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GM Live Well is Greater Manchester’s commitment to ensuring great everyday support is available in every neighbourhood. It will tackle health, social and economic inequalities by changing how public services work with people and communities to grow opportunities for everyone to Live Well. GM Live Well will ensure everyone has the support, control, connections and resources to lead a healthy and happy life.
#GMLiveWell
In the last days of 2025, the GM Live Well team has been reflecting on the year's achievements.
The Live Well implementation fund has been launched, to develop centres and spaces locally, ensuring 50% minimum allocation to Voluntary Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations, and the Live Well Communities Fund has celebrated it's first prototype year. The DWP funded trailblazer to support people into good work has launched, as has the Live Well Leadership Collaborative and the Live Well in Later Life Blueprint. We've been co-designing with our localities and key partners, such as working with our colleagues across Primary Care to understand their role in Live Well, and started to get into action about how we help make that possible, and have become a national prevention demonstrator. We have also continued our National Lottery funded accelerator site programme, with teams working in partnership across councils, communities and local Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise Infrastructure organisations.
From the #DrivingChange bus tour with Local Trust and We're Right Here campaign, to learning visits with the The National Lottery Community Fund and MPs, to mass movement building events and co-designed hallmarks, and bringing together innovative practice, and community reporting, research and accountability with GM Shapers and Elephants Trail, the GM Live Well movement is growing.
We’ve shared our approach nationally, for example, at Stronger Things and through policy sprints with 3ni: the national network for neighbourhood improvement, globally with OIDP (the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy) and People Powered, and locally through monthly learning events and webinars.
As the year comes to a close, we have brought together 100 voices through our Live Well Podcast, and have held a participation party with hundreds more, with the playbooks getting local, regional and national recognition (more on that below).
...we can't wait to see what 2026 brings.
But in the meantime, we wish those who celebrate, a very happy and restful Hanukkah, Christmas and new year.
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Since the launch of Shaping How We Live Well Together: A GM Participation Playbook in November, we’ve been following its journey. From government departments requesting hard copies, to it being shared and referenced internationally, to many local conversations and moments across Greater Manchester that have brought it to life.
On Friday 12 December, the Playbook continued that journey, this time into the most senior democratic meeting in our city region.
Our Mayor, Andy Burnham, and the group Chief Executive of GMCA, TfGM and GMFRS Caroline Simpson, introduced the playbook and presented it to political and chief executive leaders from across all ten boroughs. Our Live Well Chief Executive Lead, Alison McKenzie-Folan, reflected on how Live Well has been growing community power, and in that, building trust in, and with communities.
The moment was brought to life by the Support and Action Women's Network (SAWN), with the Sisters of the Yams choir singing a reworked '12 Days of Christmas' - sharing why community-led support is so powerful, and their hopes for a healthier, more inclusive and more participatory Greater Manchester.
It signalled a visible shift, symbolically and practically, as the Mayor stepped away from his seat in the council chamber and the Sawnetta's took that space, and as leaders engaged directly with questions of democratic renewal, community power, and how, as our Mayor says, participation can be 'the antidote to alienation'.
Please do share the playbook with your networks and colleagues. You can view, download and share it here: A Greater Manchester Participation Playbook
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After two years of co-designing and growing the together, March 2026 will mark the first-ever Live Well Spring Festival.
The festival will burst into life across Greater Manchester for two vibrant weeks (Monday 9 March-Monday 23 March 2026). This city‑region celebration will highlight the people, places and partnerships that bring Live Well to life, every single day.
The festival period coincides with the holy month of Ramadan and Lent, as well as Eid al-Fitr (expected 19-20 March) and International Women's Day (8 March). Spring festival pop-ups should be planned with care and consideration for religious observations and equality events, including awareness of fasting, prayer times and respectful ways to acknowledge communities of identity.
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Rather than one system-wide event, the festival will pop-up locally with many things happening at once across neighbourhoods, in spaces, community centres, high streets and online places. Imagine…
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Community pop-ups and street socials
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Wellbeing walks or walking audits through parks, canals and green spaces
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Storytelling corners and listening circles where local voices are heard and valued
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Participation parties that feel joyful, shaping neighbourhoods and local decision-making
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Roving public living rooms and food shares that bring neighbours and communities together
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Podcast clubs sparking big conversations around what it means to Live Well
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Community reporters sharing what Live Well looks like where they live in their own way
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Visits to community spaces and centres where Live Well is being brought to life
Together, these local festival pop-ups will showcase how the emerging Live Well hallmarks show up in practice across Greater Manchester’s spaces, places and neighbourhoods.
