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My role is to lead Macc, developing the organisation so we play a useful role in the life of Manchester. I keep a watch on policy issues, try to be creative in new ways to make more good things happen in the city and speak up on behalf of the local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. I build relationships with a wide range of partners and support our Trustees in ensuring Macc and the rest of the sector makes a real difference in Manchester. In other words I try to get more people doing socially useful stuff.
About a year ago, I wrote a blog which focused on the development of the Manchester Local Care Organisation. Its subtitle was Episode IV: A New Hope. Now that the LCO is officially launching on 1st April, I’m finding myself wondering what this moment actually means? And which bit of Star Wars is it?
"Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was “Oh no, not again”.
I’m writing this in the final days of 2017 and a list of things which will affect charities, community groups, voluntary organisations and social enterprises even just within Manchester is something you can never actually finish writing (note to self: write more blogs this year) but here are the things which are swishing around in my head as things to think about for 2018.
I'm delighted to share a blog written by Dr Sohail Munshi, reflecting on the response to the events at the MEN Arena this week. (Click here to read Macc's response)
I’ve never written a blog before so this is a first.
So, here we are again.
Among the many questions raised by last year's EU Referendum, is whether charities and voluntary organisations and social enterprises were too quiet in the debate. I'd say this was definitely the case.
It's 29th March 2017. So in an attempt to be positive about what the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector can do as Brexit officially starts, here's a short video blog we made.
You know that game where you have to pick the people, living or dead, you’d most like to have round a dinner table? Being a bit of an ideas geek, I have a similar thing about who I’d like to hear speak at my dream conference. I’m lucky that I occasionally get to hear some brilliant speakers from the world of charities and social enterprises.
In so many ways 2016 wasn’t a great year was it? There seemed to be tragic stories flying at us every day which were about the worst sides of humanity. It was often hard to remember the positives. I doubt that is going to change very much in 2017. It’s very tempting to write a lot of words about the new political realities but other people are far better qualified to do that than I am. Being someone who has a healthy respect for people with knowledge - call them experts if you like - I’ll leave that to them.
Manchester Evening News: Tributes paid to community campaigner Dr Sylvia Sham
I can’t help thinking that writing this is the last thing Dr. Sylvia Sham would want me to be doing. I’m sure she’d be saying that I should be getting on with more important stuff. But I need to take time to adjust my brain a bit because I’ve got to get used to asking myself “What would Sylvia have said?”. Past tense. And it’s just guesswork because I can’t ask her any more.
Macc’s purpose is to encourage, support and develop voluntary and community groups and individuals to have a real influence over the places and communities in which they live. So for that reason alone, we’re supporting the People’s Plan as a non-partisan, citizen-led movement bringing new and seldom-heard voices into the conversation about the future of Greater Manchester.
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