Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has made £220,000 available for its Recycle for Greater Manchester Community Fund for projects that help to reduce, reuse or recycle household waste and generate wider social benefits for its communities.
The funding is available to community, voluntary and faith groups, schools, colleges, universities, charities and other non-profit organisations passionate about reducing waste and increasing recycling.
Applications for the fund opened on 8 April and will close at 12pm on 31 May 2024.
GMCA has highlighted that there will be two different award categories for the funding available. These categories are:
- £180,000 will be divided between projects that benefit individual Greater Manchester boroughs, with a maximum funding of £10,000 per project.
- £40,000 of funding will be open to projects that span two or more boroughs, or Greater Manchester as a whole, with a maximum funding of £20,000 per project.
Eamonn Boylan, chief executive of Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said: “The community fund helps to empower Greater Manchester communities to take action and make real change. We have already been able to support so many amazing projects which are helping to repair items, reduce, recycle and reuse waste across Greater Manchester.
“Collectively, these projects really do make a difference to improving our communities, reducing our carbon emissions and overall environmental impact. I would encourage all eligible groups who are considering or even currently working on new and exciting projects to apply for the fund.”
The community fund is a joint initiative between Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) and Suez recycling and recovery UK. The fund is one of 54 social value commitments Suez has made to support Greater Manchester’s move towards a more circular economy.
Daniel Carolan, contract director for Suez in Greater Manchester, said: “At Suez we aim to make sure that all our work benefits people and the planet. The Renew project in Greater Manchester is a perfect example of this, saving items that would have previously gone to waste and benefiting local people at the same time.
“Over the last three years, money raised by Renew has supported 66 projects across Greater Manchester and I’m excited to see what applications we receive this year.”
The fund, created four years ago, has supported 66 projects so far, that range from repairing electronics to reducing food waste.
These projects have included a green grocer on wheels, repair cafes and initiatives that provide used children’s items to families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Chris Bennett, project manager at Community Computers (Renewal North West), said: “Our work at Community Computers is dedicated to tackling digital exclusion through the reuse of tech devices across Greater Manchester. The support from Recycle for Greater Manchester Community Fund has allowed us to really engage, educate and inform within our communities on the reuse of unwanted devices, so that we can repair, refurbish and reuse laptops, desktops, smart phones and tablets.
“Within the last six months alone, we’ve received over 3,000 devices. Not only is this preventing them from going to waste but it is also allowing us to support our community with low-cost and free tech to help bridge the digital divide.”
