Community

Do you have a good idea to help your community? There is funding available to help projects, initiatives and activities across Victoria North and the Collyhurst community.

Manchester City Council and FEC have jointly created the Community Fund, available to Voluntary, Community, Faith, and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations based in Collyhurst, Cheetham, Harpurhey or Miles Platting & Newton Heath.

Applications can be submitted for a £200 grant for projects, activities or events that will benefit the local people in and around the Victoria North development. So far, £4,200 of activities across the local area have been funded with further opportunities to apply for funding to come.

Winning Hearts and Minds are supporting a panel, made up of local people, to manage the fund and make decisions as to who will be awarded the funding. If you are a resident in Collyhurst and interested in being on the panel, or bidding for funding, please contact Harriet Sutherland at h.sutherland@mcractive.com.

Students at MCA have been working hard across Winter 2025, taking part in two exciting careers-focused activities designed to build confidence, skills and real-world experience.

On Enterprise Day, students took part in a ‘Dragons Den’ style challenge, where they were tasked with reimagining an abandoned local building and turning it into something that could generate both revenue and community benefit.

Students pitched their ideas to a panel of volunteer ‘dragons’, with ideas tackling big topics like accessibility, fair wages and local needs.

The winning idea was a community centre with neurodivergent and mental health focused activities, therapy, sensory space, and a pay-what-you-can café; a thoughtful and inclusive vision for the future.

Year 10 students also took part in a Mock Interview Day hosted by FEC. After attending a CV workshop and preparing their own CVs, they sat down for one-to-one interviews with volunteers. For many, it was their first taste of a real interview and each student received helpful, personalised feedback to build confidence and strengthen their future job skills.

Together, these activities offered hands-on opportunities for students to explore their potential.

FEC and partners came together in Winter 2025 to give the fencing and grounds at Church of the Saviour some much-needed TLC.

Volunteers kindly donated their time and resources to clean, scrape and repaint the fences, with paint kindly donated by HMG Paints. Others trimmed back overgrown plants covering the front steps, improving access to the church for the community.

FEC hosted its annual Have a Go event this Summer with the theme for 2025 being Health and Wellbeing. The day was a fantastic success, with enthusiastic support from volunteers representing Collyhurst & Moston Boxing Club, MFT, the NHS, Manchester Active, Pop-Up Bikes, More Life, and MedEquip4Kids.

Students from five local schools attended, with around 160 pupils across the day, each getting the chance to explore a wide range of careers in the health sector. Through hands-on activities and engaging demonstrations, young people were inspired to consider future roles in healthcare while learning more about how to look after their own wellbeing.

In June 2025, we celebrated the meaningful impact the Community Construction Skills Centre is having in Collyhurst with a visit from the Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Bev Craig.

Learners shared how the centre has boosted their confidence, equipped them with new skills and supported them into paid employment. Their experiences were echoed by women from the community who recently completed the centre’s DIY courses, explaining how being able to manage simple tasks at home has made a real difference to their daily lives.

Training provider Skills People Group also highlighted how opportunities like these are expanding through Victoria North and other projects in the wider area, opening up even more pathways for local people.

In Winter 2024, Saviour’s, Abbott and St Malachy’s Primary Schools took part in a special workshop to help name the new apartment buildings in Collyhurst.

In Spring 2025, three fantastic names were chosen:

·      Sandstone Court – Inspired by Collyhurst’s famous stone, this apartment building will stand proudly near the Sandhills entrance and war memorial.

·      Greenside Court – A nod to the area’s current and future green spaces, this will be the name of the new South Collyhurst apartment building.

·      Sunrise Court – Reflecting optimism and a bright future, this name was chosen for the apartment building further up Rochdale Road.

The winners were announced in special school assemblies, with the project team and Manchester City Council joining the celebrations. A fantastic effort from everyone involved!

Teams from MCC, FEC and Victoria North contractors took part in some Spring cleaning in April and May 2025 through a series of litter picks in Collyhurst. These activities are part of a wider effort to improve the cleanliness and appearance of local neighbourhoods, and it’s been great to see so many partners working together.

The Council’s Open Spaces Team has also been busy improving footways and paved areas across Collyhurst, making a noticeable difference to the look and feel of the area.

These activities help in maintaining a cleaner, greener Collyhurst—and we’d love for local residents to get involved. Whether it’s joining a litter pick, reporting issues, or simply taking pride in your surroundings, every small action helps build a stronger, more vibrant community

FEC invited pupils from Saviour C of E and St Malachy’s RC primary schools to take part in the 2022 lantern parade at Angel Meadow Park. The children all took pride in displaying their handmade lanterns along the route. Once they reached the park, they did a walk around showing off all their hard work and enjoyed some festive treats and drinks.

The 0161-Project opened its new headquarters on Southchurch Parade in Collyhurst in Autumn 2023. Originating from Collyhurst and Moston Boxing Club, the 0161-Project offers alternative education services to schools and other agencies working with vulnerable young people in Greater Manchester, who are at risk of school exclusion or who have social mental health needs. It uses boxing and other physical activity to develop confidence, discipline, life skills and to help build a positive identity.

The project’s new Collyhurst headquarters will coordinate activities across their four educational sites in North Manchester, supporting the 100 young people enrolled in their programmes. Over the past few years, the 0161-Project has expanded rapidly and now offers a range of services, including group-based training, one-on-one referral sessions, and a post-16 programme as an alternative to mainstream further education.

Ahead of the opening, Collyhurst Phase 1’s main contractor, DEX Construction Group, completed the refurbishment works at the new headquarters.

We know the 0161-Project is such an important part of the North Manchester community and we will continue to support and advocate for the work the project does.

To find out more about the 0161-Project, head to www.the0161project.co.uk.

In summer 2023, we invited residents to get involved in a competition to name the six new streets being created in Collyhurst Village as part of the first phase of regeneration activity.

With more than 30 people submitting creative suggestions, it was clear that the people of Collyhurst were excited to have the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy on the community. Manchester City Council had the difficult task of selecting the winning names. After careful consideration, the six names were chosen: Forward Street, Generation Street, Bee Street, Community Street, Conncetion Street and Prosperity Street.

These names truly reflect the sense of positivity in the community about the future and we can’t wait to see the new street signs installed once the development is complete.

Thank you to all those who participated and congratulations to the winners:
Adele Bateman, Hazell Haughie-Thompson, and Alexandra Istudor.

In April 2023, members of the FEC team supported the Smartworks Charity by helping them with the launch of their new base in Manchester city centre.

Smartworks play a crucial role in assisting women by providing them with work clothes for interviews, interview skills training, and confidence-building sessions.

Several FEC team members volunteered to help set up the new Manchester base and generously donated seven bags of pre-loved clothing suitable for interviews. FEC also held a charity auction, raising vital funds for the charity’s ongoing work. To find out more about Smartworks, head to www.smartworks.org.uk. 

In February 2022, we enlisted Year 6 pupils from St Malachy’s RC and Saviour C of E primary schools to help to design the play spaces within New Collyhurst Park.

Members of the team from Exterior Architecture and FEC visited the schools and delivered a workshop to introduce the pupils to the park design, including all of the environmentally-friendly measures that are being included to promote habitat creation and biodiversity.

The pupils at each school then took charge and designed their own play areas for the park. There were some great suggestions, from ‘super slides’ to mental health gardens. The entries were then judged and a winner and runner up from each school was chosen.