Meet the In Our Nature Community Support projects
Say hello to the new community-led projects helping to tackle climate change in Manchester!
Between now and 2025 we’ll be supporting community projects across Manchester to connect the climate crisis to practical actions which reduce carbon emissions, improve health and wellbeing, and save money.
Meet the current projects
Flavours from Manchester, North Manchester
Key theme: Getting around
Building on the success of their previous Community Support project with us, Flavours from Manchester aim to remove barriers to using public transport with a different community in North Manchester.
The project will educate diabetic and pre-diabetic individuals about climate change and help lower carbon emissions by promoting active travel and encouraging low carbon healthy cooking amongst the group. To do this, they’ll run a series of outings on public transport, empower a group of travel ambassadors who will lead their own public transport trips, and run a series of cooking classes.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Walking Mum’s Club
Key themes: Energy, food, getting around
The Walking Mum’s Club aims to integrate climate conversations into their guided walks and ‘Walk and Talk’ sessions, empowering parents to make environmentally friendly decisions that reduce carbon, whilst also promoting walking. Collaborating with local experts and nutritionists, the group will discuss a wide range of climate topics including green initiatives, money saving tips, environmental stewardship, and even low carbon weaning recipes!
Southway Housing Trust
Key themes: Food, Nature and growing
Southway Housing Trust’s project will start by providing elevated planters in the communal areas of some of their sheltered housing schemes. Catering to elderly residents, the planters will help to reduce carbon emissions by providing them with locally grown fresh food right on their doorstep whilst helping to foster a stronger sense of community amongst the group. In addition to reducing carbon, we hope this project will also improve people’s mental and physical health, offer opportunities for education and connection, and help people to save money.
Southway Housing Trust aim to expand on this work over the project’s lifetime, reaching even more people.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Website
Station South, Levenshulme
Key theme: Energy
Station South’s project will focus on improving energy efficiency with local homeowners and businesses in Levenshulme.
Events and workshops will help people to improve the efficiency of their homes and offices whilst also encouraging other sustainable practices like clothes swapping.
During this project, Station South will be also improving the energy efficiency of their café by installing roof insulation and adding draft excluders. Not only will these improvements help reduce carbon emissions from the building itself, they will also help demonstrate what can be done elsewhere.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Myco Manchester, Fallowfield
Key theme: Food
Myco Manchester are helping to reduce carbon emissions with the help of worms!
Their project will look to repurpose damaged wheelie bins and transform them into wormeries which will reduce carbon from their food waste, and create compost for the community.
Hands-on workshops will introduce local schools and businesses to the wonderful world of wormeries, educating people on how they can use wormeries to transform food waste and tackle climate change.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Instagram | Website
NEPHRA Good Neighbours, New Moston
Key theme: The things we buy and throw away
NEPHRA Good Neighbours will engage a group of older individuals to introduce a pill packet recycling scheme. There will be a leaderboard and prizes awarded to those who recycle the most or refer a friend to take part too!
The group will also be visiting the local recycling centre to learn more about waste and recycling.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Future Directions CIC, Wythenshawe, Blackley, Newton Heath, Harpurhey, Levenshulme, Northenden, Northern Moor and West Didsbury
Key theme: Energy
Future Direction CIC’s Green Superheroes will be supporting people with learning disabilities to reduce carbon by saving energy at home through a series of workshops, competitions, and home visits. As part of this work, they will create easy-read guides and short films, and work closely with local partnerships to make sustainable practices accessible to the disabled community.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
The University of Manchester, Deansgate
Key theme: The things we buy and throw away
This project will pilot an app-based reusable cup scheme to encourage a shift away from single-use cups amongst students. The pilot will take place in five cafés along Oxford Road to reduce the number of single-use plastic cups that are thrown away every day!
