Connecting Communities Through Movement: Reflections From a VCSE Catalyst

By Kat Pursall, 10 GM | 29 August 2025 | TAGS: communities, Place working, Place based partnerships, vcse sector

Reflections from a VCSE Catalyst 

Kat Pursall, Strategic Lead at 10GM and VCSE Catalyst for the Place Partnership  in Greater Manchester, reflects on the journey so far – highlighting the key enablers and lessons learned about how sport and physical activity can connect communities, and why lasting change happens when communities themselves lead the way.  

“For over seven years, GM Moving and 10GM have worked together to ensure that the VCSE sector is valued as an equal partner in local and city-regional decision-making, and that the voices of communities are strong throughout design work. 

This sector is often closest to people’s lives: local charities, grassroots sports clubs, community groups, faith organisations. They are trusted in a way that statutory services sometimes aren’t, and they hold the relationships that can spark real, lasting change. 

That’s why the role of VCSE organisations is so critical in enabling physical activity and movement. They know the barriers, they know the strengths, and they know what will actually work on the ground. 

But the truth is, when we first listened carefully to localities and partners, the picture was stark. Communities told us they were “consulted-out” – weary of repeated surveys, tired of different agencies arriving with different lanyards but asking the same questions. Too often, people felt their voices weren’t listened to, or worse, captured and then ignored. Reports sat on shelves while trust and goodwill evaporated. 

This was the context for my role: to act as a connector and to convene, challenge, and act as a critical friend – sometimes uncomfortable, always constructive. 

Community Investment: putting trust into practice 

One of the most important tests of this method was the development of Community Investment approaches in seven of our ten boroughs through the Place Partnership approach.  

The intention was always clear: to allocate investment into communities in a way that was less onerous than before, building on the creativity and ingenuity that many social movements showed during the pandemic. Instead of having programmes imposed from above, communities were trusted and enabled to decide what was needed and wanted in their area, and, crucially, backed with resources to make it happen. What mattered most was not the scale of the idea, but that it was rooted in local knowledge, creativity and need. 

Of course, there were challenges. How many questions should an application form ask? Who should make decisions? How do you make the process supportive, not bureaucratic? There’s no perfect model, but we learned valuable lessons: keep things simple, match application wording to scoring, and always be clear about why you’re asking a question and how the answer will be used.  

Above all, we discovered that addressing barriers – not creating them – is the key to unlocking community energy. By investing in community organisations we’ve been able to show that it’s in communities and the organisations within them where inequalities are best understood, and where the best prospects for tackling them lie. 

Snapshot: Tameside’s Use Your Energy  

The Use Your Energy programme flipped the usual model for youth activity on its head – instead of prescribing activities, it asked children and young people what they wanted. Delivered by Action Together Tameside in partnership with local VCFSE groups, it created spaces for 5–18-year-olds to move more in ways that suited their interests, skills, and abilities. 

By co-creating with young people and providing training for local groups, the approach built community capacity as well as participation. Over five years, more than 3,000 young people took part, with activities ranging from dance sessions to informal games in local centres. The programme didn’t just make activity more accessible – it also brought children from different cultures together, breaking down barriers through play and shared experiences. 

As one organiser at Yew Tree Community Centre reflected: 

“We’ve got kids who’ve never been out… and more importantly with kids of a different culture integrating together so there’s that building of relationships. It’s been wonderful.” 

Language, power and trust 

Language is crucial in this work. Localities were clear that they wanted to move away from “delivering” community engagement. Words like “codesign” and “coproduction” gained traction – and rightly so. But I’ve also seen how damaging it can be to label something as coproduced when it isn’t. It creates confusion and mistrust. 

We also need to face the bigger picture: there are deep structural inequalities in our society. If we want communities to lead, then power needs to shift. That means creating and protecting the space for communities to take control, providing long-term investment, and addressing the inequalities that stand in the way. It also means system partners being brave enough to step back – sometimes the hardest part. 

Snapshot: Newbold Community Garden in Rochdale. 

What started as one resident’s idea became a flourishing community hub thanks to the right support, connections, and belief in local capability. When a resident approached Sarah, Rochdale’s Place Partnership Lead, about turning their idea into action through a local community investment fund, Sarah didn’t just hand over a form – she met them where they were, connected them to others, and supported them through a Community Investment process. 

The group’s £2,000 grant was the seed for transformation – funding a Polytunnel that became the heart of the garden. But the real change came from the relationships Sarah helped forge: linking the group to the local VSCE organisation, elected members, local organisations and further funding opportunities. These new networks unlocked skills, resources, and confidence that had previously been out of reach. 

Eighteen months later, the once-derelict plot now boasts a wildflower meadow, pond, bird boxes, seasonal events, and a growing vision for an educational space. Most importantly, it’s strengthened bonds between neighbours across generations. As one resident put it: 

“This project means so much to this community. We’ve never had anything like this before… it’s now starting to bring the community together.” 

Looking ahead – a radical shift upstream 

As we look towards 2025–2028, we know there has never been a more important time to deepen community-led work. Connecting communities is not only one of Sport England’s five big issues in Uniting the Movement – it sits at the heart of GM Moving’s strategy and our shared ambition of Active Lives for All. 

For me, the focus ahead is clear: 

• Building community control and leadership. How do we support local people to build their own capacity, capability and confidence to shape decisions? How do we create more opportunities for communities to lead, not just be consulted?  
• Strengthening community investment. How do we learn from local approaches, influence national policy, and ensure investment is fair, accessible, and sustainable? 

But we also know this can’t happen in isolation. System conditions must be right: communities need protected space to lead, long-term resources to sustain change, and structural inequalities must be addressed head-on. Only then can the VCSE sector help create a real power shift, where communities own their future. 

A movement for movement 

Greater Manchester has always had a proud history of “doing things differently.” From health and social care devolution to integrated care, the spirit of system disruption has always been about putting people first. Now, with GM Moving’s commitment to “Active Lives for All” and the Integrated Care Partnership’s and Greater Manchester’s Combined Authority’s “Live Well” strategy aiming to create a movement for community-led health and wellbeing, the time feels right to shift the dial and go upstream. 

The challenge is to go further. That means creating the right conditions for communities to lead, ensuring long-term investment in their capacity, and addressing the inequalities that still stand in the way. 

As Catalyst, I see my role as keeping the community voice front and centre of often difficult conversations that start from a deficit-perspective … reminding system partners that active, healthy and happy communities who are leading on the change they want to see is not just a ‘nice to have’, but absolutely make economic sense and creates long-lasting systemic impact. 

That’s the power of movement(s) and the reason we must keep investing in the people and organisations that make it possible.”