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You can now apply for grants of up to £40,000 to improve or create green spaces in Manchester
Applications for the £2.6 million Greater Manchester Green Spaces Fund are now live.
Communities right across Greater Manchester can now apply for grants of up to £40,000 to improve or create local green spaces in their area.
Mayor Andy Burnham announced that applications for the Greater Manchester Green Spaces Fund are now live when he spoke at the Marking the Decarbonisation Summit event at the Science and Industry Museum earlier this week.
The new £2.6 million scheme is all about “supporting community-led projects” that increase the amount and quality of accessible and nature-rich green space throughout the region, particularly in the areas where residents may need it most, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
It gives small grants to communities to improve local green spaces or create new ones.
“Local green spaces are such an important part of our efforts to improve the environment, support local wildlife and offer local people a great place to live,” Andy Burnham said.
“Everyone should have access to high-quality green spaces, regardless of where they live, and I’m pleased we’re able to launch this scheme which will further support our ambitions for a greener and fairer future.”
GMCA says that projects undertaken with the funding grants should improve accessible spaces through physical improvements to make them better places for nature and people, and says that these projects could take place in parks, community gardens, streets, schools, housing estates, canals/streams/rivers, and existing nature reserves.
There are two types of grants available – grants up to £10,000, and grants between £10,000 and £40,000.
Read more: New long-term project launched to bring more green spaces to Manchester city centre
Cllr Neil Emmott – Lead for Green City Region and Waste & Recycling – also said: “Improving and maintaining local green spaces can go such a long way in not only improving air quality and carbon levels, but it’s also great for social and mental wellbeing.
“Through our Green Spaces Fund, people across the whole of our region can now apply for grants to improve or create new green spaces in their area.”
Mr Burnham also reiterated during his address earlier this week how serious Greater Manchester is about “making the changes needed” so that the city region can reach the ambitious target of becoming a carbon neutral by 2038.
Read more: Manchester City Council to spend £6m on cutting carbon emissions from seven local buildings
He said the new Greater Manchester Green Spaces Fund will help our region to be “a greener and fairer place” for everyone.
You can find more information and apply for grants of up to £40,000 here.
Featured Image – Kitera Dent (via Unsplash)
News
Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre
Daisy Jackson
Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
Read more
Featured image: The Manc Group
News
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Read more:
“Help us be a lifeline to organisations on the frontline,” Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity urged in it’s public appeal for donations.
You can help make sure ‘A Bed Every Night’ is a reality for all by donating here.
Featured Image – EthelRedThePetrolHead (via Flickr)
