In May 2026, Action Together Rochdale welcomed grassroots voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations from across the borough to the first Rochdale Community Voices Network meeting.
Our first Network event brought together grassroots Rochdale groups who are working to challenge the health inequalities their communities face, and amplify the voices of marginalised communities to drive meaningful change.
Putting Community Voice at the Centre
Our May Network meeting offered space for groups to discuss where felt they had had success with improving the health outcomes of the people they support, as well as what they had learnt and what new challenges their communities were facing. We were joined by The Salik Project UK who delivered an inspirational Spotlight session on how they supported recovery within South Asian communities in Rochdale and how community voice is embedded at the heart of its approach. The session provided a powerful example of how listening to lived experience and building trust within communities can lead to more effective and culturally appropriate support.
Network priorities
After a session of deep conversation and moving presentations, we asked the groups in the room, what would be your priorities for this network space? We asked them to post them anonymously in our priorities post box, to help shape our future sessions and system change goals. Looking at what was posted in these boxes, we found that our groups were looking for our Community Voices Network to focus on…
- Networking and collaboration
- Achieving visibility and change for marginalised communities
- Creating shared data and insight sharing systems
- Mapping and unlocking investment in communities
- Embedding insight gathering in support
In our next network session on Wednesday 23 September 2026, 11am to 1pm at Deeplish Community Wellbeing Centre, we will bring these priorities back to our network and ask our Community Voices Network, what do these priorities look like in real life? How can we progress these priorities together?
Foundation Group
Our Community Voices Network is being shaped and guided by the Community Voices Foundation Group, whose members bring a wealth of experience and connections from across Rochdale's diverse communities, including:
- Molly Deakin and Kerry Edwards from Rochdale Community Centre Consortium and Burnside Centre
- Amena Patel from Rochdale Gateway Leisure
- Juice Vamosi from Kaskosan
- Erica Matthews from Creative Health and Wellbeing
Together they are helping to drive the network forward and lead vital engagement activity through the Community Voices programme in partnership with NHS Greater Manchester and 10GM.
Why not join us at our next meeting this September?
Date/time: Wednesday 23 September 2026, 11am to 1pm
Location: Deeplish Community Centre, 57 Hare Street, Rochdale OL11 1JT