It’s hoped that insights and learnings from this pilot will also help generate wider adoption of the scheme across Manchester and beyond.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Manchester Bike Kitchen, Wythenshawe
Key theme: Getting around
Manchester Bike Kitchen will create a bike library in Wythenshawe which will loan out refurbished bikes to local residents as part of their carbon reduction project.
The loan scheme will make cycling more accessible to people, reducing carbon emissions and the number of cars on the road. Individuals will also be able to purchase their loaned bike should they wish to continue their cycling journey once their loan is up!
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
FungALL, Chorlton Park
Key theme: Food
FungALL’s project will reduce food poverty and carbon emissions through community-run mushroom farms!
By providing FungALL with a steam pasteuriser and mycelium production hub, they’ll be able to engage with over 1,000 individuals (with a focus on young people, refugees, and those facing food poverty) to convert local organic waste from Manchester-based cafés and breweries into 100kg of delicious oyster mushrooms which will be given to the project participants.
Our past projects
Moss Side Social Stitching Group, Moss Side
Key theme: The things we buy and throw away
Moss Side Social Stitching Group worked with a diverse network of 16 women in Moss Side to give them the skills and confidence to breathe new life into old fabrics, which they then showcased as part of a fashion show!
By diverting 57.25kg of textile waste from landfill, the project delivered a carbon saving of 1,448 kgC02e. Seven members of the group also received carbon literacy training.
As part of their project the group have created a handy how-to pattern for beginner sewers, check it out!
Give them a follow: Twitter
St Margarets Centre, Chorlton
Key theme: Transport
St Margarets Centre now has a new cycling facility on site in the form of a bike shelter for their community groups to use! It’s hoped that this facility will help to encourage cycling amongst the various groups they work with and reduce local carbon emissions, whilst also improving people’s health and wellbeing and helping them to foster greater independence.
St Margarets Centre have future plans to create a bike room for storing locks, helmets and repair kits, and a cycle route around the building for people to practise riding a bike and gain confidence.
Give them a follow: Facebook
The Carlton Social and Bowling Club CIC, Whalley Range
Key theme: Energy
The Carlton Club now has improved ventilation and air quality thanks to the installation of a network of ducting and filters which circulates cool air up from the basement.
This sustainable ventilation system is saving carbon emissions by improving the Carlton Club’s energy efficiency.
The Carlton Club, Whalley Range
Flavours from Manchester, Longsight, Levenshulme, Burnage, and Gorton
Key theme: Transport
This project aimed to address several barriers towards using public transport amongst a diverse network of communities in south Manchester, helping reduce carbon emissions by enabling 45 individuals to choose low-carbon forms of travel more frequently and leave the car at home.
Over the project’s lifetime, 732.41kg of carbon was saved from entering the atmosphere by using public transport. Based on its success, this project won the Taking Neighbourhood Climate Action award at the 2024 Be Proud Awards! Read more about their project here.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Factory International, City Centre
Key theme: The things we buy and throw away
In collaboration with four local repair cafés, Factory International created an open-access repair event focussed on e-waste, inspired by their opening show “Free Your Mind”.
In total, the event saved 77.85kg of carbon through repairing five broken items. Read more about their project here.
Give them a follow: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Sow the City, Moss Side
Key theme: Energy
Second-hand solar panels have now been installed at the Boiler House in Moss Side, supplying zero-carbon electricity to power their community sessions and workshops.
Sow the City also encouraged other groups and individuals to do the same by hosting a solar panel workshop to spread their learnings and encourage more community-owned power.
Give them a follow:
Sow the City: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Boiler House: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Manchester Secondary School Pupil Referral Unit, Chorlton
Key theme: The things we buy and throw away
Manchester Secondary School Pupil Referral Unit’s project helped foster a culture of sustainability and responsibility amongst its students and staff by providing them each with a reusable water bottle, saving 1,000 plastic water bottles a week!
Students were encouraged to decorate their new re-usable water bottles, and prizes were awarded for their long-term use whilst water conservation and environmental awareness was also integrated into their lesson plans.
