Greater Manchester has an allocation of £356 million of European Structural Funds for the 2014-20 programme.
The Funds, overall, are designed to reduce economic inequalities by targeting additional resources at developing skills, jobs and enterprise for those people and areas which need extra help. There is also clear acknowledgement of the importance of social inclusion and social innovation as necessary conditions of economic inclusion; this is similarly acknowledged in the Greater Manchester Strategy, which also acknowledges the importance of our sector in delivering this.
The Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has responsibility to design a detailed European Structural Investment Funds (ESIF) plan and find match funding.
Executive support for the LEP is provided by New Economy with which GMCVO – advocating for the interests of the local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector – has a very close working relationship.
A number of Greater Manchester organisations representing the interests of important sectors (including GMCVO and Network for Europe) have been very involved in supporting New Economy with developing the plan, and will continue to work with them over the next more practical phase.
A short series of half-day meetings to brief voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations on the new European funding programme have been organised by GMCVO.
There will be four events on:
• 14 October at the St Thomas Centre, Manchester
• 24 October at the Bolton Hub
• 7 November at Age UK, Oldham
• 14 November at Salford Innovation Forum
For further information and to book a place at one of the events, visit: www.gmcvo.org.uk/european-programme-2014-20