About Us

We have a dedicated team at Bolton Christian Community Cohesion.

Our management team is made up of representatives from a range of churches and other organisations in the Bolton area:  

Chris Bracegirdle (Vicar of Bolton Parish C of E Church),

John Walsh (Bolton Council),

Kevin Flanagan (GMIM – Greater Manchester Industrial Mission, our umbrella charity),

David Tomlinson (Bolton Methodist Mission, Victoria Hall & GMIM – Interim Chair),

Susan Betts (Salvation Army, Bolton Citadel),

Phil Glanvill (Bolton Methodist Mission & Emmaus)

Father Chris Gorton (St Cuthbert’s Catholic Parish)

Jacky Embrey (URC’s Bolton & Salford Missional Partnership)

Dave Wyke (Passion Bolton 2030 Steering Team & Bridge Church, Bolton)

We have 2 members of staff, Keith Armstrong, Project Manager (who also co-ordinates Bolton Town Centre/Middlebrook Chaplaincies) and Janet Lythgoe, our administrator.

Greater Manchester Industrial Mission partner with Bolton Christian Community Cohesion by providing support in Finance, Human Resources, Training and Legal work.  The GMIM work with Chaplaincies across the North West enables learning and best practices to develop.

We are involved in a series of consultations across Bolton based on key themes with the Bolton Vision Partnership’s Bolton 2030 Vision. Over the last 3 years, we have worked in partnership with the ‘Passion Bolton 2030 Vision’ steering team (Bolton’s Town-wide Church Unity group) to organise many conferences, (on the themes of ‘Starting Well’, Living Well’, and ‘Ageing Well’) and Bolton Church Leaders’ meetings during which we have shared good practice across Bolton and it’s boroughs and offered support to church leaders and leaders of Christian organisations in the Bolton area and encouraged them to engage further with the Bolton 2030 Vision. During 2020 we formed ‘Task and Finish’ groups which focused on developing the Bolton churches’ support of the Bolton Community in the areas of Prayer, Developing Christian Leaders, Tackling Social Isolation and Poverty, Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees, Caring for the Environment, Getting People Active and Supporting Young People and Schools.

During 2021 we planned workshops which supported church leaders and leaders of Christian organisations in the areas of Recovery from Covid, Use of Church Buildings, Developing Employment Opportunities, Mental Health & Well-being, Use of Media, and Supporting Young People and Schools. We also hosted a ‘Supporting Asylum Seekers and Refugees’ Conference in May where we be explained how churches can develop their support of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Bolton by supporting, and signposting to, organisations who already support Asylum Seekers in Bolton and nationally, and by developing support services in their own churches. already

Future events: