Social, digital and financial inclusion

One of the founding reasons GMHP members first came together, almost ten years ago, was to find joint ways to address poverty in our communities. And more recently, Covid-19 has brought into even sharper focus the deep-rooted inequalities that have meant the most vulnerable and more excluded have been hardest hit by the pandemic.

As community anchor organisations, together housing over 500,000 people across Greater Manchester, we are in a unique position to have a significant impact in addressing these issues. It’s essential we work collaboratively within GMHP, and with partners across the city region, to build the strength, fairness and financial resilience that will enable all our communities to thrive.

Our work in this area spans a range of issues and agendas, including equality and diversity, community cohesion, social value, tenant voice, poverty reduction, employment and skills, financial inclusion, digital inclusion and supporting young people and others disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Tackling poverty

A key pillar of this work is our Anti-Poverty Pledge that aims to alleviate poverty amongst our customers and tackle the inequalities and other root causes of poverty in our neighbourhoods. Our pledge contains 29 individual commitments across six priorities – reducing inequalities, social inclusion, employment and skills, housing and homelessness, social value, and fair employment.

Our aim is to ensure our members take a comprehensive and consistent approach to alleviating the immediate burden of poverty, and also address some of the fundamental causes of poverty across the city region – from tackling equality and diversity issues to increasing the supply of genuinely affordable housing.