Staff and volunteers in the voluntary community and social enterprise sector have played a major role in the community response to Covid-19. We want to make sure all workers who directly provide frontline support AND who are working with people clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 across the city can work safely and access Covid-19 vaccinations as soon as possible, wherever they work, whoever they work for, whether as an employee or as a volunteer.

Vaccinations
The scale of this is of course unlike any vaccination programme we have seen before so firstly we need to understand the numbers of people in the workforce who need to be vaccinated and of those, how many are at particular risk. Macc will send a daily update to the local NHS staff who are leading on the vaccination programme. This will ensure your organisation is on the list to be contacted as vaccines become available. As vaccination slots become available, you will be contacted by the vaccination team with further details.

Asymptomatic testing
Around 1 in 3 people who have coronavirus don’t display any symptoms. The Government has announced a scheme to target Covid-19 testing for people who cannot work from home during lockdown. Obviously this applies to keyworkers such as VCSE sector staff and volunteers who are involved in providing support in the community so again, it may be that your workforce needs access to regular testing. Manchester is now offering weekly testing for some frontline staff who are in vital roles that cannot be done from home, where they will have more, unavoidable contact with other people.

Sign up your organisation here
 

As part of our Winter Kindness Campaign we want to make sure everyone has access to up to date information about the support available from local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) organisations in Manchester – and, for those wishing to help, how they can support the work of local community organisations to ensure nobody is left behind during these difficult times.
 
Over the winter, Macc is repurposing our online directory as a free, open resource for pulling all this information together in one place so that local people, public sector partners and businesses can use it. Our directory is Manchester’s public record of VCSE organisations, containing basic information about who they are and what they do. We will expand this with much more detailed information about the support and services on offer, opening times, contact details and information about what organisations need, such as volunteer support or asks for donations and fundraising campaigns.
 
This means that individuals can find what is open and what kinds of support are available. It also helps us at Macc understand what organisations need and how we can support our amazing VCSE colleagues in their continuing response to Covid-19. This is especially important this winter, as we know people and organisations will need support more than ever.
 
Update or register your organisation on our online directory here
 
If you have any questions please email Michelle at: [email protected]

Join us online for our virtual Volunteering Fair

10 March, 6pm - 8pm, Online
 

We are inviting organisations to hold a "Virtual Stall" at our online fair. If you are a volunteer organisation with volunteer roles to fill, then this is the perfect opportunity to meet with potential volunteers that are actively looking for volunteer roles. Tell them about what it is you do, your plans for the future and the volunteering opportunities available within your organisation and make those connections.

Each organisation will have around 10 minutes for their presentation but you are welcome to attend the whole event should you wish. This is a free event for all involved.

Register here

Our Hero From Home microsite offers information, guidance and practical resources on ways you can get involved in lots of different opportunities, events and activities from home. These pages include information about virtual volunteering opportunities that you can do from home, including our Online Advocate role which involves sharing messages of hope and help on social media to support voluntary organisations, charities and communities in Manchester. If you are a group or organisation and would like to add something to the Hero From Home microsite, please contact Volunteer Centre Manchester on 0161 830 4770 or email: [email protected]

Representatives of voluntary sector organisations and local groups in Gorton and Levenshulme have shared their experiences and views of working at a neighbourhood level during the Covid-19 crisis in a new Macc report that will be published on Monday 8 March.

Entitled, No Going Back: Gorton and Levenshulme, the publication gives a platform to 16 local organisations to highlight some of the local voices in a city neighbourhood that don’t often get a hearing. The collection of inspirational stories and quotes focuses on Gorton and Levenshulme, a community area that has faced its fair share of challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In total, 16 organisations contributed to the report including two community associations, a bowling club, an organisation that teaches circus skills (yes, and you may be surprised why that matters!), a youth service, and an organisation that runs classes to reduce stress. The stories feature work with young people, South Asian women, refugees, migrants, people with dementia and older neighbours. The insight they share covers topics from how to make a new home to how to address health inequalities, how to set up a rapid volunteering scheme, how to organise food banks and why we shouldn’t need them.

“The experiences of the local voluntary organisations featured in No Going Back – Gorton and Levenshulme offer a glimpse of how communities can come together to tackle the health and social care crisis in Manchester, a crisis that has been building over the last 20 years and worsened by many years of austerity,” said Mike Wild, Macc Chief Executive. “It is time to take a truly radical approach, one based in a practical and realistic idea of community, the kind of approach illustrated in every story that is highlighted in this publication,” he said.

