Joint statement of support
The below joint statement of support has been developed with and endorsed by Stockport MBC, CCG and VCSE Steering Group to consolidate the collaboration that has taken place as we have responded to Covid and to shape the way we move forward together.
To do this, we commit to:
do our best to support your financial position – where possible making resources available to organisations tackling the Covid-19 crisis, supporting you with fundraising and grant funding application;
be flexible on reporting and monitoring for the foreseeable future, so that you can free up time to focus on your frontline support to communities;
work with you to use your funding to where it will have the most impact even if this means changing previously agreed delivery targets or outcomes;
support you to direct and deploy your staff and volunteers safely in the best way that you can, taking into account the government guidance;
maintain an open, honest and regular dialogue about the challenges you’re facing and how we can help;
develop a collaborative network that can sustain our partnership work in the future and mobilise skills and resources across organisational and sectoral boundaries;
promote the work you’re doing to the wider public through our core channels to garner additional support and resources ensuring the efforts and impact of the VCSE are recognised and valued;
continue to lobby Government directly and through Greater Manchester channels about the importance of the sector and the support you need to enable you to undertake vital work with all our communities.
In return, we ask you to:
be flexible in your approach and to follow guidance and information in order to help keep people safe and to work with us;
use technology and digital solutions where possible to stay in contact with communities ensuring people are not isolated;
help us better engage with and understand the needs of all of our communities, sharing information across agencies to support a holistic response;
connect with us to be kept informed of how you can help and support the wider efforts in our borough;
keep us informed about any changes you make to your activity; where this is funded by communicating any significant changes to your contract manager or grant manager;
understand we are also facing severe pressures, with many similar demands on our finances and our time;
bear with us and understand that in these unprecedented circumstances we may not get everything right, however we will do our best and act quickly to rectify any mistakes.
Our communities are critical to us all making it through this difficult time. We have been humbled by all the efforts people have made to so far. Thank you for the passion and commitment you are all showing in keeping people safe and connected in Stockport.
More information about Stockport MBC’s response to supporting the community can be found here