We caught up with our Community Fund grant recipients

We've been visiting some of our previous recipients before the next round of our One Manchester Community Fund opening in October. We’ve enjoyed checking in to see how they’re getting on and finding out more about the impact our funding is having on our customers and communities. 

What is the One Manchester Community Fund? 

Last year, we relaunched our One Manchester Community Fund and invited local community organisations to apply for funding to support our customers and local communities to thrive. We offered grants of up to £10,000 to fund projects that would support people to tackle the barriers we know our customers face.

Who did we visit?

We were delighted to visit several grant recipients to see their impact in action, including; the Men’s Shed at Gorton Monastery South and the slow cooking class at Caritas Salford. Both projects are all about improving people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Men’s Shed at Gorton Monastery South 

We popped along to Gorton Monastery South to check in on their Men’s Shed project. The Men’s Shed is a wellbeing project focused on reducing isolation and addressing mental and physical wellbeing. Local men of all ages are invited along to get stuck in doing an exciting range of activities including woodwork, gardening and other sessions with a group of like-minded individuals. 

The sessions are held weekly and so far, the group have: 

• Used a laser engraver to create wooden awards for Manchester City Council
• Built planters to grow herbs and vegetables that’re used in the monastery cafe
• Helped upkeep the environment around the monastery 

We asked the Project Leader Chris a bit more about the project and the impact of the funding. He told us about how much the attendees have been enjoying the group. We had the chance to speak to Steve, who’s a stroke survivor. Chris said: “Steve struggles a lot; he can’t use many of the tools because of his mobility issues. Some things he can’t do independently, but help is always on hand. He comes every week to sit and have a brew and have a go at doing what he can do.” Chris continued: “We applied for the funding because we knew that the Shed would be an excellent contribution to the local community, and we know that One Manchester has a lot of customers right here on our doorstep that would benefit from it.”

Caritas Salford

We also visited Caritas Salford who applied for our Community Fund to deliver slow cooking classes for One Manchester customers and other residents. The classes are all about giving people the tools to make low-cost and healthy meals, especially during the winter months.

Every attendee gets provided with a slow cooker, a recipe book, and the food needed to make the recipes in their own homes. They also benefit from the following: 

• The means to complete a food hygiene course
• Practical help to build their cooking skills
• Knowledge and advice about healthy eating

It was lovely to see the smiles these sessions brought to people’s faces as they were learning new cooking skills. Attendees told us how valuable the sessions are, especially with winter months around the corner, and having a slow cooker will help them keep their costs low.