Community Investment Strategy

Introduction and Purpose 

One Manchester is more than just a landlord, we provide support and opportunities which enable our customers and communities to thrive. Our approach and ongoing commitment to Community Investment is key to delivering our corporate priority of Prosperity and supporting our customers to prosper and live well as part of a thriving Manchester, whilst tackling inequalities and barriers our customers may experience. The purpose of this strategy is to outline the priorities and key principles of One Manchester’s approach to community investment for the next three years. 

One Manchester has a longstanding track record of providing community investment activities for our customers and communities both internally and in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders. Community Investment adds value and meet gaps in provision to remove barriers and increase opportunities. In turn, this approach assists us to achieve our vision to create inclusive, connected and sustainable places where people live well.

Scope 

For the purpose of this strategy, Community Investment means the activities, projects and themes that make up our investment into communities. Community Investment is made up of a series of activities. These can be on an individual one to one basis, or through group work, events and projects. Community Investment is delivered through our internal dedicated teams, such as Financial Inclusion, Thrive Fund, Employment & Skills, Youth Offer, Community Fund, Community Investment Partners, and also through local community groups, partnerships and stakeholders.

Key Principles 

The key principles of this Community Investment Strategy are:

1. Proportionate Investment - Community Investment is focused on supporting OM customers to succeed and live well. Activity is focused in OM geographical areas, proportionately. 

2. Customer Voice - Community Investment activities are based upon the customer voice and customer feedback alongside other data sources. 

3. Inclusion & Equity - Community Investment is inclusive and equitable, which includes focusing within specific demographic and geographical groups to target under- representation and inequality. 

4. Maximise Resources - We will utilise internal resources and leverage external resources and partnerships to maximise Community Investment including External Funding, and Social Value.  

Principle 1 – Proportionate Investment 

One Manchester currently owns and manages homes across 13 wards, and two local authorities. All but one ward is located in the city of Manchester. We will focus our community investment into each of our areas, proportionately. Where we have a large concentration of homes, and/or are the one of the largest social housing providers, we will enable more Community Investment activities, projects, partnerships, funding and resources. Where One Manchester has a small number of homes in an area we will ensure that we are working with other key partners and stakeholders to deliver community investment. We will also ensure that the time, resources and funding is proportionate to the number of homes we have in the area. Where we have funds available either through internal initiatives such as Community Fund for local community groups and Thrive Customer fund or External funds through Social Value we will ensure that we are analysing take up and that we are not under servicing or over servicing geographies. Where an area is under served in terms of applications, applications received will be given additional weighting. This will be clearly outlined in the Community Fund criteria advertisements. 

Principle 2 – Customer Voice

 A key underpinning principle of this strategy will be the voice of the customer. Customers have influenced the priority themes through consultation throughout Spring and Summer 2024. We will further ensure the voice of the customer is reflected in the implementation of this strategy through feedback and data gathered from a wide range of sources including feedback from Community Investment activities, Community Plans, Tenancy Experience Visits, Tenant Satisfaction Measures sentiment analysis, and specific team customer feedback which will help shape and inform our Community Investment approach. We will also utilise our data and that of partners and national statistics to inform our Community Investment approach. The following themes were identified by customers of being the priorities that One Manchester should focus on when delivering Community Investment outcomes for customers and communities. They are ranked in the order of prioritisation by customers. 

     These themes will be prioritised. In addition, we will also explore opportunities in the following themes, as we know from our own data and that of partners, that these are important issues within our communities. 

Principle 3 – Inclusion and Equity

One Manchester’s approach to Community Investment is inclusive and equitable. We will utilise our internal resources such as Financial Inclusion, Employment and Skills, Community Safety, Youth and Community Investment Partners to provide a universal service to our customers. Within these services we will also focus on specific demographic groups and geographies to target under representation and inequality across our communities. We will ensure that Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is an underlying principle in all Community Investment activities and barriers to access and participation are removed. We will actively work with groups and partners that represent One Manchester’s diverse and vibrant communities across a range of themes and outcomes. This includes specific partnerships that add value to the work of One Manchester. Our approach will be based on expertise, knowledge and shared outcomes for customers. Where we do not hold relationships with community groups and partners that represent our customers and communities we will proactively foster them. One Manchester is fortunate to have homes within areas that are rich in cultural heritage from many different faiths, ethnicities, sexualities and backgrounds. Through our Community Investment team we will celebrate with customers, partners and stakeholders a wide range of culturally significant events held by partners throughout the year. 

Principle 4 – Maximise Resources 

One Manchester invests in our customers and communities through our internal teams of Financial Inclusion, Employment & Skills, Youth Offer and Community Investment Team. In addition, we have a Thrive Customer Fund and Community Grants Fund for local groups that support our customers. We are committed to providing real opportunities and creating inclusive, connected places where people can thrive and live well. 

To deliver on this vision, in addition to the sizeable internal OM contribution, we will seek to work with other stakeholders and partners, maximizing resources and impact for the benefit of our customers and communities. One Manchester has a wide range of partners and public sector stakeholders such as the local authority, Police, Health and primary care providers, other registered providers for example, many of whom have similar goals and outcomes for our customers and communities. 

We will seek to divert and align resources of other stakeholders to meet the needs of our customers and communities, so they can prosper and live well. We will work in partnership to reduced duplication and create community investment activities that address gaps in provision. Through our external funding strategy, we will horizon scan and seek additional income from a range of sources including foundations, trusts, commissioners, as examples. 

We will also ensure we are fully utilizing Social Value pledges and managing these effectively. We will ensure that we are devising, creating and delivering Community Investment activities well. This includes ensuring we have the skills, resources and time to effectively deliver an activity, event, project or partnership to ensure effective outcomes. This may mean OM prioritises involvement based on evidential data and resource capacity. 

Risks 

The risks associated with this strategy are that we do not have the capacity and resources to effectively deliver on both the priorities and the themes identified by customers as important for Community Investment. This is mitigated by ensuring we have enough resources to deliver our community investment activities and are attracting and leveraging external funding and resources. Another risk could be securing buy in from other agencies who may be struggling with their own resources and competing priorities. Working closely with key stakeholders to align resources and shared objectives will mitigate this risk. 

Key Objectives 

The objectives of this strategy will meet these principles through creating a consistent structured approach for Community Investment. 

The main strategic objectives for Community Investment are stated below:- 

• Providing engaging and supportive activities/events for customers within their communities.
• Strengthening the ways in which we support OM young people to become independent and resilient young adults.
• Strengthen the voluntary sector within our communities through grant funding, social value opportunities and partnership opportunities.
• Build sustainable pipeline of investment through social value and external funding, enabling OM to maintain and grow its support services for customers.
• Revise OM internal pathway - apprenticeship, placement and volunteering
• Ensure Community Assets are safe, compliant and inclusive
• Strengthen ways in which we signpost and connect our customers with OM
• Scope and lead green skills academy development project