English
العربية
Български
简体中文
繁體中文
Hrvatski
Čeština
Dansk
Nederlands
Suomi
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
한국어
Norsk bokmål
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Español
Svenska
Català
Filipino
עִבְרִית
Bahasa Indonesia
Latviešu valoda
Lietuvių kalba
Српски језик
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Українська
Tiếng Việt
Shqip
Eesti
Magyar
Maltese
ไทย
Türkçe
فارسی
Afrikaans
Bahasa Melayu
Kiswahili
Беларуская мова
Íslenska
Македонски јазик
Հայերեն
Azərbaycan dili
ქართული
اردو
বাংলা
Bosanski
ગુજરાતી
Igbo
ພາສາລາວ
Монгол
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ
Afsoomaali
தமிழ்
తెలుగు
Yorùbá
Basa Sunda
O‘zbekchaBlog
Mike Wild
During the recent bout of hot weather, I somehow managed to come down with a cold. I not only felt ill, I also felt ridiculous: I mean who gets a cold in the middle of a heatwave? As I write this, figures have just been released showing that the country’s economy is slowly starting to grow again after the recession. It’s a similar feeling: I’m being told it’s lovely out there but it feels…
People/communities experiencing racial inequalities, Children and Families, Commissioning , Community Engagement, Crime and Disorder, Environment, Equalities, Faith, Health and Wellbeing, Learning, Skills and Employment, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Older People, Physical Disability, Policy and Influence, Transgender, Volunteering, Young People, Other
Nigel Rose
There is much glib talk of a level playing field in procurement and commissioning. The theory is that there is an open, transparent and fair process which gives all organisations bidding for a contract an equal opportunity of "winning". Let's look at how level this playing field is.
First an anecdote! Many years ago I was heavily involved in campaigning for the rights of people with mental health…
Mike Wild
I've mentioned previously that there's a danger that this blog becomes a series of rants about things I'm angry about. Well not today, at least!
Our State of the Voluntary Sector report shows there are over 3000 voluntary and community groups in Manchester. I don't know them all but I do know a lot of them and one of the great pleasures of my job is that I get to see some of the amazing things…
People/communities experiencing racial inequalities, Capacity Building, Children and Families, Commissioning , Community Engagement, Community First, Crime and Disorder, Environment, Equalities, Faith, Funding, Health and Wellbeing, Learning, Skills and Employment, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Older People, Physical Disability, Transgender, VCM, Volunteering, Young People, Other
Nigel Rose
Spot purchasing is a new and strange idea to many voluntary organisations but is becoming more common as public bodies seek to reduce costs. It can be a far riskier form of funding if it contributes significantly to the financial viability of an organisation, as there are usually no guarantees of income, unlike grants or fixed contracts. This article examines a few of the considerations that need…
Mike Wild
Judging by the phone calls, emails and tweets I and my colleagues have had, the report in Third Sector of comments by Geoff Little (Deputy CEO of Manchester City Council) addressing the Charity Finance Group conference earlier this week has sent a shockwave around the voluntary and community sector not just in Manchester but the rest of the country too.
It's not the best idea to respond to a…
A Listening Event with Jon Cruddas MP, Labour Party Policy Coordinator
A debate was organised by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in Wythenshawe on Monday to look at parenting policies. Jon Cruddas was the keynote speaker (author of the Labour Party’s Election Manifesto for 2015). In theory, this was planned to be a ‘listening’ event to define the central challenges for social…
Mike Wild
This morning I was in the happy position of being able to present our new research into the state of the voluntary sector in Manchester. It has been a long-held ambition of mine to be able to show the full extent of the enormous contribution which voluntary organisations, community groups, social enterprises and the community work of faith groups make to the city.
Like many of the major…
People/communities experiencing racial inequalities, Capacity Building, Children and Families, Commissioning , Community Engagement, Community First, Crime and Disorder, Environment, Equalities, Faith, Funding, Health and Wellbeing, Learning, Skills and Employment, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Older People, Physical Disability, Transgender, VCM, Volunteering, Young People, Other
Nigel Rose
One way of describing my role as Strategic Lead on Commissioning is that it is “to improve commissioning between public authorities and the voluntary and community sector (VCS) ”. This raises the question “what is a public authority?”
The definition of public authority is particularly important in the procurement phase of commissioning as there are special rules that dictate how procurement…
Nigel Rose
Salford Foundation is one of the very few VCS organisation in Greater Manchester that has trialed the cost benefit analysis (CBA) model developed by New Economy and a central plank of the Greater Manchester Community Budgets pilot. The CBA was carried out on the Together Women Project as part of ongoing attempts to prove the worth of the project and attract funding from public authorities. The…
Manchester City Council are reviewing a range of voluntary and community sector contracts/grants and are proposing to expand the use of volunteering as a way of reconciling increasing demand for social care support with cuts to social care funding.
This has triggered some concerns and debate within the VCS and within the Macc team about the proposed project that will ‘stretch their local offer on…
The Manchester Black and Minority Ethnic Network (MBMEN) at its February networking event heard from speakers about the changes that are coming to the Welfare system. Participants expressed great concern about the need for more information and worried about the impact of the changes on families, friends, children and vulnerable communities.The Government says it has instituted welfare reform to…
Climate change affects us all, especially the most vulnerable and it’s really important that we all engage with this issue; it’s not going away! The Manchester BME Network in partnership with its members, MC-UK, Creative Hands and Salford Refugee Network is undertaking a project looking at “Climate change and BME Communities “with a specific focus on two vulnerable communities; older people…