26 community groups across Greater Manchester are set to benefit from £220,000 in funding from the Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) Community Fund to support “innovative” projects tackling waste and encouraging reuse and recycling.
Now in its second year, the R4GM Community Fund has awarded a new tranche of funding for local community and voluntary sector groups in Greater Manchester focused on creative solutions for recycling, repairing, or reusing household waste throughout the city region.
Securing between £3,500 and £20,000, each of the successful 26 groups was recognised for their commitment to sustainability and delivering social value for their communities.
Several projects are based on reducing food waste and providing free healthy food to those in need, such as the Manchester Urban Diggers project. Humans MCR is also using the funds to break the cycle of food poverty by providing clients with the tools and resources to sustain themselves without relying on emergency food banks as a regular measure.
The Community Buds project in Bury is creating a community garden using people’s waste, they intend to bring members of the community out of isolation and help them to overcome mental health barriers.
The (recipients of the fund) are putting forward innovative and important solutions to help cut waste and promote a more circular economy.
In Trafford, the Little Green Sock project has also won funding to increase storage at their clothing and baby bank to help reach more families in poverty and provide access to pre-loved baby clothing and accessories.
The R4GM says that other projects also address wider community issues including mental health, food poverty and sustainability, creating extra social benefits for the communities they work within.
The annual fund of £220,000 comes from the sale of preloved household items in a joint initiative by R4GM and waste contractor SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK (SUEZ). The items are collected at the recycling centres across Greater Manchester, before being cleaned and repaired for resale in three Renew Shops located at centres in Oldham, Trafford and Salford, as well as through a newly launched eBay store.
GMCA lead for the Green City Region and Waste and Recycling, Cllr Martyn Cox, said: “Once again we’ve had an amazing response to the Community Fund, and I want to congratulate all the successful applicants.
“They are putting forward innovative and important solutions to help cut waste and promote a more circular economy – all while benefiting the people and places where we live.
“Community-led projects like these not only support green jobs and skills in our towns and cities but also – crucially – offer help and support to residents during the exceptional challenges of this cost-of-living crisis.”