Changemakers – next meeting dates …

Hello Everyone,

The dates for our next meetings are as folows:

Thursday, September 18th                                                                                                                6:30pm-8:30pm at Cross Stret Chapel, Cross Stree, Manchester                                                   Items on the agenda will include:  Election of Trustees, initial report on the listening campaign results, update on the recruitment campaign, plus much more …

Wednesday, October 15th                                                                                                                 Time and Location TBD.  Please Note – this will be a large Assembly Meeting                               This will be an important meeting with guest speakers, music, introduction of new Manchester & Bradford organizers and our research & information officer.  Results from the listening campaign wil be announced plus official member organizations and lots more.

Changemakers Job Posting …

Changemakers wanted

Are you passionate about tackling poverty and social exclusion, interested in people and their development and keen to explore imaginative ways of bringing about real change?

As part of a new programme of developing citizens’ organisations in the North of England, Church Action on Poverty has the following vacancies:

Community Organisers, Manchester and Bradford
£23,749- £27,594 (pay award pending) – full time

Changemakers is an emerging coalition of faith, community, resident and other front line organisations working with excluded communities in both areas. We need 2 skilled and committed practitioners to develop the capacity of local people in the areas of voice, advocacy, and engagement with service providers and power holders. The work in Bradford is being developed in partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Bradford. A key part of its focus will be working with South Asian women in the district. There is a genuine occupational requirement for the post holder in Bradford to be a woman.

Closing date for applications 31 July 2008;

Manchester Interviews 5 August; Bradford Interviews 6 August

Research & Information Officer
£23,749- £27,594 (pay award pending) pro rata 21 hours per week

Located in Manchester or Bradford, you will provide a professional research facility for the network of Changemakers’ organisations. The key tasks will be to enable members of frontline organisations to gain a thorough understanding of the issues they identify for action, and to help identify effective and workable solutions.

Closing date for applications: 19 August 2008

Interviews: 28 August 2008 in Manchester

Posts come with 25 days annual leave and a generous employer’s pension contribution.

To apply call 0161 236 9321 or visit www.church-poverty.org.uk.

A project of Church Action on Poverty (CAP) reg charity no 1079986

CAP seeks to apply equal opportunity principles in all its employment policies and practice.

Changemakers – Meeting dates …

Hi Everyone,
Changemakers Manchester is moving along at full speed.  Our constitution was ratified at the June 25th meeting,  we have our first official member organizations, and the recruitment and listening campaigns have been launched.

We have therefore decided to cancel the July 17th meeting.

The next meeting will be on Thursday, September 18th.  6:30pm at Cross Street Chapel, Cross Street Manchester. Please be sure to mark this date on your calendar!

At the September 18th meeting we will be electing temporary trustees – these are the people who will guide Changemakers until the first Annual General Assembly.  We will need 5-10 trustees including a Chairperson, Secretary, and Treasurer.  Please send us your nominations for trustees, or let us know if you would like to stand for election.

We will also introduce the new member organizations, and hear feedback from the public listening campaign – so be sure to attend !

Please contact: Mark Waters: markw@church-poverty.org.uk 0161 236-9321 / 07795 822 193 or Lorraine Shaw: lorraines@church-poverty.org.uk 0161 236-9321 / 07913 091 206

Thanks

Changemakers  Central Buildings Oldham Street Manchester M1 1JQ 0161 236-9321

June 25th Changemakers Meeting Report

Progress at last meeting, 25 June 2008

• The Constitution for Changemakers Greater Manchester, was officially adopted.
• Daniel Burton was elected to continue as temporary Chair.
• We will nominate temporary Trustees at our next meeting on July 17th – so be sure to attend!

Constitution:

All those present at the meeting voted unanimously to adopt the Constitution. This means  all organisations and individuals who are willing to subscribe to the Constitution and are accepted by the Trustees can become official member of Changemakers. There was a short discussion of the process for amending the document in future, should it become necessary.

Trustees:

We will be appointing temporary Trustees for Changemakers at the next meeting on 17 July. This will include a temporary Secretary and temporary Treasurer, and other trustees.

Listening Campaign:

Mark Waters outlined the first action Changemakers members are asked to participate in: the listening campaign. This will begin with training for all the listening teams in September, and will involve every member organisation in hundreds of focused one-to-one conversations with their members and the wider community to unearth their concerns, passions, and struggles – and invite them to act together for change.

Each organisation will run the campaign independently for two months (with support from Changemakers), and we will come together at a Changemakers forum to create our first Agenda for Action.

If you are interested in piloting the campaign over the summer, please contact Tom Viita at jvc@church-poverty.org.uk

Training:

There will be two courses of the Changemakers Leadership Training in October. The first will be weekday training from Monday 6 October to Thursday 9 October. For those who cannot manage training on weekdays, there will be a session from Friday 10 October to Sunday 12 October.

Member organisation  receive free places on the training.

Professional colleagues from the Gamaliel Foundation in the USA will lead both training courses.

To request a place on these training events, please contact Lorraine Shaw: 0161 236-9321 / 07913 091 206 lorraines@church-poverty.org.uk

Parking in The Groves, Longsight:

Paul Keeble brought a small issue to the meeting: a dispute with the local council about a parking zone boundary in M13. This is one example of small issues that local residents frequently face in our city as they struggle to receive fair and effective representation in the planning process. For moreinformation go to:  www.thegroves-M13.co.uk A meeting with Councillors will be held on Monday 7 July, and Paul invites any interested individuals to attend and show their support.

Next Meeting

Thursday 17 July at Cross Street Chapel, M2 1NL

Refreshments will be served from 6.30pm

7pm prompt start. 8.30pm close

NB This is a Thursday, not the usual Wednesday.