Cheetham Hill + across Greater Manchester

Building community power at the intersection of health, equity and democracy

Ethnic Health Forum works with racially minoritised and migrant communities across Greater Manchester, supporting people who experience health inequalities, barriers to services and exclusion from decision-making.

For many people, health is shaped by far more than healthcare alone. Language, income, housing, discrimination and access to support all influence wellbeing and quality of life. Ethnic Health Forum combines frontline support with advocacy and systems change, helping communities navigate services while challenging the inequalities that affect health outcomes.

Working with Humanity Project, the organisation is exploring how People's Assemblies can create safe, structured spaces where residents can share lived experience, identify shared priorities and help shape decisions affecting their health and wellbeing.

Assembly Culture through Ethnic Health Forum

From lived experience to collective influence

Ethnic Health Forum works with racially minoritised and migrant communities across Greater Manchester, including long-standing residents, recent migrants, carers and community advocates. Many people experience barriers linked to language, discrimination, poverty and unequal access to services, while also bringing deep knowledge, resilience and community leadership.

The organisation’s work is rooted in a simple belief: the people most affected by health inequalities should have a meaningful role in shaping the decisions that affect their lives. Through support, advocacy and community engagement, Ethnic Health Forum helps people move from navigating systems individually towards identifying shared challenges and collective priorities.

People’s Assemblies are being developed as part of this journey. Assemblies offer opportunities for residents to come together, share lived experience and explore common concerns around health, wellbeing and access to services. By creating structured spaces for listening and deliberation, assemblies help turn individual experiences into collective understanding and action.

Over recent years, Ethnic Health Forum has been building the foundations for this work through listening sessions, relationship-building and community conversations across multiple communities. Alongside this, local residents are developing the confidence, skills and leadership needed to help facilitate future assemblies and shape the process themselves.

This work is helping to create new pathways for participation and influence. By bringing lived experience into democratic spaces, Ethnic Health Forum is exploring how communities can play a stronger role in shaping healthier, fairer and more inclusive futures across Greater Manchester.