Eight ambitious culture and community projects across Greater Manchester have been awarded £300,000 funding through the new Collaborate fund
The fund is designed to help organisations and individuals work together in new and innovative ways to strengthen Greater Manchester’s cultural sector.
All eight projects selected to receive investment support the fund’s aims to drive economic growth, empower communities, spark creativity, and promote inclusive, safe environments. As a collective, the projects represent a wide-reaching geographic spread of impact and delivery across Greater Manchester.
The eight successful projects are:
- Castlefield Gallery – ANEW Decade: A long-term residency programme embedding visual art within substance-use recovery and wider community activities, aiming to inspire creative engagement and personal transformation.
- Greater Manchester Arts Sustainability Network (GMAST): Evolving from a voluntary group into a formal co-operative, GMAST will lead on environmental responsibility within Greater Manchester’s cultural sector.
- Hope Mill Theatre – SYNC: A new project led by and for neurodivergent young people, creating an accessible self-advocacy resource that young people can use to make their every day spaces more inclusive.
- Keisha Thompson – Pan-African Congress 80th Anniversary Strategy: A cross-sector working group will develop a long-term strategy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Fifth Pan-African Congress, which took place in Manchester.
- The Octagon – Building Bridges: A collaborative project with Bolton Wanderers in the Community and The Met, Bury, creating new opportunities in theatre, music and sport for people with additional needs and learning disabilities.
- Reform Radio – Beyond: Co-developing a best practice model for inclusive creative industry training, bridging the gap between the deaf community and the wider creative sector.
- TiPP – Next Stop: A creative collaboration working with young people involved with or at risk of being drawn into the criminal justice system exploring their relationship with public transport through participatory arts, highlighting themes of journeys, accessibility and connection.
- Venture Arts – Strands: A collaborative light and sound installation inspired by Greater Manchester’s textile heritage, led by learning-disabled textile artist Florence and exploring the meaning of ‘home’.
