Local charities set to benefit from almost £40k of donations from Manchester Airport’s Community Trust Fund

22 charities and not for profit groups from the Cheshire and south Manchester areas are celebrating being awarded grants of up to £3,000 for their projects, following Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund’s latest meeting.

The Fund, which was set up in 1997, is managed by a committee of trustees from the area alongside representatives from the airport. It has made more than £4m worth of donations in the 27 years since it was founded.

Groups based within 10 miles of the airport, which covers parts of Manchester, Tameside, Trafford, Stockport and Cheshire, are able to bid for funding for initiatives with a clear and lasting community benefit.

Among the almost two-dozen groups to benefit from the latest round of funding is Jump Space, based in Edgeley, Stockport. The charity provides opportunities for disabled people of all ages and abilities to access physical activity and sensory experiences, offering trainer-led trampolining, rebound therapy and sensory play to disabled and non-disabled people of all ages. Its fully accessible HQ caters for groups and individuals with a wide range of impairments.

With the Community Trust grant of £3,000 that it has received, the group plans to install an interactive floor projector, allowing it to offer a more diverse range of activities. Stockport MP Navendu Mishra visited the group’s base on Hardman Street to present them with the funds.

Marie Fisher, Jump Space’s Chief Executive, said: “The award from Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund is a great boost for Jump Space. Our facility is undergoing major refurbishments in spring this year, and this new equipment will enhance the Jump Space experience for our participants and support us in becoming a flagship provider for activity for disabled people in the North West.”

Navendu Mishra MP added: “Congratulations to all seven successful Stockport applicants in the latest round of Manchester Airport's Community Trust Fund. It was great to meet with Jump Space and hear about how the funds received from the airport will help further contribute to their mission of encouraging activity and promoting community among disabled and disadvantaged people. I would encourage all community groups in Stockport to apply for the next round of Manchester Airport’s Community Trust Fund and see how they might be able to make further change in their area.”

Cracking Good Food, an organisation that supports communities across Manchester by offering cookery classes and tackling food waste, was granted £1,500 towards its Kitchen Kit Call Out campaign – collecting and redistributing pre-loved kitchen kit to those in need.

Tracey Torley, a Director at Cracking Good Food, said: “There is a huge demand for basic kitchen equipment, and after just four events almost seven tonnes of donated kit has already been distributed, supporting approximately 12,000 Greater Manchester community members and organisations and avoiding over 70 tonnes of embodied carbon emissions going to landfill.”

Also set to benefit is The Together Centre at Loxley House, in Dukinfield, Tameside. The charity supports families and vulnerable people in the Tameside area and will use its £1,200 grant to establish a ‘Talking Tea Room’, and public ‘warm spaces’.

The Together Centre Manager, Leanne Bold, explained: “By tackling loneliness, isolation, and just offering an open-ear and a friendly face to anyone who may be struggling during these unprecedented times, The Together Centre's empowering, free Talking Tearoom will support those most vulnerable within our Tameside Wide Communities. Nine of our incredible volunteers will be on hand with a cuppa and a slice of cake, or soup and a roll during the winter months.”

Cheshire’s MIX56 was awarded over £1,600 towards mobile studio and outside broadcast equipment.  The additional equipment will help the station to serve its community better – by enabling them to get out and about this summer with more outside broadcasts.

Ian James from MIX56 said:  "Since we started broadcasting during lockdown, we’ve been doing some amazing things both on and off air. This much-needed funding will allow us to serve the community even more, allowing us to get out and about this Summer – and will also provide a valuable lifeline for volunteers when it comes to remote training and broadcasting. We are so grateful to Manchester Airport and the Community Trust Fund for this award."

OT Creative Space, in Trafford, will get more than £2,100 towards its ‘THE BACK gALLErY’ project, which has transformed an alleyway that previously saw fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour into a community arts hub.

Lynda Sterling, a visual artist working on the project, said: “We are delighted to have received funding from Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund which will enable us to continue ‘THE BACK gALLErY’ project for the next year. Our project works with our local community and artists to create safe and welcome outdoor spaces in the alleyways, where people of all ages can come together to be creative, create artwork, clean, care for and grow plants in the alleyways and build a strong cohesive and creative community.

“The funding will enable us to purchase materials we need to hold monthly family art clubs in the alley as well as equipment for community clean up days and new outdoor art exhibitions. This will make a big difference for our community and we can't wait to get started."

Marston Parish Council was awarded £1,600 to purchase new chairs for the Cheshire village’s church hall. Amanda Nixon, a Parish Councillor, said: “The current chairs at the church hall are stacking chairs, which we've noticed are creaking a bit. So we decided to fundraise to invest in some bariatric chairs.

“We hold a weekly coffee morning at the church hall, and then the Parish Council introduced a chair-based exercise class back in June 2023, which has been well received. Seated exercise is an effective way to help you stay physically active – low-impact chair exercises help increase movement throughout the day while keeping pressure off your joints.”

The full list of organisations to be awarded a grant at this month’s meeting, and what they will be using the money for, can be found below.

Robert Pattison, Chair of the Community Trust Fund, said: "The Community Trust Fund is part of our long-standing commitment to support our surrounding communities, be a good neighbour to them and ensure that they share in the airport’s success.

“We were thrilled to be able to pledge funds towards so many worthwhile groups and projects at our latest meeting, and we look forward to receiving more applications ahead of our next quarterly meeting in April.”

Details on how to apply for a Community Trust Fund grant, and the full criteria, can be found here. The trustees will next meet on Monday 15^th April, and applications for funding to be considered at the next meeting must be submitted by Friday 15^th March.

Grants awarded in January 2024