Environment

Historic public parks and cemeteries are valued places at the centre of local communities. Help to conserve them with funding of £100,000–£5million. Parks for People funding helps to conserve the heritage that makes both historic parks and cemeteries special. And it gives local people a say in how they are managed in the future. Projects improve people’s wellbeing and knowledge of their area, and make communities better places to live, work and visit.

300 buses are taking hard-hitting Go Vegan World – the world’s largest and longest running vegan campaign – onto the streets of Greater Manchester ahead of Vegan Education Day on 22 April.

The Localgiving North West Development Programme supports environmental charities in the North West of England to engage with online fundraising.

This is a capacity building programme for groups running environmental or 'green' projects in their local community, and combines 12 months of support in running online fundraising campaigns, alongside up to £500 in match funding per group to be spent on the environmental/green project.

This year the Vegetarian Society has a fund to help support National Vegetarian Week (NVW) community activities and events. Added to your enthusiasm, time, creativity and energy, a grant could make all the difference.

Edge Lane Community Garden are providing free training in organic gardening for allotment users and volunteers every Thursday and Sunday, 10am to 1pm at Edge Lane, Droylesden, M43 6BE.

For further information, contact Pat Maher, on 0797 767 2146.

Sustainable Homes has learned of a fully funded opportunity for SMEs and/or charities to train staff to become a fully qualified energy champion. At this point in time there is a critical need for energy efficiency and fuel poverty reduction. So for many organisations with scarce resources, this is an ideal chance to raise awareness and start making improvements. As a bonus, environmental improvements often lead to significant money savings too.

Attendees will become better informed on a variety of issues including:

On Wednesday 30th November, Growing in the City held their regular Men’s Shed Manchester session in Openshaw. People can drop in to take part in outdoor activities such as woodwork and gardening and the sessions are open to anyone. Working with people who are in similar situations, fellowship and social interaction are just some of the reasons that participants get involved. It is mainly men who attend and their ages have been anywhere from mid-30s to past retirement age.

We have extended the deadline to complete our State of the Sector survey to 18 December 2016.

We would like to encourage your organisation to complete our important survey as we want to know how the government cuts and economic recession have affected our sector. We need to know how many groups have lost funding, how many have had to reduce services and how many have had to close or are facing closure. But also how we continue to work together providing valuable services and support to the people of Manchester.

Climate change caused by human activity is threatening the well-being of humanity. The wealthiest countries and individuals are responsible for a disproportionate share of emissions, whilst the poorest countries and sections of society are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Similarly, our use of natural resources is unsustainable and unjust. Technological change is essential but not sufficient; fundamental changes to economic models and social norms will also be required, but there is not yet sufficient public or political consensus to make these changes.

Growing food in cities makes a lot of sense. Gardens, allotments, patios, rooftops and window-ledges all have the potential to provide us with an abundance of free and nutritious food.

Plus food grown in urban environments can help reduce food transportation, create jobs, and strengthen communities.

We all have food in common. We eat it, crave it, and dream about it. So let’s celebrate and grow it.