Leadership and advocacy
Bringing together our diverse communities and marginalised groups to strengthen our sector’s voice and influence key decision-makers.
Local Areas
10GM strengthens Greater Manchester’s local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise infrastructure and increases the voice and influence of the sector. We work strategically with Greater Manchester’s Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs) and other support initiatives, with a shared purpose to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of people and communities across GM.
The 10GM Partners cover Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford ,and Tameside, but we work closely with those local infrastructure organisations in Bury, Stockport, Trafford, and Wigan. We also work closely with other VCSE infrastructure organisations, such as Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW).
You can find out more about Greater Manchester’s Local Infrastructure Organisations, their initiatives, and local volunteer opportunities by following the links below.
What’s Local Infrastructure?
Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs) support the third sector (voluntary, community, social enterprises, faith groups – VCSE) in their localities.
Strong local infrastructure enables communities to influence decision-making, builds partnerships and networks, and encourages volunteering opportunities. When this support is accessible locally, individuals and communities thrive.
LIOs work is diverse and different for each local area and organisation. Through research, NAVCA have identified four broad categories within which local infrastructure organisations work – ‘Four Functions of Local Infrastructure’.
Partnerships and collaborations
Creating opportunities and joint working by bringing together networks of local organisations and strategic partners.
Capacity building
Providing practical support, resources or advice to facilitate community development.
Volunteering
Encourage and nurture volunteering opportunities, so that people can build connections and work together on things they care about, driving positive change locally. There are over half a million volunteers in Greater Manchester.
Find out more about Local Infrastructure
Locality Engagement and Infrastructure: Creating and Sustaining the VCSE Ecosystem
10GM leads the work on the locality ecosystem and infrastructure within the Accord. The aim of this work is to develop the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector (VCSE) ecosystem by growing VCSE infrastructure capacity and ‘scaffolding’ for the involvement of communities of identity, experience and place in each of the ten districts of Greater Manchester by developing communications and collaboration between Local Infrastructure Organisations and system stakeholders at Greater Manchester-level.
Greater Manchester Infrastructure Development Programme
The UK Shared Prosperity Funded E11 GM Infrastructure Development Programme (GMIDP) is improving the Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) locality infrastructure support for community activity. Key focuses include work on: Membership models; Social enterprise and investment; Training and development, including leadership development; Voice & influence, including dispersed leadership; Website & information strategies.
Content last reviewed on 6 June 2025
