The last survey in 2017 found there were 1,561 community and voluntary organisations in Bolton, with an estimated income of £137 million. The sector employed the equivalent of 3,000 full time staff and 46,900 volunteers giving 113,500 hours per week, with an estimated value of £102.7 million per year.
The survey results increased the understanding of the voluntary sector and provided valuable evidence to decision makers of the important social and economic contribution the VCSE Sector brings to Bolton.
It is now time to repeat the survey as there have been significant changes within the sector, local areas and Greater Manchester. Particularly as the impact of COVID-19 in 2020 has radically changed how we live and how the sector delivers its services.
We need to know how these changes have affected our sector to enable them to continue to make a difference to people and communities in Bolton.
We are asking a wide range of organisations to take part; large national organisations, small community groups, faith based organisations and tenant’s organisations.
This research will only be useful if enough groups take part to make the response rate significant. This means it is important that as many groups as possible answer. Your answers will be treated in the strictest confidence and not published in a way that identifies your organisation.
We will enter all returned questionnaires from any organisation with a turnover of less than £100k per year into a free prize draw to win £1,000 or two runner up prizes of £200 for their organisation.
The State of the Sector is a partnership research initiative between 10GM (a joint venture to support the VCSE sector across Greater Manchester), GMCVO and locality partners. Leading the research on behalf of the partnership will be the University of Salford.
The survey closes on 25th September 2020.
How the survey will be used We will publish our findings in December 2020 and we will be using the evidence gathered to:
• Ensure that the GMCA / Local Authorities, NHS and CCG, the Police and local businesses are aware of the role of the voluntary and community sector in Greater Manchester. • Influence policy and decision making as we continue to recover and move forward from the impact of the coronavirus. • Influence commissioning and funding plans. • Ensure that decision and policy makers locally and nationally are aware of the impact of recent cuts and public sector reform has had on local groups. • Help plan the services and activities that 10GM and our partners provide to assist local VCSE groups.
Gawthorpe Textiles Collection in Lancashire have two vacancies, as follows:
Job Opportunity: Gawthorpe Textiles Collection Job title: Commercial Development Officer Salary: £29,120 pro rata Location: Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, Nr Burnley, BB12 8UA Hours: Part-time 18 hours per week Contract: Fixed-term to September 2021 Closing date: 4 August 2020
Working alongside the GTC Director, this new role will support the charity to develop its commercial potential. GTC is seeking a self-motivated and proactive individual with strong interpersonal skills, experience in commercial development and marketing to develop GTC’s income generating activity. A small range of products and licensing opportunities have been developed over the past 2 years and GTC now seeks to consolidate and build on this activity. There is also significant untapped potential within the collection to create new commercial opportunities through offering talks, workshops and curatorial services. The key duties of the post will include:
Identifying, prioritising, developing and marketing commercial activities.
Contribution towards the production of commercial development strategies and plans.
Audience development work including research, product testing and evaluation with stakeholders and representative audiences.
Product development – liaising with manufacturers, contemporary artists and makers.
Job title: Ethical Textiles Community Engagement Officer Salary: £32,500 pro rata Location: Gawthorpe Hall, Padiham, Nr Burnley, BB12 8UA Hours: Part-time 16 hours per week Contract: Fixed-term to February 2022 Closing date: 4 August 2020
Ethical Textiles is an 18 month project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. We are seeking to appoint a self-motivated individual with a good knowledge of textile craft and proven success in delivering multi-faceted community focused programmes of activity with groups and individuals from a range of ages, cultures and experience levels.
The key threads of this project will be to:
Create a vibrant and supportive cross cultural social network for residents within the local community based on shared experience and a passion for craft.
Promote intergenerational work to enable older adults to pass on skills, knowledge and expertise to younger generations.
Harness participants desire to utilise skills to make a real difference to the lives of people within the local community.
Tackle real world issues on a local level (including fast fashion, environmental sustainability and plastic pollution), demonstrating that small changes in daily life, can make a significant cumulative impact.
Connect the community with organisations (educational, commercial, environmental etc.) across the local area to build networks and influence change.
Create opportunities for young advocates to emerge who will serve as champions for sustainable activity amongst their peers.
Within this framework the successful post holder will be required to work relatively autonomously to:
Plan and deliver / coordinate two days of textile focused workshops and activities per week initially online and when possible, from Valley Street Community Centre in line with the project activity plan.
Be the lead responsible person for the health and safety of participants.
Develop networks and contacts across sectors of the community and recruit and motivate community members to achieve the project outcomes.
Gather qualitative and quantitative evaluation data.
Recruit, upskill and supervise community activity volunteers and craft ambassadors to deliver project activities and outcomes.
For full details, click here to download the job description and person specification:
Time to off load and share. Our voices telling you how it really is: The highs, the lows, the new learnt talents and how we have been staying connected to our communities….Or have you just been pulling your hair out? Work life and home life = Crazy Life!!!
Bolton at Home Production.
Bolton Digital ‘stories’ podcasts
Short stories from a mix of local people about their experiences during the Coronavirus lockdown
