See what's happening this month in the world of volunteering!

Happy October from the Volunteer Centre Manchester!

We hope you're getting cosy as autumn rolls around, the leaves start falling, and the days get shorter.

In this month's newsletter, we delve into upcoming training and events, what's on for Black History Month, new funding opportunities and exciting VCSE job vacancies!

Best wishes,
Alex, Richard, Sean and Jack

OUR WEBSITE

Volunteer Centre Manchester Updates

Get To Know Trusteeship event

Are you interested in becoming a trustee or joining a board? Come along to this event to meet organisations!

St Thomas Centre, Ardwick

Wednesday 4 November

5:30 - 8 pm

We want to encourage connections between potential trustees and directors and the recruiting charities and organisations from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector.

If you are looking for trustees and would like to come to the event in an organisational capacity, please email alex@macc.org.uk to find out more.

BOOK HERE

Volunteer Coordinators Forum

The Volunteer Co-ordinators Forum (VCF) is a chance for people who are responsible for involving volunteers to come together. It is a peer support space facilitated by Volunteer Centre Manchester, where you can share ideas and resources you have found useful and seek support and advice from other volunteer coordinators in the city.

St Thomas Centre, Ardwick

Wednesday 4 November

10:30 am - 12:30 pm

News, Events and Training

Volunteer Engagement Training

Join Salford CVS and Rob Jackson on Tuesday 10^th November 2026, 10am – 4.00pm for this session aimed at Volunteer Managers and Coordinators.

Rob Jackson is an international leading voice in volunteer management and published author on the subject.

Mixing presentation and interactive discussions, this session will help you to understand and engage people as volunteers for your organisation. You’ll take steps to preparing or refreshing an effective volunteer engagement strategy.

Cost: £60

Sign the Asylum Matters open letter

Charities and the people who work and volunteer for them are facing growing hostility, intimidation and abuse, simply for carrying out their vital work. The recent abuse directed at the RNLI because of its role in rescuing people crossing the English Channel is one example of a wider and deeply concerning pattern.

It is more vital than ever to support colleagues and organisations when they face hostility, share learning about how to keep people safe, and defend the space in which civil society can operate freely and safely.

If you would like to show your support, Asylum Matters has launched an open letter to the Prime Minister and solidarity statement, "Protect our charities", which organisations and individuals can sign.

SIGN TODAY

Black History Month events calendar

October is Black History Month, and this years' events directory is now live and can be accessed by clicking the button below.

If you have any BHM events or activities taking place across your borough or networks, please upload the details so we can build a comprehensive picture of what is happening across Greater Manchester and help promote activity. Alternatively, take your volunteers to celebrate the month by going to one of the events on the calendar!

DIRECTORY

LGBT+ Get Active Fund

Thanks to funding from London Marathon Foundation, The LGBT+ Fund will be awarding a total of £400,000 paid over 2 years, to successful applicant organisations and groups working in LGBT+ sports and physical activities across the UK.

The fund aims to invest much needed resource into community based LGBT+ sports and physical activity-focused organisations and projects across the UK. It will prioritise grassroots groups supporting LGBT+ communities who face additional barriers to participation.

APPLY NOW

Job Opportunities

Live Well Manager

Manchester Community Central (Macc) is playing a central role in the development of Live Well Manchester – the city’s commitment to shifting investment from crisis response to prevention, building community resilience and strengthening the relationship between public services and communities. Alongside our existing funded programmes – the Live Well Communities Fund and the Spaces of Hope programme – Macc has secured Implementation Fund support to build the connective infrastructure that holds the city’s Live Well approach together.

The Live Well Manager will provide strategic oversight of all of Macc’s Live Well work, leading the Live Well Team and acting as Macc’s senior relationship holder with Manchester City Council and other public sector partners on Live Well.
The role also connects to Greater Manchester’s Live Well programme through Macc’s role within 10GM, the network of Greater Manchester’s Local Infrastructure Organisations.

Location: Manchester

Hours: 35/week, Full time

Salary: £38,945 per year

Deadline: Monday 26 October

APPLY

Multiple roles

African Rainbow Family is looking for people who are dynamic passionately committed to upholding the rights of LGBTIQ+ refugees and people seeking asylum at a critical time for the future of the asylum system and the rights of refugees. They are currently recruiting multiple roles:

We are a small but friendly and specialist team that work with an extensive network of frontline partners to advocate for progressive change in the asylum and immigration system. We are based in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, London, and Swansea.

Location: Varies

Hours: Mostly full-time, some part-time

Salary: Varies

Deadline: Friday 30 October

APPLY

Find more jobs at the GM Recruitment Hub - a free job board advertising vacancies in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in Greater Manchester. We host a variety of roles across the city, with jobs across all 10 boroughs. Click below to find your next role, or upload a vacancy!

View More VCSE Job Opportunities

Volunteer Opportunities

Director for Mental Health CIC

We are seeking to appoint two volunteer Directors for CHARM PROJECTS CIC, a mental health organisation. We are looking for individuals with skills in governance, finance and/or fundraising with a deep commitment to compassionate, rights-based approaches to supporting deep distress.

Deadline 30 October

Walking Facilitator

Want to make a real difference? Family SEN Group is seeking an enthusiastic facilitator with lived experience with SEND/ neurodivergent to lead monthly weekend walks in Manchester City.
You choose the route, and we handle the rest, providing an accessible map and full advertising. We support families of all shapes and sizes—defined entirely by them, including single owners with dogs.

Competition Judge Volunteer

The English Speaking Union works with young people and their teachers to improve oracy skills, particularly in areas of disadvantage. Running three national and one international competition, we give young people the opportunity to hone these skills, and offer a variety of cultural exchanges for students, teachers and professionals alike to build relationships and strengthen connections across communities and countries.

View More Volunteering Opportunities

Employer Supported Volunteering

To further develop our ESV pages, we want to offer businesses information about VCSE groups and organisations who are happy to take enquiries, organisations who are looking for short-term skilled support. We will continue to send out request forms from businesses should they not find anything appropriate on the website. We are also collating stories from charities and businesses on their experiences of taking part in employer supported volunteering schemes.

If you are looking for skilled volunteering support, your request can be developed into a short-term opportunity. Skilled volunteering opportunities often take place over one day, where individual employee volunteers can complete tasks and projects that will provide the chance to share skills, learn new ones and really make a lasting difference to your organisation.

Perhaps you could benefit from a data-based employee creating a spreadsheet that makes monthly reporting easier and saves you time, perhaps a graphic designer could make you a new logo, a software designer could update your website, or you could receive management mentoring. Or you could be supported other ways which build the capacity of your group; such as HR or business development.

If you have anything you would like to put on our website in any of the above categories, or would like to discuss this further, please email Jack at jack@macc.org.uk.

Macc Membership

Are you interested in being a Macc Member?

By joining our membership, you will not only gain access to resources, events and support, but also have the opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and organisations who share your interests and passions. Macc values of being supportive, collaborative and influential are at the core of our membership with members encouraged to share their knowledge and skills with one another.

We believe, that by working together, we can achieve great things and make a positive impact across the city of Manchester and wider. So why not join us and become part of our growing network. We would love to have you as a member!