To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Brett, Councillor Burke, Councillor Cocks, Councillor Dutton, Councillor Hartley, Councillor Holly, Councillor Hussain, Councillor Martin, Councillor McCarthy, Councillor Meredith, Councillor Nickson, Councillor O’Neill, Councillor Paolucci, Councillor Robinson, Councillor Rowbotham, Councillor Smith, Councillor Williams, Sheila Acton, Kerry Bertram, Leanne Chorlton, Kate Jones, Sue Taylor and Kathy Thomas.

To consider the Minutes of the meeting held on 25^th November 2021.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Voluntary Sector Partnership held on 25 November 2021 be approved as a correct record.

Ryan Bradley to provide an update.

The Partnership received a presentation from Ryan Bradley, Community Director at Rochdale AFC, who provided background on the Community Trust, explained projects the Trust are currently working on and what projects will be rolled out in future.

Mr Bradley gave a brief history of the Trust, the 2021 strategy and discussed the Impact Report before describing how the Trust splits its work into pillars such as Community Sport, Health and Inclusion, and Education and Employability.

It was agreed that the presentation be distributed to attendees following the meeting.

The Chair will lead a discussion relating to a possible Community Centre Consortium.

The Chair, Councillor Susan Smith, opened a discussion regarding non-council funded community groups working together to form a collective ‘Community Co-Operative Consortium’.

The Chair advised that the Council was committed to maintaining as many community centres as possible in the Borough, for as long as possible. Members of the Consortium will benefit from idea sharing and working together to apply for funding.

The Chair also informed attendees that the Leader of the Council was in full support of the proposal. Action Together would be asked to provide support in their area of expertise.

A Partnership member raised the issue of the appropriate use of terminology in developing projects such as this.

The Townships and Communities Manager informed the Partnership that there was a legal document that could potentially be used to provide the appropriate governance arrangements.

After a detailed discussion by the Partnership it was agreed that:

1.    The Townships and Communities Manager be requested to seek legal advice on creating the proposed Consortium and the appropriate governance arrangements

2.    A working group be established to take forward the initial proposals

3.    Action Together be requested to give a presentation at the next Voluntary Sector Partnership meeting on any support that they could give on developing these proposals

No matters were raised.

Provisional dates for the 2022-23 Municipal Year are as follows:

12^th July 2022, 10am

7^th September 2022, 10am

21^st November 2022, 10am

24^th January 2023, 10am

Pending any Covid-19 restrictions regarding face-to-face meetings, it was agreed that the next meeting on Tuesday 12 July 2022 will be held at Rochdale Football Club.