The GM Live Well Team would like to invite anyone who is a part of the GM Live Well movement to apply to take part in their first ever GM Live Well Assembly.
As part of Live Well’s commitment to community-led, system-enabled ways of working, the Live Well Assembly will be held from 23-25 March 2026. The GM Live Well Team will be exploring how to embed the principles of shifting decision-making and resources closer to communities through Live Well decision-making structures, and what this means in practice for how Live Well is governed. Together, people who take part in the Assembly will make recommendations for how this can be achieved.
The GM Live Well Assembly is inspired by the Citizens’ Assembly model. Over three days, 30 randomly selected participants will come together to:
- Deliberate on how a GM Live Well Alliance can support how we shift decision-making and resources closer to communities
- Consider what this means in practice for how GM Live Well should be governed
- Hear from expert witnesses who will help inspire new ideas
- Develop a set of recommendations for how the GM Alliance should take shape
The Assembly will have 25 places for community leaders, with leadership defined in the broadest terms. The GM Live Well Team understand a community leader to be someone who enables people and organisations to come together around shared purpose, voice, and action.
Community leadership may be rooted in grassroots organising, social justice, equalities work, mutual aid, or the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector. It is defined by values and practice, rather than by formal authority or institutional position.
The GM Live Well Team would like to consider applications if you:
- Are connected to, or actively involved in, a community of place or community of identity in Greater Manchester
- Have experience of growing community capacity, voice, or power
- Want to help shape how communities influence decisions that affect them
- Are available to attend the Assembly dates, including the pre-meeting
To create strong connections to Live Well implementation in localities and to existing Live Well governance, the Assembly will also include three places for members of the GM Live Well Board, and five places for people working within a Greater Manchester council or a local infrastructure organisation.
To ensure the Assembly reflects the diversity of Greater Manchester, applicants will be randomly selected against predetermined demographics, using a method called sortition.
GM Moving are looking to recruit an Assembly that meets the following criteria:
- Age – 25% of the Assembly will be aged 18-30 / 50% of the Assembly will be aged 30-65 / 25% of the Assembly will be aged over 65
- Education level – At least 50% of the Assembly are not university educated
- Ethnicity – At least 30% of the Assembly are ethnically diverse
- Gender identity – At least 50% of the Assembly are women / At least 40% of the Assembly are men / At least 10% of the Assembly have a different gender identity to that registered at birth
- Sexual orientation – At least 20% of the Assembly are gay, lesbian or bisexual
- Disability – At least 25% of the Assembly have a disability
- Household income – At least 50% of the Assembly will have a household income of less than £40,000
- Location – Each Greater Manchester borough would have equal representation
The Assembly will take place in person over three days: 23 March – 25 March 2026 at the Mechanics Institute in Manchester.
People who are taking part in an unpaid role will be remunerated at £150 per day (£450 inclusive) plus expenses for their time. Voluntary sector organisations who apply for a staff member to attend will be paid £200 for taking part plus expenses to cover capacity.
Apply here by 28th February.