New video shows how GM=EqAl are transforming support for dispersed communities across Greater Manchester
A new video highlights how the Greater Manchester Equality Alliance (GM=EqAl) is transforming support for under‑represented and geographically dispersed communities* across Greater Manchester.
Through the Inclusion and Wellbeing Partnership Fund, a £100,000 pilot programme delivered as part of GM Live Well, GM=EqAl pioneered a participatory, community‑led approach to funding that shifts decision‑making power directly to those with lived experience.
The video explores
- Why traditional neighbourhood based funding often misses marginalised communities, how this fund was designed to address that gap and the important role of GM=EqAl in support dispersed communities*
- How participatory grant making works in practice, moving away from top down, bureaucratic systems
- The flexible funding model, from £1,000 micro grants to larger collaborative commissions supporting long term change (see below for more details on two strands of the programme
- Real community impact, featuring Older adults overcoming digital exclusion through creative 3D skills at the Wai Yin Society, and trauma informed mental health support for the Iranian community delivered by Yaran Northwest in people’s first languages
*By dispersed communities, we mean group of people that sharing common interests, identities, or experiences that are not based in one place. Examples include LGBT+ people, refugee and asylum seekers, or neurodiverse people.
About the Inclusion &Wellbeing Partnership Fund
The fund was made up of two strands:
Strand 1: Collaborative Commissioning
GM=EqAl piloted a collaborative commissioning model where,rather than competing, organisations worked together across four stages todesign and resource projects collectively, producing shared ownership of whatgets funded and why. What this demonstrated is that trust-based, participatorycommissioning is possible at pan-GM level.
Strand 2: Microgrants Live Well Community Fund
Alongside the collaborative commissioning strand, the funddistributed microgrants of £500- £1,000 to grassroots organisations workingacross at least two GM boroughs. The communities reached include those who areracially minoritised, disabled, LGBTQIA+, migrant and otherwise under-resourced.
