Supporting Young People to Improve Community Accessibility in Cheetham

A group of 18 young people aged 13-18, all from Cheetham, gave up 5 weeks of their summer holidays to benefit their community and take action on climate change. The young people spent 5 days during August 2024 planning and actioning an environmental social action project, in order to develop plans to improve their own community’s local spaces.

The group, known as the Change Ambassadors, met at The Meeting Place in Trafford Ecology Park to learn about climate change and project planning skills. This included identifying an area or project they wanted to action and then exploring tools, resources and risk assessments of their chosen activity. 

The group decided to clear the grounds of their local church, which had been neglected and become overgrown over the years.

Regular project participant, Dorcas, commented how important the space was to the local community:

Even though it’s just a community space it means a lot to people. My area is very community based, everyone knows everyone, so it’s nice to have somewhere that everyone can just go and chill

They then visited the site to define their plans and to check the tools and equipment they would need. The Change Ambassadors then spent the remaining two days clearing the yard space at their local church, disposing of the waste and finished the project at Tree Tops in Heaton Park, to unwind and enjoy what they had achieved.

John Swallow, the Senior Youth Lead for the project, spoke about how the young people collaborated to achieve success:

They were reasonably familiar with each other but they got to know each other quite well, and they had to work together, it was a big group at times. It was something really nice to do with their friends over the summer, they had the best time

As well as the restoration of the grounds, the group also achieved AQA qualifications for their work, giving them more environmental knowledge and helping them to build up a brighter future.

To find out more about this project, contact John Swallow via John.Swallow@Groundwork.org.uk

This project was made possible thanks to funding from Manchester City Council’s Youth and Play Fund.