We are excited to announce the upcoming VCSE Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Hustings 2024. This event offers a unique opportunity for the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector to engage with mayoral candidates as they lay out their visions, priorities and strategies for the future of Greater Manchester. The hustings is an opportunity to hear how candidates intend to work with the VCSE sector to strengthen cross-sector partnerships and keep driving change for the people of Greater Manchester; to support this, a celebration of the achievements of the sector will take place before the candidates address attendees.
We are pleased to announce that the Hustings will be chaired by Ben Gilchrist. Ben is a campaigner and facilitator who cares about social justice, peace and people’s empowerment and participation.
Candidates in attendance
Labour – Andy Burnham
Liberal Democrats – Jake Austin
Green – Astrid Johnson is attending as a substitute for candidate Hannah Spencer, as Hannah is unable to attend due to work commitments. Astrid Johnson is the leader of the Green Party Group on Manchester City Council.
Candidates invited that are unable to attend
Conservative – Laura Evans – unable to attend due to prior commitment
A note on candidate invitations
Due to limited time for the hustings and to ensure candidates get fair chance to answer questions on a full range of matters important to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, we are limiting candidate invitations to representatives whose parties received a vote share of over 3% in the last GM Metro Mayoral election in 2021.
During registration, attendees will have the opportunity to submit a question for a Q&A session. Questions will be selected to cover an array of VCSE issues and to ensure the session remains focused and efficient.
The event agenda includes networking, allowing attendees to connect with colleagues across the sector in GM, and refreshments.
Planned Agenda (subject to change)
10.30 – 11.30: Refreshments and networking
11.30 – 12.00: VCSE introduction and celebration
12.00 – 12.20: Speeches from candidates
12.20 – 13.00: Q&A session
13.00 – 13.15: Closing statements from candidates
13.15 – 13.30: Closing remarks from chair
This event is open to all VCSE organisations in Greater Manchester, and we encourage attendance from grassroots organisations no matter how small. Your voice matters in shaping the future of our communities. Do not miss this opportunity to be a part of the conversation at the VCSE Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Hustings.
We encourage you to register your attendance in advance as there will be no walk-in places.
Please follow this link to register https://database.vsnw.org.uk/civicrm/event/info?id=8&reset=1.
Registration closes on 16 April 11:59pm.
When
23 April 2024 from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM
Where
Methodist Central Hall,
Oldham Street,
Manchester,
M1 1JQ
Greater Manchester VCSE Manifesto
To help amplify the voice of the sector, the Greater Manchester VCSE Leadership Group is creating a GM VCSE Sector Manifesto. Please share your thoughts on our draft manifesto and help shape the future of the VCSE sector. Use this link to view some existing ideas and tell us what needs to be included https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J3PBR2F. Closes 2 April.
If you know of anyone who would like to contribute, please share this survey with them.