The four festival 'stages'
The festival will be built around four (metaphorical) stages. Unlike traditional festivals, these are not physical stages. Instead, they act as shared foundations that support local pop-ups to grow, while ensuring a strong, consistent thread runs throughout the festival.
Each pop-up can connect with one or more stages, reflecting the many different ways Live Well is visible across Greater Manchester.
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Spaces of hope and connection: Celebrating the trusted, community-rooted places that bring people together - where belonging grows, relationships deepen, and support flows.
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Great everyday support: Showcasing inspiring examples of relational and inclusive support in communities that helps people Live Well.
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Building bridges and weaving trust: Bringing people, places, and experiences together - strengthening trust, connection and belonging between communities, and with public services.
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Participation and community power: Celebrating the ways communities shape the places they live and the decisions that affect their lives - shifting power, driving change, and growing collective action.
Join the festival as a pop-up curator
Have an idea for a festival pop-up? Want to help shape the festival line-up?
Share your pop-up idea - however it’s taking shape and in whatever way feels easiest for you. To be included in the festival programme, please share your pop-up idea as soon as possible, and before Friday 30 January 2026.
The GM Live Well team will walk alongside pop-up curators, enabling ideas to take shape and come to life. A Live Well Spring Festival Fund is also available to resource involvement, participation, and the costs of running events or activities. Any support needed can be shared through the options above.
Alongside this, informal drop-in sessions will be running to connect, share ideas, and shape the festival programme together. Please save the dates:
- Tuesday 17 February 2026, 11.30-12.30pm: Teams meeting (Meeting ID: 371 023 002 541 15. Passcode: mK6Uy37r)
March 2026 is set to be a celebration of how we can Live Well together in every corner of Greater Manchester. Help spread the word by sharing the festival with colleagues, community groups, and partners, so together we can make this first-ever Live Well Spring Festival an unforgettable experience.
We would love for you to join the faith communities of Greater Manchester on 4 February 2026 from 10am to 4pm, including a buffet lunch, at Methodist Central Hall Manchester.
GM Live Well is Greater Manchester’s commitment to ensuring great everyday support is available in every neighbourhood. Together we can tackle health, social, and economic inequalities to bring hope, health, and human connection so everyone can Live Well.
The Summit will involve everyone in discussions on faith centres as Live Well centres, spaces and offers, incorporate Weaving Trust, and include sessions on migration, cohesion, and community dialogue.
Please register yourself and share this link with your faith centre, networks, and community contacts: GM Live Well Faith and Belief Summit 2026 Tickets, Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite
The Live Well Leadership Collaborative is Greater Manchester’s growing network of leaders working across sectors and localities to redesign systems for prevention. Co-designed by colleagues from GMCA, NHS GM, Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise partners, and local authorities, the Collaborative provides leadership coaching, peer learning, and practical support to tackle barriers that currently make prevention harder to deliver.
Over recent months, the Collaborative has hosted workshops and design sessions focused on removing system barriers, strengthening neighbourhood models, and building cross-sector teams. These sessions have helped leaders identify actions to embed prevention into everyday support and grow Live Well offers locally. In the new year, the programme will be supporting local leads across GM, with a focus on innovation, learning, and sharing best practice across the region.
Looking ahead, the Collaborative will continue to connect leaders, build confidence and capability, and champion approaches that make prevention sustainable. If you’d like to learn more you can visit the webpage: Goodlives GM
On Wednesday 26 November, in partnership with GM Moving and GM Ageing Hub, we hosted an online Live Well Live webinar exploring why community-led placemaking matters, the conditions that enable its success, and inspiring examples of community-led programmes that are already transforming neighbourhoods across Greater Manchester.
We want to thank our amazing webinar speakers for their contribution: Kelly Rodgers (GM Moving), Rachel Rowney (Local Trust), Sandaru Weerasinghe (GM Ageing Hub), Phil Brooke (Jigsaw Homes), Sophie King (Community Savers), Ellie and Anne (Miles Platting community and age friendly network) and Lina (Wythenshawe Central Network).
