Dispersed Leadership Model
At Wigan Borough Community First, we value the voice of the communities we serve. The Dispersed Leadership Model has been developed to ensure that individuals with the right skills, knowledge and lived experience are supported to represent the sector at a strategic level.
The model strengthens leadership, representation and collaboration across the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector within Wigan Borough. It enables leadership to be shared, ensuring that strategic priorities are informed by the experiences and expertise of organisations working directly within communities.
By providing a clear and structured approach to representation, the model supports sector leaders to influence decision making, shape priorities and contribute to system level change.
This approach ensures that leadership remains inclusive, representative and responsive to the evolving needs of both the sector and the communities it serves.
This reflects a system enabled, community led approach, where infrastructure supports leadership to emerge from within the sector itself.
Get Involved
Find a group or network that suits you and your values. Help shape the sector and make sure your voice, and your community’s voice, is heard.
System-Enabled, Community-Led
This framework is for anyone working or volunteering within Wigan Borough’s VCFSE sector who wants to play an active role in shaping decision‑making.
Whether you’re part of a small grassroots group, a larger charity, a community network, or an informal collective, the framework gives you a place to contribute your knowledge, share your perspective, and help ensure the sector’s voice is heard where it matters most.
The Dispersed Leadership Model: Explained
What
How
Why
The Representation Framework underpins the Dispersed Leadership Model, ensuring that leadership is both credible and representative of the sector.
In line with the system-enabled, community-led approach, representatives are selected by their respective Sector Leadership Group through a clear, transparent and equitable process, designed to ensure fairness, reduce bias and reflect genuine sector interest. This may include nomination, consensus or vote, depending on what best suits the group.
Representatives will typically serve a defined term, allowing for both continuity and the opportunity for wider participation across the sector.
All representatives are expected to:
- Act in the best interests of the sector as a whole
- Maintain strong communication with their group
- Attend and actively contribute to board meetings
- Uphold the values and principles of WBCF
Representatives will operate within a clear role profile and code of conduct, ensuring accountability, professionalism and alignment with sector values. WBCF will provide training, guidance and wraparound support to representatives, ensuring they are equipped to carry out their role effectively and sustainably.
New Opportunities
This section showcases the latest ways to get involved across Wigan Borough’s VCFSE sector. These roles offer the chance to represent your network, contribute to key discussions, and help shape decision making. Each opportunity explains what’s involved, where it sits, and how to express your interest, making it easier for a wide range of voices and experiences to be part of the conversations shaping our borough.
