Third Sector Policy and Grants

The Third Sector Team manages a central revenue investment programme.  A budget of approximately £2 million is led by funding strategies that support community and voluntary sector activity in the following areas:

• Community Centres and Associations
  
• Access and equality initiatives:
  BME Projects 2009-2012
  Disability Led Projects
  LGB and Gender Projects
  
• Infrastructure Support for the voluntary and community sectors

A Best Value review of Voluntary Sector Policy and Funding took place in 2003. This concluded that direct services should not be funded centrally from the Chief Executives department. This review continues to drive the way in which the central revenue funding is allocated. It is not used to fund service specific work but provides support for cross cutting work led by strategies developed through consultation with the relevant sectors.

Funding is allocated on a three-year basis following an application process. A full list of supported projects follows:

COMMUNITY CENTRES AND ASSOCIATIONS

The purpose of this programme is to provide funding to community associations in relation to the level of activity that the centre undertakes. The funding strategy identified a range of eligible activities that can be supported through this fund:

• Provision of community centre premises. The premises must be openly available to all local community and interest groups. The Community Association should have a policy that gives local community groups and activities a priority in using the centre.
• Delivery of services or activities directly to residents, where the service or activity would not be eligible for funding from any City Council service departments.
• Development, support or co-ordination of other local groups.
• Local community regeneration, where the association is actively involved in local regeneration and thematic partnership work for, and on behalf of, their local community and are valid representatives of local interests.

ACCESS AND EQUALITY INITIATIVES

This part of the central  revenue programme supports various initiatives linked to priorities set by the Chief Executives Service Inclusion Team. For more information about the Councils equality policy see the website www.manchester.gov.uk/ and use the A to Z to search for Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

BME FUNDING (2009-12):

The Black and Minority Ethnic funding strategy for 2009-2012 is a result of the research carried out in June 2008 by Manchester City Council in partnership with Manchester Council for Community Relations (MCCR).  The priorities in this strategy have been developed through the consultation and are based on identified community needs and gaps in services that currently exist.

The BME funding programme for 2009 - 2012 was launched in September 2008 with a closing date of 15 December 2008. We received 82 applications to the value of £4milion. This is a significant increase to the last round of BME funding programme, which took place in 2005.

After visiting many of the applicant groups to learn more about their proposals, 18 groups were successful in securing funding for their projects, which are being delivered over a three-year period.  Below you can see the list of successful groups and the priority area/s for which they have been funded.

Manchester City Council and the Manchester BME Network jointly commissioned CLES Consulting to undertake a review of its BME Funding Strategy and Implementation Process. The report sets out recommendations on how the Fund can be made more accessible and supportive to the needs of the BME communities in Manchester.

To view these, please select from these two links:

• BME News Release Feb 2010
• BME Fund Review Final Report

DISABILITY LED PROJECTS:

This part of the central  revenue programme supports various initiatives linked to priorities set by the Chief Executives Service Inclusion Team. For more information about the Councils equality policy see the website www.manchester.gov.uk/ and use the A to Z to search for Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND GENDER FOCUSED PROJECTS:

This part of the central  revenue programme supports various initiatives linked to priorities set by the Chief Executives Service Inclusion Team. For more information about the Councils equality policy see the website www.manchester.gov.uk/ and use the A to Z to search for Equal Opportunities and Diversity.

INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT FOR THE VOLUNTARY AND COMMUNITY SECTORS

The Third Sector Team commissions a single service to provide capacity building services and information for voluntary and community groups in Manchester. The provider of this service from January 2010 is Manchester Community Central www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/.