A short video showcasing Manchester Cathedral Bees by Adam York Gregory Manchester Cathedral Bees from Adam York Gregory on Vimeo. Bee Hive Cameras We currently have two bee hive cameras upon the flat roof of Manchester Cathedral, click on the play button below to view the bees and their hives. Heavenly Honey produced by our […]
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Sir David Richards has become a patron of Volition Community following a visit last year to see the work of this charity. Welcoming Sir David, the Dean of Manchester thanked Sir David for his commitment to this programme which runs from Manchester and Liverpool Cathedrals. Sir David, encouraged at the outcomes of this programme of […]
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What a difference a year makes! As I wander through the silence of the Cathedral, making my way to the spiral staircase that will take me to the roof, I am reminded that only a year ago we were celebrating Manchester City’s Premier League title win. The Cathedral was bustling with people and equipment the […]
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2020 was affected by the global pandemic with Covid-19. Provision was suspended in March and re-started again in July with our first intake in September. The data contained within this annual report is based on a greatly reduced intake during 2020 of 34 volunteers. Most volunteering opportunities were suspended in March and have since remobilised to include bee-keeping, gardening and art.
During 2020 70% of our volunteers were male and 30% female; out of this the biggest individual age range was 41-50 years. 34% of volunteers were under 30 and 20% were over 51.
53% of volunteers had been out of work for over 3 years, with nearly 1/3 of all volunteers unemployed for more than 5 years. Our Bees proved most popular during lockdown with art a welcome new addition to our provision.
Admin & social media interest reflected the younger age of volunteers with 31% of volunteers being educated to degree level, whilst 20% had no formal qualifications. 83% of our volunteers lived in households where no-one was in paid employment.
The ethnic diversity of volunteers remained fairly static as with 2019 data with 27% coming from the BAME community. We had 41% of volunteers disclosing a range of physical health and learning barriers. These ranged from autism to dyslexia and dyscalculia.
We had 47% of volunteers disclosing a range of mental health issues. These ranged from social anxiety to psychosis. At least 2 volunteers are known to have attempted suicide in the last 2 years and 12% of volunteers required additional support with ESOL. Finally, 57% of volunteers came from a social housing background; the graph contained within this report gives a good overview on where volunteers lived in Greater Manchester.
Contained within this annual report is overview on our specific activates, it should be noted, that without the support of the following organisations it would have been very difficult for us to maintain the charity and our outcomes with the long-term unemployed across Greater Manchester:
Q-Parks, Chapman Holmes Ltd; Manchester City Council and the Lord Mayor of Manchester; Infusion Bars; Grape & Grain Ltd; Victoria Warehouse; Manchester College, Greater Manchester Combined Authority; The Workers’ Education Authority, European Union Social Fund and Procure Plus, all of which delivered over £115,000 of funds to maintain our work.
