Community groups across the city are being invited to apply now for a share of funding that has been put aside by the council to help support community events across the city in 2018/19.
Last year the council provided £300,000 of support across 19 community events and festivals that ranged from the flagship Manchester Day in June, and events such as Manchester Mela, Chinese New Year, and Caribbean Carnival, to smaller events such as the Manchester Italian Parade, and the Jewish Arts and Food Festival.
Each of the events supported provided the opportunity for locally based organisations to create activities that allowed people from throughout the city to participate in, volunteer at, or simply attend and learn more about other communities and cultures.
It’s estimated that last year’s programme of community events and festivals was attended by over 280,000 people and provided the opportunity for around 14,000 people to participate in creating the activities on offer. The events also play an important part in helping drive investment and spend – last year’s events drew in over £750,000 of partner funding and generated an estimated £9m visitor spend into the local economy.
Community groups wanting to apply for funding this year need to make their application before the deadline of Friday 2 February.
Events can be defined by place, people, heritage, or a shared common interest, and should celebrate and positively promote what an individual community represents. It’s up to community groups themselves to decide how best to showcase their community, but events should be designed to attract an audience and participants from across the whole city and not just from within their local community or neighbourhood.
Councillor Luthfur Rahman, Executive Member Schools, Culture and Leisure, Manchester City Council, said: “One of the best things about our great city is the diversity of its communities, and as a council we’re committed to doing everything we can to help connect people from different backgrounds and help them learn about each other.
“Community led events provide great opportunities to do just that which is why we’ve put aside this pot of money to help kick-start the kind of events that we know pay dividends in terms of bringing people together, educating them about each other, and helping them get along.
