As I write this, the team are just about to head over to the Mechanics Institute for today's Emergency Voluntary Sector Assembly event to discuss the impact of Council budget proposals on the work of the voluntary and community groups in Manchester.
Manchester City Council has launched the main consultation on its 2015-17 budget options, along with a number of individual consultations on specific elements.
Options for consultation were agreed by the council’s Executive on Wednesday 26 November.
They aim to address an estimated funding shortfall of £59m in 2015/16, potentially rising to £90 million in 2016/17.
Four weeks to go and the Spirit of Manchester Festival is building up nicely.
Out of the many reasons I applied for an internship, probably the one I dwelt on most was the fear of being unprepared for the real world come summer 2015 when I graduate. As I scrolled through available opportunities nothing appeared to spring out at me and I had almost become resigned to the fact that I would return home for the summer in search of any sort of employment that would tide me over till September.
One of the things I love most about working in the voluntary sector is that if you have a really good idea you can generally find a way to make it happen. It might take a while – things like our State of the Sector and Civil Economy work were on my wishlist for years before we were finally able to publish the finished work. But sometimes you can be taken by surprise at how fast you can go from the idea to it actually happening.