The Manchester Volunteer Advice Partnership (MVAP) aimed to enhance the provision of advice services in Manchester through training and supporting volunteers in community advice work organisations. The National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) funded MVAP from 2013 to May 2024, with a period of self-funding from January 2020 to April 2021.
Partners
The project was a partnership of four voluntary organisations each with their own areas of expertise and need for advice provision:
- Manchester Mind – mental health support – lead partner
- Manchester Refugee Support Network (MRSN) – asylum seeker and refugee support
- Cheetham Hill Advice Centre (CHAC) – neighbourhood advice centre in north Manchester
- Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) – free legal immigration advice, representation and support services to people seeking asylum, refugees, children and vulnerable adults
These partners have been successfully working together as MVAP since 2012. For this round of funding, the emphasis on advice delivery has been on welfare. As a result, GMIAU have not taken MVAP volunteers during this period, but have remained an active partner through the project’s steering group.
From March 2018 to March 2024, MVAP also worked in collaboration with Manchester City Council’s Homelessness Team to provide advice and assistance in their contact centre in the city’s town hall. The main costs of this project were funded by Manchester City Council.
Project Meetings
The MVAP steering group was composed of the partner agency managers and the project manager, meeting approximately once a quarter. Each partner agency has strategic relationships and networks within Manchester and beyond according to their field of expertise.
The advice supervisors, volunteer development worker, inclusion support worker and the project manager met regularly to discuss operational issues, progress, respond to challenges, and share ideas.
