GM=EqAl Conference 2026: What came out of the day and what’s next
On 23 April 2026, we brought together almost 150 people across Greater Manchester - community leaders, commissioners, practitioners, funders, and people with lived experience - for the GM Equality Alliance conference: Equity By Design: Practice Through Lived Experience.
What came out of the day
We have produced a summary for every session that ran on the day - what the room said, what GM=EqAl heard, and what we are doing as a result. These are not polished-over accounts. They include the gaps, the challenges, and the things we heard that we cannot act on alone but are committed to carrying into the spaces where decisions are made.
Click the link for whichever session matters most to you - or read them all.
- Inclusion and Wellbeing Partnership Fund Learning Document (inc.feedback from the evaluation station)
- Voice of Lived Experience Taster
- GMCA Whole System Review Briefing (Justice System Diversion Insight Project)
- Spaces of Hope Co-Design Lab
- EIA Toolkit Session: Feedback
- Trauma-Informed Responses to Community Cohesion
- Collaborative Commissioning for Inclusion
GM=EqAl Partnership manager, Ayisatu Emore based at VSNW, shared her reflections on the conference - written on the drive home. Read it here.
A beautiful Poem written by GM=EqAl working group member, Alyson Malach reflecting the day - is available here.
A note from GM=EqAl Chair, Jules Palfreyman
Firstly, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along, helped out, and made the conference the extraordinary event that it was. After just one year of getting this group back together, it was amazing to look out and see so many people I know come together with so many people I don’t. Yet.
The energy on the day was amazing; there were some great conversations, and some difficult conversations too. What we learned is important, and we will absolutely use it to inform and drive our work forward over the next year.
We heard many of you wanted to connect with other applicants and grant recipients, which is why this conference was built into the process from the start. This really felt like a space of hope and connection, and what we learned will shape how we work alongside our partners in that programme and the wider Live Well programme, to work best with communities of identity and experience across Greater Manchester. We will be doing more of this.
We also heard how important it is to frame reporting and evaluation as a celebration, not as an administrative burden. The posters were great, and it was amazing to see each other’s work, engage with it, and talk about our own projects. We will be doing more things like that.
We heard what you need from us, from our system partners, statutory partners, voluntary sector infrastructure organisations, and others. Across multiple workshops and conversations, we now have a really rich picture of what’s important to you and what we need to do to shape things over the next few months.
We heard what you need us to advocate for, what you need us to push for, and what you need us to argue and dig our heels in for. We are no strangers to having difficult, challenging conversations with people who have all the power and the money. What we have now is a clear mandate from a bigger and wider group of people, communities and organisations than we’ve ever had before. And I really hope you will continue to be part of what we’re building here.
We will be opening up more opportunities to engage with GM=EQAL, to engage with the work we do, and to influence and be involved in it. We really hope you are there for it, and we will do our best to use what we’ve learned to shape the system a little more fairly.
Thanks again for making our first ever GM=EQAL conference brilliantly, hope to see you at the next one.
What happens next
The themes from every session are feeding into GM=EqAl'swork over the coming months, specifically:
- The Live Well Spaces of Hope Co-Design Lab outputs are feeding directly into GM=EqAl’s role as Equity Partner in the £16.5 million programme, and the Theory of Change co-design process running April-October 2026.
- The accountability gaps named in the Community Cohesion and Collaborative Commissioning sessions are being raised directly with 10GM, GMCA and NHS GM as part of GM=EqAl's Accord work.
- GM=EqAl are recruiting for the working group and Task and Finish groups that will shape GM=EqAl's work over the next year - EIA, Inclusive Guidance, the Working Group at large, and the future conference design team. If any of these spaces feel right, get in touch: gmeqal@vsnw.org.uk
About GM=EqAl
GM=EqAl are a coalition of organisations and individuals, tackling inequality by channelling the expertise of grassroots groups, equality organisations and inclusion champions across Greater Manchester to influence decision-making.
They are a working group of the GM VCFSE Leadership Group, leading on the delivery of the Equalities work stream of the GM VCFSE Accord.
You can sign up to the monthly GM=EqAl bulletin for regular updates and news.