Look out for the publication next Monday in a special Manchester Community Central bulletin and on social media #NogoingbackMcr

> Community Connector – Wellbeing Matters social prescribing service – Salford at Salford CVS

   Salary: £25,481 per annum | Hours: 35 hours per week | Deadline: 3 March, 5pm

> Communications Officer – Connecting BAME Entrepreneurs (Co-BAME) at GMCVO

   Salary: Starting £26,317 per annum pro rata | Hours: 17.5 hours per week | Deadline: 5 March, 9am

> Trust and Grants Administrator at Henshaws

   Salary: £15,943.20 per annum | Hours: 35 hours per week | Deadline: 5 March

> Project Coordinator at Young Manchester

   Salary: £22,000 per annum pro rata | Hours: 21 hours per week | Deadline: 7 March

> Refuge Caseworker at Stockport Without Abuse

   Salary: £20,258 - £22,656 per annum, pro rata | Hours: 21 hours per week | Deadline: 8 March, 9am

> Collections Officer (Our Town Hall Project) at Manchester City Council

   Salary: £30,451 - £33,782 per annum | Hours: 35 hours per week | Deadline: 9 March

> Answer Cancer Programme Manager at Salford CVS

   Salary: £28,596 per annum, pro rata | Hours: 30 hours per week | Deadline: 15 March, 12pm

> Domestic Abuse Support Advisor at Wythenshawe Safespots

   Salary: £11 per hour | Hours: 12 or 18 hours per week | Deadline: 16 March

> Community Grower at Sow the City

   Salary: £19,000 - £24,000 per annum | Hours: Full time | Deadline: 17 March, 5pm

> Employability and Enterprise Coordinator at HideOut Youth Zone

   Salary: Up to £25,000 per annum | Hours: 40 hours per week | Deadline: 18 March, 9am

> Cleaner at HideOut Youth Zone

   Salary: £8.72 per hour | Hours: 25 hours per week | Deadline: 18 March, 9am

> Resettlement Worker at the Booth Centre
   Salary: £25,481 - £26,511 per annum | Hours: 40 Hours per week | Deadline: 21 March, 4pm  
> Fundraising and Development Manager (Maternity Cover) at the Pankhurst Trust (Incorporating
   Manchester Women’s Aid)

   Salary: £25,000 per annum pro rata | Hours: 21 hours per week | Deadline: 26 March

> Navigator at the Pankhurst Trust (Incorporating Manchester Women’s Aid)

   Salary: £28,190 per annum | Hours: 35 hours per week | Deadline: 29 March

Search for more job opportunities here

Sign up to volunteer and help here

If you are a charity or community group which needs people to help sign up here

In order to support the sector during these unprecedented times access to our Funding Portal is currently open to all VCSE organisations in the city of Manchester. Special thanks to IDOX for allowing us to offer this. If you need any help with using the funding portal please email us: [email protected]

Greater Manchester Older People’s Network – Membership is open to all older people living in Greater Manchester sign up here

Volunteer Coordinator’s newsletters – Email updates and newsletters relevant to those who manage, coordinate or work with volunteers in Manchester sign up here

Keep up to date with the latest news from us on Twitter

@McrCommCentral   @VolunteeringMcr    @PolicyVoiceMacc   

@GMOPN1    @hour_manchester   @SkillGivers    @MikeWildMacc

> Information, factsheets and resources

> Online Directory of VCSE groups

> To sign up to become a member and much more

The aim of the Greater Manchester Older People's Network is to inform and influence Greater Manchester strategies that affect older people. Membership is open to all older people living in Greater Manchester.

Skill Givers

The Skill Givers project has expanded and is now able to offer support to ALL voluntary groups, community groups, charities and social enterprises across Salford and Manchester. Over the next six months we will be focusing on trying to support the voluntary sector with adapting to the new ways of working that have had to be in place due to Covid-19. We want to know how employee volunteers can really make a difference to your organisation – Get in touch and let us know! You can find out more and register for the project on the Skill Givers website or contact the Project Coordinator if you have any questions about how this may work for you organisation, tel: 0791 225 9255, email: [email protected]

Volunteer Centre Manchester provides information, support and training to Manchester residents who want to volunteer and to organisations who work with or involve volunteers.

The Capacity Building Team provides group development support to build the capacity and sustainability of Manchester's voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations. This is available through bespoke, one-to-one support and our training and we co-ordinate a training calendar of other relevant training opportunities from across the city.

Click here for resources on starting a group, governance, funding factsheets, managing / taking on a building, policy templates, a directory of VCSE organisations and much more.

The Policy and Influence Team promotes positive change in Manchester through bringing the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector together, enabling opportunities for constructive dialogue with the statutory and private sectors, encouraging creative solutions and informing the sector about policy and strategic developments.

To get in touch

Telephone information service: 0333 321 3021

• Support line open Monday to Friday 10am - 4pm
• Calls are charged at the same rate as a local call, whether made from a landline or mobile phone

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.manchestercommunitycentral.org