If you couldn’t join the webinar, you can still engage and explore the highlights in our webinar summary: here
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Thank you to those of you who have listened, shared and got in touch about the GM Live Well Podcast. The first five episodes are now available in a series that brings together over 100 voices from across the city-region to explore what happens when communities are trusted to lead and what our systems can do to offer “a helping hand, not a hoop to jump through.”
Please do let us know what you think using #GMLiveWell or email us at GMlivewell@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
The link to the series is here: https://podfollow.com/greater-manchester-live-well-podcast
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The members of the Unseen Voices Panel and BadKamra were very proud and happy to win the National Insight Award in the Listening Category for the recent Unseen Voices – Fairtytales from the Edge.
As the programme said:
‘Sometimes, listening isn’t about words, it’s about giving people the space to speak in their own voice, on their own terms. Through Unseen Voices 2: Fairytales from the Edge, Changing Futures and BadKamra have created just that, a courageous, creative platform where people experiencing what the system calls Multiple Disadvantage can tell their stories with truth and strength. Co-produced from start to finish, every scene, every line, and every moment belongs to the participants themselves.
'In this brave and supportive space, poetry, music, dance, and film become instruments of healing transforming trauma into art, and silence into influence. The project has already inspired new opportunities, from higher education to paid creative roles, and it is shaping the very systems that once failed to hear these voices. Changing Futures and BadKamra remind us that when we truly listen, with patience, empathy and equality, the unheard can change not only their own stories, but the world around them.’
Here is the link to the full film.
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Locality’s new report, Community Powered Neighbourhoods
This warns of deepening social division and eroding trust in politics. Locality makes a clear case: community anchor organisations, locally rooted, trusted institutions, must be central to the government’s neighbourhood policy. Not just service providers, these community organisations are multi-purpose hubs that build relationships, deliver vital services, and reach people who are often left behind. The report urges that investing in community anchors is not just about top down policy programmes – it’s about strengthening democratic connection, tackling inequality, and enabling local people to shape their future. Read the report and Locality’s recommendations here: https://locality.org.uk/reports/community-powered-neighbourhoods
We’re Right Here: Putting communities at the heart of the Pride in Place programme
The We’re Right Here campaign has published a blog discussing the recent government announcement of the Pride in Place programme. While Pride in Place represents an important step forward in supporting community-led work, the blog argues that its success will depend on ways of working, capacity-building support and community-led governance.
Read the Blog to find out more
Why Neighbourhoods Matter and the Important Role of Local Infrastructure
Navca has published a new report exploring the growing policy focus on working at a neighbourhood level. It highlights the importance of creating spaces where people feel connected and a sense of belonging, working with communities, not to them.
The blog emphasises the role of Local Infrastructure Organisations (LIOs) in bridging gaps, building connections, and convening conversations in local areas. Evidence shows that where LIOs are strong, the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise sector becomes more connected and confident, leading to greater success in securing funding that benefits both communities and the public sector.
Find out more and download the full report
L30's Million Big Local evaluation
L30’s Million is a Big Local partnership, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and led by volunteers who live and work in Netherton, Liverpool.
A recent report using ripple effect mapping shows the impact of investing in community connectors (community builders and health and wellbeing connectors). These roles have boosted capacity, strengthened connections, and created shared purpose across Netherton. The ripple mapping also found that people who experienced positive change often became connectors themselves, creating new ripple effects and amplifying the impact.
Read the full report
Beyond Bricks: New towns and the citizenship opportunity
The New Towns Taskforce aims to provide a model of best practice for how new, large-scale developments can unlock economic growth opportunities and contribute to meeting housing need across the country.
Demos’ new paper argues that the fourth wave of New Towns relies on their new concept ‘citizenship of place’ which emphasises both the role of community participation in shaping local environments and the responsibility of residents to sustain and nurture those places over time.
Read the paper
Social Infrastructure and social capital – the active elements of community resilience
The Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods has released a new report examining how social capital and social infrastructure contribute to building community resilience. The report argues that when social infrastructure is strong, communities are better equipped to resist divisive messaging and avoid tensions that undermine social cohesion.
