Additional community funding kickstarts new wave of projects around Greater Manchester

A total of 22 community groups across Greater Manchester are set to benefit from funding of £220,000 which will help support innovative projects tackling waste, as well as encouraging re-use and recycling.

Now in its third year, the Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) Community Fund has provided a new tranche of funding for voluntary sector and community groups focused on creative solutions for repairing and reusing household waste.

Securing an amount between £875 and £20,000, each of the successful groups has been recognised for their commitment to sustainability and for delivering social value for their communities.

Celebrating their third year of funding, Jenny Neville, project manager at Future Directions, said: “Over the past two years we have recruited a team of Green Superheroes who teach other people with learning disabilities and autistic people about recycling in a fun and creative way.

"This funding will enable us to build on what we have already achieved, so we can continue to work with people with learning disabilities and autistic people to enable them to understand the importance of recycling to help save resources and protect the environment.”

The growing network of repair cafes has also been supported by the funding made available, which will help local residents fix a wide range of items and preventing them from going to waste.

Stockport-based community interest company Make Build Grow will be launching their “MakeGood” project, to upskill local people in repairing, reusing and repurposing items.

The two “innovation awards” of just under £20,000 each have been secured by Bounceback Food CIC and Permanent Education CIC. Following on from their successful pilot last year, Bounceback Food will be launching their “Community Cookery Champions” project, which will see a network of residents across every borough of Greater Manchester trained in reducing food waste and creating healthy, affordable meals.

The annual fund comes from the sale of preloved household items in a joint initiative by R4GM and waste contractor SUEZ recycling and recovery UK.

Items donated are prevented from going to waste and given a new lease of life at affordable prices, with all of the money raised going back to good causes through the annual fund

John Wrigley, Regional Director for SUEZ, said: “At SUEZ we operate a triple bottom line approach to everything we do to ensure that our work benefits people and the planet. Our reuse project in Greater Manchester with the development of the Renew Shops and Hub is a perfect example of this, saving items that would have previously gone to waste and benefiting local people at the same time through the money raised. We are extremely proud and it’s a real pleasure to see the community initiatives that will make an impact in their local areas benefiting.”

Grace O’Leary, GMEF Grants Manager, said: “Round 3 received a high number of excellent applications and there has been intense competition for funding. R4GM are delighted to see so many strong projects proposed and feel that the awarded applicants will deliver wonderful work resulting in a real positive impact.”