Salford CVS are p leased to announce that our annual Voluntary\, Com munity and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Conference is returning on Thursday 29th October 2026 and will be held in person at Salford Commu nity Stadium.
\n \nLast year our annual conference was: Live Well - What would it take for everyone in Salford to be able to Live Well wher e key speakers raised awareness of the Live Well p rogramme and explored the impact on the VCSE secto r in Salford.
\n \nAt this year’s confe
rence\, we are celebrating Salford's Centenary yea
r – more specifically:
\n A century
of voluntary and citizen action in Salford.
Join Salford CVS and colleagues from across our sector as we look at how the hist ory of Salford has shaped the city we know and lov e today. We will also be celebrating the 100 years and looking at how the VCSE sector will shape the next 100 years.
\n \nThis conf erence is free of charge and is aimed at voluntary organisations\, community groups\, charities and social enterprises who operate in Salford for the benefit of Salford residents.
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Paul D ennett\, Salford City Mayor\, will be spe aking at the event and reflecting on the role of t he VCSE sector in Salford over the last 100 years. Paul Dennett is the directly elected City Mayor o f Salford and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester\, recognised for his commitment to social justice\, housing\, equality\, and inclusive economic growt h. First elected as Salford’s City Mayor in 2016 a nd subsequently re-elected in 2021 and 2024\, he h as championed policies focused on tackling poverty \, increasing affordable housing\, promoting the r eal Living Wage\, and improving opportunities for local communities.
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We are delighted that artis t Chelsea Davies has also confirm ed and will open the event. We wanted the morning to open with someone whose work shows what Salford 's community spirit looks like now. Chelsea is Sal ford born and bred\, and it’s evident in everythin g she paints. As the first Artist in Residence at Salford Shopping Centre\, and through her exhibiti ons at Langworthy Cornerstone\, she's put the city 's own history and people (L.S. Lowry\, Shelagh De laney\, Salford Lads Club\, the old Shopping City sign) back in front of the people who pass them ev ery day. Her 2024 charity calendar\, in partnershi p with the Ceremonial Mayor's office\, raised mone y for St Ann's Hospice\, START and the Agnes Hopki ns Community Centre.
\n \nAs well as the a bove keynote speakers\, we will have local poet Ki eren King. We'll also hear from famous Salfordians including Dr John Cooper Clarke\, Mike Sweeney an d Christopher Eccleston\, as well as honorary Salf ordian Maxine Peake\, on what Salford means to the m\, through a series of short films.
\n \nA lso appearing is songstress\, choir director and v ocal coach Zena Taylor\, who will be providing exc ellent entertainment.
\n \nEvent details:
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Morning Workshops
\n \nDirty Old Town - As Salford marks 100 years\, who gets to tel l its story and what should its cultural future lo ok like?
\n \nClass and Cobble s - Positive movements to overcome class struggles. We will look at Salford's social histor y and class struggles and how Salford's VCSE organ isations helped to positively influence change.
\n \nFrom Docks to Dock 10 - From
docks\, warehouses\, and industry\, to the physica
l transformation to Salford Quays.
\n
\
n Horrible Histories - Exploring
the more controversial sides of Salford's past
\n Afternoon Workshops<
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More in Common - As the force of divisi on in society grows stronger\, with social media m agnifying the loudest and most extreme voices\, ho w can we counteract this with what we have in comm on rather than what divides us.
\ n \nGrey Power - How will older people’s needs ch ange... and will Salford be age proof?
\n \nCo mmunity Power: How can community voice help shape our future? - Turning local knowledge in to real influence and change for Salford's next 10 0 years
\n \nPitch in 100 seconds
\n \nWe will be giving VCSE orga nisations the chance to pitch for £1\,000. Organis ation names will be drawn from a hat\, and 10 orga nisations will pitch to the room. \n \n
The pitch will be on “what difference cou ld your organisation make in Salford during this C entenary year with £1\,000”.
\n \nTh e pitch will take place at approximately 3.50pm an d you must be booked on to attend the conference f or the full day in order to take part.
