We’re a Leadership Group dedicated to promoting the role and involvement of the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector in Greater Manchester.

We are are a partner in the VCFSE Accord which is a three-way agreement between us, the GMCA and the GM NHS Integrated Care System, based in a relationship of mutual trust, working together, and sharing responsibility. 

As part of the Equalities workstream of the Accord (led by Greater Manchester Equality Alliance (GM=EqAl), we delivered a webinar on Tuesday 10th June which gave participants the opportunity to hear more about a set of principles on including the voice of lived experience in policy making, as well as best practice around remuneration and overcoming barriers to power-sharing.

The webinar was designed to support colleagues in the public sector in Greater Manchester to build confidence to take action to include the voice of lived experience in their work.

Would your organisation, team or network benefit from training on including lived experience? Get in touch to discuss options: lucy.north@vsnw.org.uk

On Thursday, 19th June 2025, the first in a series of roundtables brought together Greater Manchester Primary Care and voluntary community faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) leaders. Emerging themes were our common purpose and vision for improving health and care for all communities across Greater Manchester, opportunities to better align delivery models and infrastructure support, and how we might, in partnership, shape future models of delivery in Greater Manchester.

This Small Charities Week, the GM VCFSE Leadership Group is proud to join a national celebration of the vital role small charities play in communities across the UK. This year’s campaign shines a spotlight on financial resilience, recognising the incredible efforts of small charities to keep delivering, even as costs rise and funding falls.

Take the time this #SmallCharitiesWeek to find out more about the role of the VCFSE sector in Greater Manchester.

In relation to the theme of this year’s campaign, financial resilience, take the opportunity to read more about our campaign on VCFSE sector instability and the response it received.

This is a unique opportunity to lead and shape Greater Manchester’s approach to working with the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector.

As VCFSE Accord Principal, you will act as a catalyst and connector, promoting and facilitating collaboration between the GMCA and wider Group, Greater Manchester NHS/Integrated Care System, and the VCFSE sector, in line with the GM VCFSE Accord.

On Wednesday 9th July, the GMCA will launch the shared vision for the future of Greater Manchester. This includes:

• Outlining ambitious plans for our growing, global city region and its people
• Setting new goals, and forging a pathway to continued success
• Building on and establishing new relationships to make this vision a reality

We look forward to sharing more details in due course.

On Thursday 5th June 2025, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, was hosted on ‘Driving Change: The BIG GM Live Well Bus Tour’, highlighting the amazing work of local community organisations across the city region, and the crucial role they play in shaping a happier, healthier and fairer future.

The tour led by GM Live Well, Local Trust, Locality, and the We’re Right Here campaign for community power, showcased pioneering community-led spaces in Greater Manchester, to support the development of Live Well centres, spaces and offers which have just received £10 million investment from GMCA and NHS GM to tackle health, social and economic inequalities

Read the full update from GMCA at the link below.

On 11th and 12th June, some members of the GM VCFSE Leadership Group attended the NHS ConfedExpo - the UK's leading health and care conference. 

There were clear calls for system change, including rethinking the way we use innovation, prevention, and data. There was also some acknowledgment of the VCFSE sector's role in delivering health and social care.

This monthly bulletin is an overview of the work underway across our health and care system; the progress being made and any key developments.

In the introduction, Mayor and Co-chair of the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, Andy Burnham, speaks about how NHS Greater Manchester have responded to the model ICB blueprint. To support this, Andy and Sir Richard Leese, as joint chairs, wrote on behalf of the GM Integrated Care Partnership Board to share their views on the proposed model. He adds that, in Greater Manchester, we believe that a place-based approach and a strong commitment to the Live Well model are the most effective ways to drive meaningful progress in prevention.

On Wednesday 11th June, Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled the contents of the UK's first multi-year Spending Review since 2021.

The review sets the day-to-day budgets of government departments over the next three years, used to pay staff and deliver public services.

We have gathered together some of the key figures from the Spending Review including local government finance, local growth and place, health, work and employment support, welfare and more. Visit our website to read the summary in full.

Monday 14th July, 10am-12:30pm, Manchester

#DoWith North West is a half-day event hosted by Voluntary Sector North West and The King’s Fund, designed to gather real thoughts, experiences and ideas on how we move from talking about co-production to truly doing it.

We’re bringing people together from the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector, public services, researchers, lived experience networks and beyond, to explore: how do we shift to a real ‘Do With’ approach, not just in theory, but in practice?

Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW) is the regional voluntary sector network for the North West. Our aim is to ensure the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, in all its diversity, takes its full part in shaping the future of the North West.

As part of this, we now need a Partnership Officer to provide partnership and programme support for VSNW’s work across Cheshire and Merseyside.

Salary: £26,692.80 per annum (pro rata for 0.8 FTE, based on full-time NJC Point 23: £33,366)

Working hours: 28 Hours per week (0.8 FTE)

Working arrangement: Hybrid working

Applications deadline: Thursday 10th July at 9am