BLOG – Supporting The Community Wealth Fund Alliance

Groundwork Greater Manchester has recently joined the Community Wealth Fund Alliance, a Local Trust initiative working to make the Community Wealth Fund a reality

Research by Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) and Local Trust has identified 225 neighbourhoods that have a double disadvantage: the highest levels of deprivation and the weakest social infrastructure. If we are to improve outcomes for the people that live in those 225 neighbourhoods, it is going to take investment at a hyper-local level over a long period of time and true community-led decision making. That is why Groundwork Greater Manchester has joined the Community Wealth Fund Alliance.

The Community Wealth Fund Alliance is working with Government to create a new, independent endowment – the community wealth fund, from dormant assets, based on the principles of long-term funding, investment at the hyper-local level, community-led decision making, building community confidence and capacity.

I’m not an expert. The communities are the experts. The people affected are the experts. We are just the facilitators. 

These are the words of Nazir Afzal OBE, former Chief Crown Prosecutor for NW England and they reflect Groundwork’s approach to working alongside communities in Greater Manchester, many of which will be amongst the 225.

Community-led decision making will require building community confidence and capacity building in a way that acknowledges and celebrates community expertise. It will also require those who currently hold the decision making power to welcome the community and to facilitate their effective participation. Groundwork Greater Manchester has joined the Alliance in order to give residents the means to develop the services and facilities that meet their needs and aspirations.