\n \n1 . You are a VCSE organisation based in or deliveri ng in Salford
\n \n2. You attend ALL of the conference from 9.30am – 4.30pm
\n \n3. You take no more than 100 seconds to clearly pitch how your organisation will make a differenc e in Salford with £1\,000
\n \n < p>4. The m oney is to be spent on charitable activities which clearly benefit the people of Salford\n \n6. There will only be one win ner chosen from the highest number of votes. You c annot vote for your own group.
\n \nOur confer ence is for voluntary\, community and social enter prise organisations that work in Salford.
\n \n< span style="font-family:Arial\, Helvetica\, sans-s erif\;">Maximum of two attendees per organ isation. Places are free for VCSE organis ations
\n \nP lease click 'register now' to book your place.
DESCRIPTION:Salford CVS are pleased to announce that our annua l Voluntary\, Community and Social Enterprise (VCS E) Conference is returning on Thursday 29th Octobe r 2026 and will be held in person at Salford Commu nity Stadium.\n \n \n \n Last year our annual conf erence was: Live Well - What would it take for eve ryone in Salford to be able to Live Well (https:// www.salfordcvs.co.uk/salford-cvs-conference-2025) where key speakers raised awareness of the Live We ll programme and explored the impact on the VCSE s ector in Salford.\n \n \n \n At this year’s confer ence\, we are celebrating Salford's Centenary year – more specifically: \n \n A century of voluntary and citizen action in Salford.\n \n \n \n Join Sa lford CVS and colleagues from across our sector as we look at how the history of Salford has shaped the city we know and love today. We will also be c elebrating the 100 years and looking at how the VC SE sector will shape the next 100 years.\n \n \n \ n This conference is free of charge and is aimed a t voluntary organisations\, community groups\, cha rities and social enterprises who operate in Salfo rd for the benefit of Salford residents.\n \n \n \ n \n \n \n \n \n Paul Dennett\, Salford City May or\, will be speaking at the event and reflecting on the role of the VCSE sector in Salford over the last 100 years. Paul Dennett is the directly elec ted City Mayor of Salford and Deputy Mayor of Grea ter Manchester\, recognised for his commitment to social justice\, housing\, equality\, and inclusiv e economic growth. First elected as Salford’s City Mayor in 2016 and subsequently re-elected in 2021 and 2024\, he has championed policies focused on tackling poverty\, increasing affordable housing\, promoting the real Living Wage\, and improving op portunities for local communities.\n \n \n \n \n \ n \n \n \n \n \n We are delighted that artist Chel sea Davies has also confirmed and will open the ev ent. We wanted the morning to open with someone wh ose work shows what Salford's community spirit loo ks like now. Chelsea is Salford born and bred\, an d it’s evident in everything she paints. As the fi rst Artist in Residence at Salford Shopping Centre \, and through her exhibitions at Langworthy Corne rstone\, she's put the city's own history and peop le (L.S. Lowry\, Shelagh Delaney\, Salford Lads Cl ub\, the old Shopping City sign) back in front of the people who pass them every day. Her 2024 chari ty calendar\, in partnership with the Ceremonial M ayor's office\, raised money for St Ann's Hospice\ , START and the Agnes Hopkins Community Centre. \n \n \n \n As well as the above keynote speakers\, we will have local poet Kieren King. We'll also he ar from famous Salfordians including Dr John Coope r Clarke\, Mike Sweeney and Christopher Eccleston\ , as well as honorary Salfordian Maxine Peake\, on what Salford means to them\, through a series of short films.\n \n \n \n Also appearing is songstre ss\, choir director and vocal coach Zena Taylor\, who will be providing excellent entertainment.