Greater Manchester Environment Fund

Fantastic progress is being made in the grounds of Gorton Monastery as they crack on with their Green Spaces Fund project 🌳 They've started big with building this great poly-tunnel, which Andy Burnham officially opened last week. The project will be providing accessible green space in one of the top 10% most deprived areas of Manchester, and we can't wait to see what they do next... THE MONASTERY OF ST FRANCIS AND GORTON TRUST

Look out Stockport; a Green Spaces Fund project is coming your way! 🌞 Beacon Counselling are converting the grey Merseyway shopping centre into a lush, green, biodiverse hub that promotes an array of wellbeing benefits for the local community. The group receive consistent feedback about the lack of local green space and are located in an area of high deprivation, highlighting the urgent need to create a place where people can connect with nature. Good luck!

New blog! 🤩 Our 'Green Spaces Stories' series continues with a to visit to the LEAP Centre in Tameside, where a brand new community wellbeing garden is providing vital green space for local residents. "The children can now have hands-on nature experiences every day, and parents dropping off their children can enjoy a small pocket of nature with each visit." Follow this link to read more about this fantastic charity and their project: https://lnkd.in/eYSxVRi7 Joanne Parry Tameside Council City of Trees LEAP Children, Families & Communities Charity

The Centre of Yes in Blackley are launching a project to redesign the old rose garden at Boggart Hole Clough 🌹 The park has been neglected over the years, so the group are going use the Green Spaces Fund to revive the garden so people can enjoy outdoor wellbeing activities and learn about caring for nature. They have already hosted a workshop to discuss what local residents would like to see. A range of individuals from all walks of life came together to view different designs, offer ideas, and learn about future volunteering opportunities. Sounds like this project is off to a great start! 🌳

On Tuesday, we joined Lancashire Wildlife Trust at Cadishead Moss in Irlam to do some wet woodland planting 🌱 Throughout the day we planted alder, elder, hawthorn and hazel saplings, as well as various kinds of fern and common heather. As they grow, these plants will improve habitats for species that depend on these wet woodland areas, such as endangered willow tits. We finished the day by popping next door to Little Woolden Moss, where a peatland restoration project that received Green Spaces Funding is now thriving!

The 'Green Rooms' project at Gorse Hill Studios in Trafford aims to transform under-used outdoor spaces into vibrant, accessible green areas for their community 💚 They're creating a sensory garden, vegetable patch, wildlife habitats, and a 'Green Theatre' to provide a multifunctional outdoor learning and performance space. But that's not all, the Rhubarb Community Café, run by volunteers and young people, will serve produce grown on-site! What a fantastic idea - we can't wait to see how this project progresses.

Many hands make light work! 🙌 Recently, volunteers from Enterprise Mobility planted, mulched, caged and posted 15 new fruit trees in Cheetham Hill Park 🌳🍎 The park is home to Friends of Cheetham Park, one of our Green Spaces Fund groups, and their project is being supported by The Orchard Project too. We are thrilled to have Enterprise as one of the GMEF's corporate supporters. Their contributions to our work have not only resulted in a number of corporate volunteering days for their staff, but also enable groups like Friends of Cheetham Park to benefit from some additional help. Do get in touch if you'd like more information on how your business can support the GMEF and the incredible groups working to make GM greener 💚 Enterprise Greater Manchester Combined Authority City of Trees

A unique memorial garden is under development in Stockport thanks to the latest round of the Green Spaces Fund 🌿 The group behind Green Thumbs Community Allotments are turning an unattractive, mostly concrete space into a Covid memorial garden and multi-use green space. It will be a unique place where people can reflect, remember lost loved ones, and take a moment for their own wellbeing. The area will also be used to host activities where people can learn new growing techniques and work together to ensure they nurture and maintain their environment for future generations 💚🤝 Groundwork Greater Manchester

The sun shone in Longsight when Andy Burnham visited to officially open the orchard garden in Crowcroft Park 🍐 The garden is one part of the 'SNUG' project run by Longsight Art Space and Friends of Crowcroft Park, who received funding in Round 2 of our Green Spaces Fund. The team have worked tirelessly to rescue an abandoned bowling green and turn it into a vibrant garden full of fruit trees, a pond, hügel beds, wildflowers and perennial shrubs. The Green Spaces Fund is a key part of the Mayor's environment plans for Greater Manchester, so it's always great to see him out supporting our amazing groups... and usually planting a few things himself! 😄

A new Green Spaces Fund project is blooming in Bolton... 🌸 Believe Achieve CIC are transforming an unused green space in Radcliffe into an open-access allotment to increase biodiversity, support nature conservation, and provide education and food growing to the community to mitigate the cost-of-living crisis. The team are also planning to create a grass roof on an existing storage container! 💚 Definitely one to keep your eye on if you're local to Bolton. Greater Manchester Combined Authority