Thank you to everybody who took the time to complete our recent survey on the barriers to attending free workshops and training. The feedback we received has been valuable and will inform how Macc continues to deliver sessions going forwards and, more broadly, our work supporting the community and voluntary sector in Manchester.
As with many of our sector colleagues, Macc’s intention will always be to run free events and training. We do however want to highlight that there are a number of costs involved, including but not limited to; facilitator time, admin, production of resources, venue hire and catering.
We were motivated to launch the survey based on an increasing trend of the level of attendance at sessions not reflecting the amount of registrations. We understand that people cannot always make it for a number of valid reasons and survey feedback has highlighted a number of complexities to consider (Insights from this feedback will be shared in the near future). We also recognise that many community and voluntary organisations may have noticed a similar trend of non-attendance for their delivery and that this is a broader issue in what is a difficult economic climate.
Although we acknowledge the mitigating factors, one of the main challenges we face as a provider is people not informing us when they are unable to attend sessions. This has a number of consequences, the most difficult being that we are unable to offer these places to those on waiting lists. Ultimately, any ‘wasted’ places lead to less investment in the sector as a whole and mean that important training needs are not always met.
Macc is committed to making our offer as accessible and relevant as possible. We value the voice of everybody in Manchester and all feedback shared with us is valuable in highlighting the gaps and barriers that exist to provision in the sector. This survey, coupled with the Training Needs Analysis (launching w/c 20 October) allows us to better understand what you want delivery to look like. The feedback will help shape our offer to people and communities in Manchester to further their knowledge and maximise their impact.
Amongst other things, the Training Needs Analysis survey offers respondents the chance to tell us about the training they are engaging with, how useful they are finding it, and what more they would like to see. Keep an eye out for the survey when it launches next week!
If you have any questions about the training provision at Macc or any further insights you’d like to share, please contact us by email: training@mcrcommunitycentral.org