Celebration of volunteers' work

An Oscars-style evening was held at Leigh Sports Village as a celebration of local community projects featuring a film premiere and an awards ceremony.
Accepting the Award from Elizabeth Hunter, Head of Supported Housing at Adactus was Nicola Wood and Paul Carrol from Wigan & Leigh Young CarersAccepting the Award from Elizabeth Hunter, Head of Supported Housing at Adactus was Nicola Wood and Paul Carrol from Wigan & Leigh Young Carers
Accepting the Award from Elizabeth Hunter, Head of Supported Housing at Adactus was Nicola Wood and Paul Carrol from Wigan & Leigh Young Carers

Every year, private landlord Adactus makes more than £200,000 available for its Breathe Investment Grants and invites local residents and resident groups to bid for up to £2,000 per project.

The cash goes towards small scale community projects that make a real difference to neighbourhoods and help improve the quality of life for residents.

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Hosted by Tony Walsh, aka the Longfella Poet, the evening celebrated the dedication and hard work of the volunteers and community members who have successfully set up and delivered these amazing projects.

Project representatives from across the region made their way onto the red carpet, where they were photographed and interviewed in true Oscars style.

There were eight category winners from 34 projects nominated, all voted by Adactus tenants. In total 541 votes were cast from 107 different Adactus500 members.

It proved a very successful day for Wigan and Leigh projects winning three out of the eight categories.

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The community garden at Hunter Road and Scot Lane in Wigan won the Environmental Projects category, Wigan and Leigh Young Carers won the category for Young People and Life Long Song operating in Wigan and Leigh scooped the top spot for the Older People category.

Before the ceremony, everyone got the opportunity to watch the first official screening of a documentary showcasing the various projects and events funded through BIG.

The feature was put together over the past six months by Adactus’s supported housing residents from homeless schemes across Wigan, Leigh and Lancaster.

Working closely with REEL MCR CIC staff, its residents used the opportunity to gain new skills and learn all about media and film making.

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Adactus says it is committed to investing in projects that will benefit the areas where it works. Over the past six years, the group has invested in excess of £1m on funding local neighbourhood projects.

Jayne Allison, sustainable neighbourhoods manager at Adactus, said “I am very proud of our supported residents that took up this amazing opportunity and worked with REEL Manchester on our community film.

“The experience is already helping them with their confidence and communication skills. Adactus wants to make a real difference to our communities through the BIG funding and the film helps demonstrate the scale of that impact on real lives.

“I am also delighted that the event was so well received and we were able to celebrate everyone who got involved.”