As Greater Manchester’s Community Foundation, Forever Manchester is the only charity that raises money to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester. Benoit Properties started working with Forever Manchester last October as we wanted to fund projects closer to home, reinvest into the local Manchester community, and help those less fortunate.
Abuzz with community activity, Manchester has an outstanding 20,000 local grassroots projects underway at any given time. Funding and supporting more than 1,000 community projects every year through grants and awards, Forever Manchester has poured over £57 million into local communities. It has been supporting community activity since 1989 and benefitted an estimable 1.2 million people who care enough to act.
“It’s great to see the real-world impact some of these charities have on the local community and how they enrich lives. As a charity worker myself who benefitted from local funding during my youth, I know how much of a positive impact it can have.” Matt Lavin, Director
We’re delighted that the following projects have benefitted from our fundraising and donations with Forever Manchester in recent months.
Little Green Sock Project
Based in Urmston, Little Green Sock Project aims to reduce the effects of child poverty in Manchester by distributing excellent quality preloved children’s clothing to families who are in financial crisis. To continue with their project, they require storage, shelving, clothes rails and other items to keep the clothing safe and clean. A dedicated team of volunteers then sort, clean, iron, package and redistribute the clothing to where the need is the greatest in the local community via referral from health/social and 3rd sector referral partners and, more recently, to refugees arriving from Ukraine.
Salford Heart Care
Salford Heart Care has been in existence for 34 years and exists to aid the health of elderly residents in Salford through peer-to-peer support and well-being activities such as yoga, breathing work and holistic therapies. They applied for funding to contribute to the cost of room hire costs for their two groups, enabling Forever Manchester to provide activities such as exercise, holistic therapies, and relaxation with the remaining funds. These activities will encourage existing and new members to attend regularly and will help to improve their health and well-being whilst reducing social isolation.
Lancashire Lions
Lancashire Lions operates across Greater Manchester to provide a range of sporting opportunities for their visually impaired members, as well as lots of social opportunities for members and their families, creating a community of support. Due to their conditions, many members feel isolated and can struggle with their mental health. Forever Manchester funding was provided to enable the club to offer free transport for 10 weeks, allowing members to familiarise themselves with the route so they can then travel by themselves.
Whether you’re a company or an individual, you can support local people to do extraordinary things by joining the Forever Manchester movement. Find out more and get involved.
