Greater Manchester sees evidence of ‘hours of hope’

Visible signs of hope are on show around Manchester thanks to the 10,000 Hours of Hope project which took place earlier this month as part of the Audacious 09 festival.

Over 1,000 young people took part in almost 50 community improvement projects in 25 locations across Greater Manchester. The two-day initiative helped breathe new life into neglected areas of the city and fascinated residents and onlookers around the city.

In Cheetham Hill, a new community garden stands in the grounds of Trinity United Church, welcoming visitors to the Welcome Centre, a community-drop in for refugees and asylum seekers, the homeless and those struggling with mental health issues.

In Ordsall, projects include painting railings around the Community Café and on the old St Clements and Radclyffe school sites; clearing the overgrown path alongside the River Irwell opposite the Victoria and Albert hotel; gardening for needy residents across the neighbourhood, clearing rubbish and general litter picking.

In Brinnington, a local children’s centre was re-landscaped with paths cleared and gardens planted, just one of several target areas to get the ‘Hope’ treatment, including areas around Reddish Vale Country Park, the Lapwing Centre, Moat Walk Play Area, and St Lukes Church and Community Centre.

Other local projects took place in Reddish (clearing gardens and ginnels), Kersal (clearing woodland), Eccles (litter picking and garden tidying), Flixton (graffiti removal and tidying scout hut), Langworthy (painting railings and clearing waste ground), Bury (litter picking, clearing waste ground, street clean-ups), Old Trafford (clearing yards and fly-tipping), Altrincham (clearing up transport interchange), Farnworth (litter picking), Halliwell (park tidying, gardening and repairs), Cheadle (park and sports activities), Didsbury (litter picking and family fun day), Failsworth (family open air events), Fitton Hill (cleaning local skate park and basketball court), Werneth (children’s holiday club), Greenacres (graffiti cleaning, back alleys and park tidying), Northern Moor (clearing local gardens), Openshaw (graffiti cleaning, cutting back bushes), Collyhurst (litter picking, tiding garden areas) and Crumpsall (painting railings).

All the projects were coordinated by The Message in partnership with local authorities, Greater Manchester Police and local churches.

(Thanks to Amanda Morgan for these pictures.)