Our History

The Collective began prior to Covid-19 in 2020, when the leading organisations in Trafford were working together to build a partnership model, to establish an independent Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) Collective in Trafford.

The pandemic accelerated the consolidation of this model as six Community Response Hubs were set up in Trafford, in March 2020, to offer an immediate response to the situation. Each Hub was led by a VCFSE organisation and offered support across the entire borough of Trafford.

The Collective was a key partner in helping to shape the strategy of this work and provided support for many organisations as part of this model. Some of these hubs grew into our Lead Partners and the many organisations we worked with at this time became the start of our membership.

The Collective is now a representative alliance of organisations with a common purpose – to place the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector at the heart of Trafford’s locality plan and health and social sector reform.

The Collective has continued its development as an organisation. As part of this, we have established a regular cycle of meetings to engage and develop the membership, agreed and delivered priorities, and secured funding from Trafford Council and Trafford Clinical Commissioning Group to deliver these priorities.

Further, throughout we have consolidated the role of the Collective on a strategic level, including contributing to the development of the new GM ICS system. Through the Collective the sector is now represented on the; Trafford Health and Wellbeing Board, Trafford Locality Board, Trafford Provider Collaborative Board, Trafford Clinical and Practitioner Senate and the Trafford Children’s Commission Board. The sector is represented at a strategic and operational levels in the development of services to Children and Adults by Trafford Council while at the same delivering a range of easily accessible community based, holistic person-centred services.

In partnership with Trafford Local Care Organisation and Trafford Public Health we have also consolidated the framework for neighbourhood working that was initiated in 2023 – 2024. The framework has been built around the concept of the neighbourhood network that include a range of statutory and VCFSE organisations that are committed improving outcomes for Trafford residents.

Through the neighbourhood networks we work as partners in the local community to promote new ways of working and an understanding and awareness of the best way to engage with individuals, families, and communities with a view to enabling them to achieve improved outcomes in their health and wellbeing. This strategic work has allowed us to realise the role and potential of the sector to support the delivery of early intervention and prevention services to improve outcomes and reduce health inequalities for Trafford residents.

Along with this we have secured funding for and developed many projects for the good of the VCFSE sector across Trafford.

We continue to expand the Collective’s role and bring the VCFSE sector together through connecting, promoting and supporting.

We work to coordinate delivery, develop the sustainability of the sector and its viability as a strategic partner.