18,783
Estimated number of VCSE organisations
Including 7,769 registered charities, CICs, societies, cooperatives, community groups, clubs and associations, and 11,014 below-the-radar organisations not captured on registers.
Modelled estimates
The scale and contribution of the sector
Estimated totals for Greater Manchester’s VCSE sector. These are informed estimates from modelling and extrapolation — not exact counts.
£2.42bn
Income in 2024/25
Estimated income generated by VCSE organisations.
£2.37bn
Expenditure in 2024/25
Estimated expenditure by VCSE organisations.
8.63m
Instances of support
Estimated contacts or episodes of support provided to people and communities each year.
483,252
Volunteers and trustees
An estimated 378,287 volunteers and 104,965 trustees or board members across the sector.
52.6m
Volunteer hours contributed
Across Greater Manchester, volunteers and trustees contribute over 1 million hours each week. Over a year, this is equivalent to 52.6 million hours spent supporting organisations and communities.
£707.48m
Replacement cost of volunteering
The estimated cost of replacing time contributed by volunteers and trustees with paid labour at the Real Living Wage (£13.45 per hour).
40,228
Full-time equivalent paid staff
Greater Manchester’s VCSE sector is estimated to employ 40,228 FTE paid staff, corresponding to approximately 52,709 individual employees.
£2.03bn
Paid staff GVA
The estimated economic value generated each year through the services and activities delivered by FTE paid staff working in Greater Manchester’s VCSE sector.
