluntary and community groups in Manchester.
Come and have your say on the budget options at the public meetings at:
Wellbeing Services Public Consultation Events
Date & Time: 15 December 2014, 3.15pm - 4.45pm
Venue: Greater Manchester Police Sports & Social Club, Hough End Centre, Mauldeth Road West, Chorlton, Manchester, M21 7SX
Date & Time: 16 December 2014, 12.15pm - 1.45pm
Venue: Irish World Heritage Centre, Main Hall, 1 Irish Town Way, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, M8 0AE
Making good - The future of the Voluntary Sector is a collection of essays by voluntary sector leaders.
In these essays, 29 voluntary sector leaders and commentators give their views on where and how voluntary organisations could add most value to society over the next decade.
Most are from the UK but there are also some illuminating contributions from or about other countries.
Manchester City Council has launched the main consultation on its 2015-17 budget options, along with a number of individual consultations on specific elements.
Options for consultation were agreed by the council’s Executive on Wednesday 26 November.
They aim to address an estimated funding shortfall of £59m in 2015/16, potentially rising to £90 million in 2016/17.
A lot of people in the local voluntary sector are going to be very angry today. They’re going to feel threatened, undervalued, rejected and hopeless. The Council’s budget proposals will make horrible reading for many people who’ve been working very hard for a long time to make a difference in the city. For some groups this will mean cuts to services and activities. For many it will mean many job losses – the sector is an employer too, after all. For some this may be the last straw and we may see the end of a number of organisations that have made a great contribution to the city.
Manchester City Council have released the following information on their budget cuts:
‘The Council’s difficult financial situation has seen us make £250million of cuts in the last few years.
This year our overall budget is just over £560m.
The latest financial indications from the government show further reductions are required. The Council has therefore produced options to address an estimated funding shortfall of £59m in 2015/16, possibly rising to £91 million in 2016/17.
Since 2010 the amount we have to spend on services has dropped by over 40%.
The ‘double benefit’ that employee volunteering has both for the community and for employees and the organisations they work for, is highlighted in a new research report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Volunteering to Learn: employee development through community action aims to delve into the link between volunteering and employee development in order to understand how employees develop through participating in volunteering schemes.
Would you like to get a free qualification, develop your skills, apply your experiences and enhance your CV? Then volunteering as a Digital or Work Club Mentor might be for you.
By volunteering as a Digital or Work Club Mentor, you will make a difference to people’s lives through your expertise and shared experiences, get some valuable work experience and develop your skills.
Four weeks to go and the Spirit of Manchester Festival is building up nicely.
Out of the many reasons I applied for an internship, probably the one I dwelt on most was the fear of being unprepared for the real world come summer 2015 when I graduate. As I scrolled through available opportunities nothing appeared to spring out at me and I had almost become resigned to the fact that I would return home for the summer in search of any sort of employment that would tide me over till September.