As members of the Salford CVS family, 21st April was far from an ordinary working day for us. We arrived at the office in the morning as usual, but instead of settling into routine tasks, we were paired up with colleagues and given a special mission: to visit some of the VCSE groups we work with across the city and capture as many photos as possible.

Why all the visits and photographs on a normal working day? The reason soon became clear, it was the 100th anniversary of Salford becoming a city. To mark this important milestone, Salford CVS organised a campaign celebrating Salford through images of its people, places, and community groups.

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Our area of exploration was Irlam and Cadishead. Luckily, Kiah had her car, which made it possible for us to visit all the groups planned for the day with ease. The day itself was bright and sunny; perfect for our visits. Our first stop was Ability Cooperative Ltd, also known locally as Princes Park Garden Centre. When we arrived, many of the people they support - adults with learning disabilities were busy working in the garden centre. We received a warm welcome, and everyone kindly agreed to pose for photos with the Salford Centenary sign. It was heartwarming to see their enthusiasm and pride in being part of Salford’s celebration. 

Our second destination was the Together Family Centre, a regular recipient of Salford CVS funding. Although the centre focuses on supporting the Polish community, it warmly welcomes people from all backgrounds. They were delighted by our visit and clearly inspired by the city’s centenary celebrations. We enjoyed walking around their centre and were impressed by the excellent facilities on offer, including spaces for counselling, coffee mornings, children’s activities, and much more. 

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Our third and final visit took us to the Hamilton Davies Trust (HDT). We met Sharon and shared a short but very friendly conversation. Their Salford 100 sign is in pride of place at their reception and they enjoyed reading their letter from the Mayor. HDT plays an important role in the community by providing educational support to children and promoting recreational and regeneration activities.

After completing our visits, we headed straight to the Civic Centre to join the rest of the Salford CVS team for a short centenary celebration led by the City Mayor. It was a joyful occasion, bringing together council staff, representatives from VCSE organisations, and members of the community; a fitting way to celebrate 100 years of Salford as a city.

After the celebration, we headed back to Irlam and Cadishead and took some pictures of important community venues and buildings, as it was our evening task.

This exercise gave both of us some valuable insights into the area and the groups we visited, and we were glad that we had been able to contribute to Salford's 100^th birthday.     

Small is beautiful so they say, and many small charities across Salford work day in and day out to improve the lives, life chances and environment but what counts as small?

It’s a bit of a sweeping idea as the definition covers tiny unregistered charitable community groups with less than £5,000 income, registered micro charities with less than £10,000 and anything up to charities with £1 million income a year.

It’s common sense therefore that not all advice applies to all small charities, if you’re big enough to have employees or fund extensive activities but are not yet outside of the small charity definition your charity is likely to have resources and responsibilities which much smaller organisations do not.

Having said that many of the really small charities are volunteer-run, very locally focused and able to respond quickly to local need. They form the bedrock of community response across the borough and make a difference daily, from combating loneliness to learning about history, from knitting together for good causes to providing food and foodbank and almost anything else you an imagine. In Salford we have archers, historians, artists and therapists, Vikings and many many more.

This week to celebrate Small Charity Week we will be publishing bite-sized info and advice snippets for small charities, their supporters and anyone who has an interest.

If you would like further information and support on any of these subjects, contact our Development Team.

Resources and advice

If you are thinking of setting up a community group follow this link for information and first steps advice: www.salfordcvs.co.uk/constitution  

Confused by banking as a small charity, this guidance is all about bank mandates: www.salfordcvs.co.uk/mandate 

Do you keep a small amount of cash for the charity's use? Follow this link for more information on petty cash: www.salfordcvs.co.uk/pettycash