\n \ n \n \n Event details:\n \n \n \n \n Free for VCS E organisations working in Salford for the benefit of local people (spaces are limited to two repres entatives per group/organisation)\n Refreshments\ , including a vegetarian / vegan buffet lunch\, wi ll be provided\n Wheelchair-accessible venue (ple ase indicate any specific access requirements when booking)\n BSL interpreters will be with us thro ughout the day\n Hearing loops provided (please i ndicate if you require one on the booking form)\n We aim for this conference to be inclusive to eve ryone – so if you have difficulties in traveling t o Salford Community Stadium\, please contact offic e@salfordcvs.co.uk (mailto:office@salfordcvs.co.uk ) \n \n See our page of Useful Travel Information (https://www.salfordcvs.co.uk/travel-salford-comm unity-stadium) \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Workshops: \n \n \n Morning Workshops\n \n \n \n Dirty Old To wn - As Salford marks 100 years\, who gets to tell its story and what should its cultural future loo k like? \n \n \n \n Class and Cobbles - Positive m ovements to overcome class struggles. We will look at Salford's social history and class struggles a nd how Salford's VCSE organisations helped to posi tively influence change.\n \n \n \n From Docks to Dock 10 - From docks\, warehouses\, and industry\, to the physical transformation to Salford Quays.\ n \n \n \n Horrible Histories - Exploring the more controversial sides of Salford's past\n \n \n \n \n \n Afternoon Workshops\n \n \n \n More in Commo n - As the force of division in society grows stro nger\, with social media magnifying the loudest an d most extreme voices\, how can we counteract this with what we have in common rather than what divi des us.\n \n \n \n Grey Power - How will older peo ple’s needs change... and will Salford be age proo f? \n \n \n \n Driving Change: the VCSE in the dr iving seat – How do we make sure the VCSE sector i s the driving force in Salford’s future\, so commu nities have the power\, recognition and resources to lead change?\n \n \n \n Community Power: How c an community voice help shape our future? - Turnin g local knowledge into real influence and change f or Salford's next 100 years\n \n \n \n \n Pitch in 100 seconds\n \n \n \n Those who have attended a Salford CVS AGM will be familiar with our "Pitch i n 60 seconds" opportunity. This year we are moving this from our AGM to our Annual Conference for a Centenary special – "Pitch in 100 seconds!"\n \n \ n \n We will be giving VCSE organisations the chan ce to pitch for £1\,000. Organisation names will b e drawn from a hat\, and 10 organisations will pit ch to the room. \n \n \n \n The pitch will be on “ what difference could your organisation make in Sa lford during this Centenary year with £1\,000”. \ n \n \n \n There will be a vote\, and the organisa tion with the highest vote will win £1\,000.\n \n \n \n This is open to any VCSE organisation based in or delivering in Salford (you do not need to me mbers of Salford CVS to pitch).\n \n \n \n The pit ch will take place at approximately 3.50pm and you must be booked on to attend the conference for th e full day in order to take part.\n \n \n \n The r ules:\n \n \n \n 1. You are a VCSE organisation ba sed in or delivering in Salford\n \n \n \n 2. You attend ALL of the conference from 9.30am – 4.30pm\ n \n \n \n 3. You take no more than 100 seconds to clearly pitch how your organisation will make a d ifference in Salford with £1\,000\n \n \n \n 4. Th e money is to be spent on charitable activities wh ich clearly benefit the people of Salford\n \n \n \n 5. No presentation slides or props are to be us ed\n \n \n \n 6. There will only be one winner cho sen from the highest number of votes. You cannot v ote for your own group.\n \n \n \n To sign up to p itch\, please select ‘yes’ to the Pitch in 100 sec onds question in the booking form. Those who have opted to pitch will be contacted prior to the conf erence.\n \n \n \n \n Booking:\n \n \n The informa tion you provide to us will only be used to commun icate with you about the event you are booking ont o. This will include sending confirmations\, joini ng instructions and post-event feedback and inform ation.\n \n \n \n Our conference is for voluntary\ , community and social enterprise organisations th at work in Salford.\n \n \n \n Maximum of two atte ndees per organisation. Places are free for VCSE o rganisations \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Please click 'register now' to book your place.\n \n CATEGORIES:Annual VCSE Conference CALSCALE:GREGORIAN DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/London:20261029T090000 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20261029T090000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20261029T163000 LOCATION:Salford Community Stadium\n 1 Stadium Way\n Eccles \n Salford\, M30 7EY\n URL:https://www.salfordcvs.co.uk/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=2460 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR