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August 2008
> Residents of Offerton - We need you!
Residents on the Offerton Estate are being called upon to have their voices heard, their opinions taken into account and to have a real say in issues affecting their own neighbourhood. This is not a single consultation event, but a 3-year initiative to ensure that discussions held now can create tangible results which improve the lives of local people now and in the future.
The Offerton Estate Community Empowerment initiative is being funded by local homeowner Manchester & District Housing Association (a member of Harvest Housing Group), which owns 300 of the 1,600 properties in the neighbourhood. M&D is working with local grant maker The Community Foundation for Greater Manchester in order to develop and train a panel of local people who will make decisions on grant bids received from local grass roots voluntary and community groups who are working to improve and enhance the lives of local residents. The opportunity to get involved is open to all residents of the Offerton Estate, regardless of who their landlord is.
Mike Lever, Regional Regeneration Manager for M&D comments: “Even though we own around 20% of the properties in the neighbourhood, we are investing this money to demonstrate our commitment to neighbourhood regeneration and to illustrate our belief in the area and that it has something to offer. We want residents to make the decisions about how this money is spent so we can ensure it goes on the types of activities that they want to see in Offerton. They just have to be interested in helping us improve the estate for the better, and have some opinions as to how to do it!
The project started with a survey of local people to understand what they felt was needed in the area. The next stage is to establish a special panel of local people to help decide how best to spend £24,000, over three years, of grant money that is being made available to local voluntary and community groups working to improve the lives of people living on the estate.
Those accepted onto the panel will be trained in reviewing applications, and will work with representatives from M&D and the Community Foundation to agree key priorities for the estate, and criteria by which grant monies will be made available to groups.
Nick Massey, Chief Executive of the Community Foundation added: “We are asking local people to step up and get involved in making change in their community. The knowledge that is needed to bring about real, long term change is always found at grass roots level, and we are excited to be involved in this full process in Offerton.”
Anyone living on Offerton estate and who wishes to be involved in this project should contact Jean Mills at the Community Foundation on 0161 214 0955 or e-mail her at jean@communityfoundation.co.uk