Read the report
Getting to know your neighbours can save democracy
Time Magazine recently published an article about American society, highlighting data that shows a decline in community socialising. The issue isn’t that people can’t come together, it’s that they’ve forgotten how. The article argues that community spaces where people can connect need to be prioritised, especially in the context of society's growing community cohesion concerns.
Read the article
Release of the Child Poverty Strategy
Around 550,000 children will be lifted out of poverty by 2030 – the biggest reduction in a single parliament since records began – according to the Government's Child Poverty Strategy.
Following the reversal of the two-child limit, the strategy tackles the root causes of poverty by cutting the cost of essentials, boosting family incomes, and improving local services so every child has the best start in life.
Read the strategy here
See us – Hear us: Listening to babies
Start for Life and Family Hubs are transforming services by providing accessible, connected, and relational support co-produced with families. The Start for Life offer aims to support babies’ voices by strengthening relationships between babies and their caregivers and wider family members. This case study argues that by recognising babies as our youngest citizens, they and their parents or carers receive co-produced support needed to thrive.
Listening to babies
Voluntary Sector North West: Including the voice of lived experience in policy making
Updates have been made to the key principles document and summary of the recently published ‘including the voice of lived experience in policy making’ to improve clarity, accessibility, and support practical application.
Read the full version.
Read the summary version.
Voluntary Sector North West is also interested in understanding the impact of embedding these principles into practice, as well as the barriers that may prevent this. You can complete a survey here: survey
NHS Greater Manchester: The Hub
NHS Greater Manchester has recently launched The Hub, a new online space co-designed with the Greater Manchester #Bee Heard youth group. Built by and for young people, The Hub is accessible, engaging, and tailored to the information they want and need to make informed choices about their health.
Explore The Hub
BBC CBeebies: Parenting
Check out and share the new Festive Collection with families you work with.
Parents, caregivers can also listen to the CBeebies Parenting Helpline to hear more about the festive juggle, with tips on navigating family dynamics and a special episode focusing on festive activities that won’t break the bank.
CBeebies Parenting
Elephants Trail: Cradle – baby banks in Greater Manchester
The Elephant's Trail community reporting team has made a video about baby banks in Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester has launched the first city-region-wide Baby Bank Network, bringing together community-led support to help families facing financial hardship and crisis.
Watch and share
Find out more about baby banks
The We’re Right Here campaign: new film
Showing how communities across the UK are transforming local places, rebuilding trust, and demonstrating that genuine community power is one of the strongest antidotes to division and democratic decline, this new film shows that when people have real control over what happens locally, communities grow stronger, more connected, and more resilient: https://www.right-here.org/community-power-is-the-antidote-to-division-and-democratic-decline/
GM webinar: supporting people with health conditions to thrive in work
This webinar is part of the WorkWell Programme, a national programme funded by the DWP and DHSC to support people with health-related conditions to get the support they need to stay in or return to work.
Watch here.
National Academy for Social Prescribing: It's not one size fits all in children and young people's social prescribing
This National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) webinar aims to explore how tailored approaches can better meet the diverse needs of young people. The session showcased practical examples from across the country — including our very own Healthy Hyde, who shared their experience of supporting young people through personalised, creative, and community-based social prescribing.
NASP has also published a new flipbook setting out how social prescribing can support children and young people's mental health. Building on the Connected to Thrive report, the flipbook outlines how social prescribing can fit into a joined-up system, from prevention to treatment, and highlights 17 examples of innovative projects.
NASP Webinar - Social Prescribing for Older People | NASP
More information about social prescribing for children and young people is available here: Social Prescribing for Young People
For a conversation, please contact Charlotte at c.leonhardsen@nhs.net
Live Well in Later Life
For the past three years, the Ageing Hub has been working with partners across 10 neighbourhoods in the Ageing in Place Pathfinder to test new ways to support people in mid and later life in their communities. A short film from the celebration event shows why this work matters for Greater Manchester’s Live Well plans and how the Live Well in Later Life Blueprint will enable older adults to access everyday support: Ageing in Place Event 2025
And this video featuring residents and service providers at Ridge Hill housing estate in Stalybridge, Tameside, shows their community-led approach to health and wellbeing: Great everyday support: Ridge Hill housing estate in Stalybridge - YouTube
Join the national conversation on SEND
Central government has launched a new public engagement campaign putting parents’ experiences at the heart of SEND reform. They aim to shape the future of SEND support systems and deliver the biggest national conversation on SEND in a generation.
There will be nine face-to-face events, run in partnership with the Council for Disabled Children, plus five online sessions exploring the Department’s five principles of reform. These events create space for parents, families, and the sector to share their views and place lived experience at the heart of system reforms.
Find out more and sign up to attend a regional engagement or online event
Celebrate International Women’s Day
International Women's Day on 8 March 8 is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality.
International Women's Day has occurred for well over a century, with the first gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, the day belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.
There will be activities across the city-region.
For example, Manchester City Council is giving small grants of up to £500 to help local groups run activities that celebrate women and girls in Manchester: Apply for funding and find out more
Shape the Liverpool City Region Imaginarium
Help shape the Liverpool City Region Imaginarium - a people-powered civic space designed to unlock imagination for social good. They are inviting people to complete a short survey to share the things that matter most in your community, the visions and ideas you have for making life better, and how you feel the Liverpool City Region Imaginarium could support the creation and realisation of bold new ideas for community wellbeing.
Everyone is welcome to take part living or working in Liverpool city-region
Recycle!
Check out this festive edition of the Recycle for Greater Manchester bulletin for tips and suggestions to make your holiday season greener, including:
· How to recycle your electricals,
· Christmas wrapping that can be reused or recycled,
· How to get second-hand shopping confident.
'Tis the season to Recycle!
Trafford Council is hosting a series of Let’s Talk Participation events, bringing together residents, partners and professionals to explore how we can improve involvement, collaboration and community voice.
These sessions will support more inclusive decision-making and stronger local relationships.
Register here
A free 90-minute learning session exploring housing, homelessness and frontline practice across Greater Manchester. Featuring insights from GMCA, local authority services and frontline practitioners, with practical guidance on partnership working and a ‘no wrong door’ approach.
Live Well Frontline Network: Housing & Homelessness Learning Session Tickets, Tue 13 Jan 2026 at 13:30 | Eventbrite
Healthcare professionals across Greater Manchester are reporting an increase in patients affected by gambling harm, alongside uncertainty about how best to offer support. This is free, online training, designed specifically for healthcare professionals.
Sign up here
Big Local Unpacked is a new learning series developed by London Funders in partnership with Local Trust. Across six sessions in 2026, they will explore what really happened over more than a decade of community-led neighbourhood change - what worked, what didn’t, and what funders and civil society can take forward into the future.
All sessions are free to attend, find out more and book your place
Stockport’s vibrant diversity will be celebrated at the Race and Culture Awards 2026. This exciting annual event honours the achievements of individuals and organisations championing race equality.
Attendees can enjoy an unforgettable evening featuring diverse cultural music from around the world, Caribbean cuisine, and the chance to share, learn, and celebrate together. The event recognises outstanding contributions to a progressive Race Equality Agenda.
Tickets are limited, so early booking is recommended.
This session explores positive action—a lawful and strategic approach to advancing equality under the Equality Act 2010. It’s part of NHS GM's ongoing Leadership for Inclusion series, supporting leaders across Greater Manchester to create inclusive environments through evidence-based, proportionate action.
This is a free event open to all colleagues involved in health and care across Greater Manchester: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/81abd97b-495d-4255-8cfb-0b5276c559dc@37c354b2-85b0-47f5-b222-07b48d774ee3
Methodist Central Hall, 5:00-7:45pm
Over the last 18 months Greater Manchester Citizens has been building across Greater Manchester, listening to member organisations and the communities they serve. As a result, campaign action teams have focused on:
- Tackling hate and discrimination across our city region
- Campaigning for the Real Living Wage and support for those on Universal Credit
- Youth Mental Health, with a particular focus on CAMHS and ending the existing cliff-edge between child and adult services.
This 2026 Assembly will bring together a broad-based alliance of faith, educational, housing, health and third sector organisations to build on successes, and work towards the Accountability Assembly in Summer 2026. Guests and non-member organisations are welcome: Sign up and find out more
Registration is now open for New Local's 2026 Stronger Things conference - the UK’s leading event on community power. Secure you place here
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