A Brighter Future

Back in May last year I reported on a new community initiative that had just been set up by a group of local woman.

The Dynamic Engagement Project (DEP), I was told, was a way of sharing the group members’ knowledge and skills with others in the community. It sounded like a great idea with lots of potential.

Today I’m on a Zoom call with Mo and Alison, a couple of its founding members, to see if everything has gone to plan.

“Yes,” says Alison, “we’ve put on lots of activities since then and have really put ourselves out there. We’ve had a lot of fun and, I know, helped a lot of people.”

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A new community hub for Longsight

Sue and Phil are busy in the bright, sunny kitchen of 422’s café. I’m told it’s Phil’s first day and already this morning they’ve prepared homemade celery soup. “I like cooking,” he says with a big smile, “and helping out.”

422 is a new community hub on Stockport Road, in an historic building previously home to Longsight Youth Centre. Over the last eighteen months it’s been renovated by Manchester Vinyard to provide a whole range of opportunities for local residents.

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Artistic Ardwick

Being involved in local volunteer groups over the last few years, I’ve been aware of so many organisations, each making their own contribution to my local neighbourhood of Brunswick, on the southern side of Ardwick. So, it came as a surprise to learn of another side of the neighbourhood – its artistic side.

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What is Black Lives Matter?

When her 10-year old daughter asked what Black Lives Matter meant, Jade was stumped. “At first, I didn’t have any answers,” she says. “You don’t want to say anything that might make them dislike others, or feel victimised.”

As a children’s author and illustrator, Jade Calder’s solution was to write a book, with her daughter Dior as the central character. “Explaining a complex issue through a story was, for me, the best way of putting the message out there in a positive way,” she says.

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Everyone’s friendly at Toddler Group

[Before coronavirus] As part of my college course I started volunteering at Parent and Toddler Group at Brunswick Church around September last year. Already it’s just become part of my weekly routine.

I look forward to Wednesday mornings because I’ve already built bonds with the children. Every week is different with new parents and children turning up.

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