VCSE Covid Recovery Fund

Manchester Health and Care Commissioning, Manchester City Council, One Manchester and Young Manchester are investing over £1million in a new fund, to support voluntary and community sector organisations to work together to help to strengthen their support to people across the city.

The Covid-19 pandemic and multiple lockdown periods has affected us all. Whilst continuing to provide some brilliant and much needed support to people, many organisations in the voluntary sector have also had to deal with significant challenges to their services, staffing, buildings and finances. This is at a time where support to residents and communities is needed more than ever.

The VCSE Covid Recovery Fund has been set up with the aim of having a strong, vibrant and resilient sector that we want to be here for years to come and organisations on the ground, out in communities continuing to collectively support and meet the needs of Manchester residents. As we look ahead to our recovery from Covid we know that providing the funding and space for organisations to come together and develop solutions to challenges will be needed and will be an important part in making this a reality.

The VCSE Covid Recovery Fund will reach out across the city and fund voluntary sector organisations to come together and use a range of activities such as training with partners to support accessing new funding, leadership development support, and collaboration that supports the development of shared systems and peer to peer work all of which will reach and benefit residents and communities. The funding partners will be working together to jointly support this funding programme.

Dr Ruth Bromley, Chair of Manchester Health and Care Commissioning:
“MHCC is delighted to invest in this important initiative. The VCSE sector in Manchester plays a huge role in keeping people healthy and well in the city, and we are all keen to make sure that we do our best to help the sector during these challenging times.”

Councillor Bev Craig, Executive Member for Adult Health and Wellbeing:
“We know that the Covid pandemic has exacerbated health and wealth inequalities in the city, and supporting our communities recover from the crisis is a priority for the city. Tackling inequalities has been a focus of our response in the pandemic working alongside communities and this additional health investment in the voluntary and community sector is one example of the holistic approach to improving wellbeing. The work the voluntary sector
does is vital and anything that continues to help the sector to come together, support each other and make sure what they offer together makes a difference to everyone affected by life during and after Covid”

Councillor Angeliki Stogia, Executive Lead Member for VCSE:
“VCSE organisations draw up on their staff, trustees and volunteers who often have first-hand experience of issues residents are facing to respond to complex challenges that the city is facing. These organisations often respond in an agile way to work with different communities of identity and communities across the city to deliver tailored interventions to those that need it the most. We want to support organisations to do more of this collectively because we know that it will make a difference to the people in this city!”

Anton Schultz, Social Investment Manager at One Manchester:
“One Manchester are supporting the COVID recovery fund because we value the vital roles that local organisations play in creating communities and supporting the people of Manchester. Recovery from COVID means that organisations will need to work differently to support the significant and changing needs of our communities. As funders, we also need to work differently and coordinate where we can so that we can to meet the challenges ahead which is why we are pleased to be supporting this partnership.”

Roukagia Afan, Trustee of Young Manchester:
“This last year has had an extraordinary impact on everyone - including children and young people, Young Manchester is delighted to be a key partner in this fund which will help the VCS to work together to meet the needs and harness the strengths of Manchester residents - both now and into the future.”

More information about this fund and how voluntary sector organisations across the city can get involved will be available from next month and it will be open from May 2021.

For more information click here or email: [email protected]