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"Welcome. This video covers the basics of the Our Manchester Voluntary and Community Sector Fund which is managed by the Our Manchester funds team and is launching on the 1st of September for applications. The video will give you a brief overview of the fund, including who can apply, how to apply and a bit about the application and assessment process. For more information please read the fund documentation on our website."
"The Our Manchester VCS fund is £2.4m a year for 3 years, or £7.2m in total, subject to our budget being agreed. This level of funding shows just how serious the council is about working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in Manchester. The fund aims to support the incredible work that Manchester’s VCSE sector does to deliver on the ambitions of the Our Manchester strategy. That strategy was refreshed in the last couple of years, and the Our Manchester VCS fund has also been refreshed to keep it up to date and reflective of the city that we live and work in today. This is the second time we’re running this programme and we want to build on the strong foundations that were achieved in the first round. We know that the VCSE sector and the city have been affected by some incredible challenges in the last couple of years, and the way that the VCSE organisations funded through the Our Manchester VCS fund responded to those challenges was inspiring to see. We’re really excited to see what can be achieved this time around!"
"The fund is aimed at organisations delivering services and activities that benefit Manchester residents aged 18 and over. It can cover both core and activity costs Organisations can be involved in a maximum of two applications – one as an individual organisation, and one as a named partner as part of a partnership bid. You cannot, though, apply as an individual organisation and as the lead partner for a partnership bid."
"The purpose of the fund is to support and invest in a healthy and thriving local voluntary sector, so that it can continue to support Manchester’s residents and focus on what the sector excels at in addressing some of the city’s highest priorities."
"The aims of the programme reflect this purpose and where we’re at as a city. They are:
- Addressing inequalities and building inclusion - We want to strengthen the contribution of Manchester's VCSE sector to taking action which addresses the inequalities experienced by a diverse range of people in the city.
- Promoting communities’ health and wellbeing - We aim to support the services and assistance delivered by Manchester’s VCSE sector, which has a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of residents and addresses some of the day-to-day barriers that prevent people from being well.
- Tackling poverty - We aim to support VCSE sector work that creates routes out of poverty for Manchester residents, such as through work, skills, advice, food and basic living support. We want to focus on addressing some of the conditions and causes that lead to poverty, working to prevent some of the poorest outcomes.
The programme will fund a wide variety of activities across Manchester’s neighbourhoods that meet these aims."
"The sorts of things we’re looking to fund are:
- Direct services or activities that are accessible to and appropriate for a diverse range of local people or users of the organisation
- Influencing or change activities that seek to influence other organisations or communities about the needs, wishes, experiences and rights of the main users of the organisation.
- Networking, collaboration and partnership support activities that are carried out by an organisation, over an extended period of time, to improve the effectiveness of organisations when working with residents.
The grant programme will fund activities for adults across a range of priority groups – for details of these priority groups, please see our prospectus."
"Groups can apply at three different levels – small, medium and large. Small grants start at £10,000 a year for three years, medium grants start at £40,000 a year for three years and Large grants start at £70,000 a year for three years. There are no restrictions on what you can apply for other than the minimum of £10,000 a year and a maximum of £100,000 per year."
"There are two parts to eligibility for the fund: One is our minimum criteria which all groups must meet, including named partners. These are the nuts and bolts of how your organisation operates, which should be in place already. The other is demonstrating that you meet the fund’s expectations. This is evidenced in the application form and any supporting evidence you send us."
"You can find out more about the minimum criteria in the fund documentation, but in summary:
- Your organisation must already have worked with Manchester citizens for at least 18 months
- It must be a constituted organisation with its own bank account
- Your organisation's setup must support the work you’re doing – so for example it’ll have charitable objectives, be non-party political and so on.
- If you’re successful at the application stage we’ll ask you to provide documents and policies at the due diligence stage
- There is a full list of minimum criteria in the prospectus – please check it before applying; only organisations that meet the minimum criteria will be able to apply.
To help you check if your organisation meets these criteria we’ve created an eligibility checker which you can find in the description below this video. This will help you to make sure this is the right fund for you, before you complete your application form."
"Because we’re looking to invest in a healthy and thriving sector, we’re looking for applicant organisations to evidence five expectations in their application. These will look different for each applicant but we want all organisations that apply to tell us the following:
- Firstly, Demonstrating impact – we want to hear about the activities you’ve delivered with and for residents over at least the last 18 months, but more than that we want to hear about what those activities have achieved, the positive difference you’ve made and how that can be sustained.
- Secondly, That they are Well run - We’ll be looking for applicants to demonstrate how their organisation is operated in a way that increases the effectiveness of their activities
- Taking a Strengths based approach - We want to fund organisations that work with and build on the unique strengths, capacities and knowledge of Manchester citizens of each community and area in the city.
- Number 4 is about a Collaborative approach - we want applicants to evidence how their organisation works with other organisations and connects to what else is going on in the city, to positively impacts their work and residents’ outcomes.
- Finally, number 5 is Value for money - this will be assessed in the context of the whole application, looking at the evidence supplied across all the expectations, the impact that is delivered from a reasonable investment and the total contribution to the programme’s aims"
"We’re asking applicants to the programme to outline for us what actions they’re already taking and will take in the future around two huge priorities for the city: climate change and the real living wage. Making progress against these priorities is everybody’s business, and we want to support our funded VCSE groups to play a key role in delivering change for the city on each of them. Our application form and guidance document will let you know where you can get further information and support on these new and vitally important components of the fund."
"Applicants should apply online using Smart Survey. Please see the documentation and our website for the link to the application form. Let us know if you need the application form in a different format for accessibility reasons. The fund opens for applications on 1 September at 9.00 am to 5.00 pm on 10 October. We can’t accept applications received after the deadline so if you are having problems with the form let us know as soon as possible so we have enough time to resolve any issues."
"There is support available to help you complete the application. On our website you’ll find a Guidance document – this is separate to the prospectus and explains what we are looking for in your application. You’ll also find dates for a series of information events which cover the same material as this video and also give the chance to ask us questions and meet other applicants. Manchester’s VCSE infrastructure organisation, Macc, will be at these events and will also be running their own sessions for those that want support and guidance with the application process."
"Our decision making process consists of the following steps:
- Firstly, all applications will be checked to ensure they meet our criteria
- Then a selection panel, with an independent and non-voting chair, will assess eligible bids and make recommendations on which ones should be funded.
- The panel will seek to identify a programme which meets the fund’s core purpose and delivers a diverse spread across neighbourhoods and communities of identity.
- The panel’s recommendations will then go to our Programme board for a final decision.
- Following the board’s decision, both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be informed by email in December.
- We’ll then carry out due diligence checks on successful groups before confirming the final decisions.
- Funded activity will start in April 2023."
"If you need any help with anything at all, please visit our website. If you need to get in touch with us email omfunds@manchester.gov.uk. Thank you for watching and on behalf of the team, good luck with your application!"
Read the full funding information and view guidance documents