EACH ORGANISATION RECEIVES FUNDING, FREE TICKETS, WORKSHOPS AND BESPOKE SUPPORT AS PART OF A RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AIM OF INCREASING ACCESS TO ARTS AND CULTURE AND MAKING A DIFFERENCE TOGETHER
Factory International is delighted to announce its latest round of Community Partnerships as part of a dedicated programme creating long-term collaborations with community groups in Greater Manchester. Following a successful pilot last year, Factory International is working with the following organisations for 2024-25:
- Manchester Urban Diggers (MUD) CIC: a social enterprise working to create food system change and empower communities through grassroots, people-led farming and wellbeing projects across Greater Manchester.
- Salford Lads’ and Girls’ Club: a landmark Manchester community hub who have offered sports, creative and cultural pursuits for young people in the Ordsall area for over 120 years.
- Rainbow Haven: a registered charity offering an unconditional welcome, advice, emotional and practical support, and community to asylum seekers and refugees in East Manchester.
Working collaboratively to make a difference together, the Community Partnerships programme provides vital support for partner organisations and also creates a valuable dialogue to ensure that a range of voices from across the region are represented across Factory International’s activities. Over the course of the first year at Aviva Studios, Community Partner organisations have inputted into everything from artistic programming choices to marketing campaigns, and menu choices to the design of the building’s public spaces.
Partners are offered £10,000 each, alongside bespoke organisational support which they can use to build infrastructure, add skills, resource current activity or to start a new project. Factory International work with the partner organisations to increase access to arts and culture by co-designing creative activities that meet local needs, and distributing free and discounted tickets. All of Factory International’s partners from the pilot year of the programme now have an independent, community-led arts offer.
Since working with Factory International as a partner organisation as part of the pilot last year, REEL MCR, who work on ‘living memory’ social history recording and archiving, community drama and participant led documentary in the North, have been commissioned to create customised videos for each of this year’s partners to enhance their platforms and reach; Thrive Manchester, who run trauma-informed mental and physical health workshops in South Manchester, is sharing their expertise by leading trauma-informed training for Factory International staff, and designing packaged for a sector-leading visitor experience; and Patricroft CIC, who oversee The Castle Youth and Community Centre Eccles, have secured funding for a park re-development project following pilot workshops help with Factory International.
In addition the partnership with Higher Blackley Community Centre has helped secure 12 months of council and housing association funding, leading to the revival of arts and culture activities in the now-thriving community centre; and CDM UK, who work with sustainable materials to support refugee, displaced and vulnerable people in Ardwick, have applied for Arts Council funding to deliver a Rickshaw Festival, an international celebration of South Asian and Bangladeshi heritage.
Jaqui, REEL MCR – Community Partner Organisation 2023-24 said: “We had kids from Blackley who have never been to anything beyond a panto or school play see world class art and you can see how excited they were, how much they are into it and some of them eve asked how they can do this themselves. It’s given them a chance to think bigger and differently and that’s brilliant.”
Abi Clarke, Community Partnerships Manager at Factory International says: “The Community Partnership Programme is a new way of working more intensely to really see how we can best support these organisations. It’s all about capacity building support, how we can learn from them, spending time in their communities and sharing our resources and learning things from each other.”
The Community Partnerships are part of Factory International’s wider Creative Engagement Programme that aims to work with Manchester’s communities including many who are typically unable to access artistic experiences. Another key project is the Neighbourhood organiser scheme which creates vital links between Factory International and the many communities of Greater Manchester through paid roles for residents who work within their own communities to connect and inspire and help them make the most out of Factory International. To date Neighbourhood Organisers have helped to distribute over 3500 free tickets to artistic programme and public events at Aviva Studios and Manchester International Festival.
Neighbourhood Organisers are also a key link for programming local talent at Factory International and Manchester International Festival. Members of this year’s team have overseen planning for events such as the upcoming Working Class Creative Exchange and will again be involved in the programming of local music talent for Festival Square at MIF25.
James Blakey, Head of Engagement at Factory International says: “Key to both the Community Partnerships Programme and Neighbourhood Organisers is the idea that we work at our best when we learn from each other, as organisations and as individuals. It is our privilege to partner with, and learn from, visionary social change organisations who work alongside Greater Manchester communities. Through these relationships we continue to learn about how to make our work inclusive, accessible, and relevant.”
Neighbourhood Organisers appointed for 2024 are:
- Patrick Nicholls – a filmmaker with experience working in mental health organisations, from Moston.
- Chantelle Tindall – member of Hack Oldham, Lingua Franca World Community CIC, and supporter of Culture Word’s poetry and writing event, who is passionate about fashion, styling, reading, writing, and creating, based in Oldham.
- Marie Greenhalgh – a community activist with involvement in local radio, social clubs, football clubs and event spaces, and member of Manchester Art Gallery’s Uncertain Futures advisory group, from Wythenshawe.
- Chantelle Tindall – member of Hack Oldham, Lingua Franca World Community CIC, and supporter of Culture Word’s poetry and writing event, who is passionate about fashion, styling, reading, writing, and creating, based in Oldham.
- Demercee Green – a father, poet, writer and postman, based in Blackley and Harpurhey.
- Shar Sangster – founder of Manchester’s Got Talent Youth (MGTYouth), who hosts events and projects that aim to build confidence through music and art, based in Miles Platting and Ancoats.
- Amelia Hall – who has worked front of house at various organisations, with an interest in nature and photography, from Failsworth.
- Zeriah Otutu – who works with young people to develop confidence, community and skills as Director of youth organisation MGTYouth and CEO of School of Barbering, based in Newton Heath.
Factory International also continues to work on a project-by-project basis with legacy Neighbourhood Organisers connected to areas including Rochdale, Salford, Cheetham Hill, Ardwick, Longsight and Moss Side.
Patrick Nicholls, Neighbourhood Organiser for Moston said: “The longer the programme has gone on, and the wider our networks have gotten in our communities, the more we have begun to see that we can make a difference.”
Demercee Green, Neighbourhood Organiser for Blackley and Harpurhey said: “Being a Neighbourhood Organizer gives me the chance to show what Harpurhey and Blackley truly are. I’m confident that with Factory International’s help, the people here will really see the value they have.”