Airport grants support local community groups

15 community organisations across Cheshire and Greater Manchester have benefited from grants of up to £3000 from Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund.

The trust fund has been welcoming grant applications from organisations that are supporting communities within 10 miles of Manchester Airport during the Covid-19 crisis, and beneficiaries include hospices, sports clubs and community charities.

The airport has provided a total of £21,714.68 in Covid-19 relief grants, with the largest approved individual application at £3,000, which was awarded to both Willow Wood Hospice in Ashton-under-Lyne and Stockport-based employment charity, Smart Works GM.

Andrew Cowan, CEO at Manchester Airport, said:

For more than 20 years, the Community Trust Fund has supported local groups making a real difference across Greater Manchester and northern Cheshire.

“We are proud that it is once again enabling vital support to our neighbouring communities, particularly in these challenging times.”

The Community Trust Fund, which was set up in 1997, usually reviews applications quarterly, but trustees are speeding up the process for the latest applications to ensure the cash reaches affected communities as quickly as possible.

The financial support package from the Community Trust Fund follows a major volunteering campaign, led and organised by furloughed Manchester Airport workers.

The organisations which received funding from Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund are:

• Wythenshawe AFC (Manchester)
• Trafford Veterans (Trafford)
• Barnardos Wythenshawe Centre (Manchester)
• Church of England – Wythenshawe (Manchester)
• Wythenshawe Good Neighbours (Manchester)
• Cherry Tree Project (Stockport)
• Gorton Visual Arts (Manchester)
• Willow Wood Hospice (Tameside)
• Arty Kind (Stockport)
• Benchill Community Centre (Manchester)
• Ladybarn Community Hub (Manchester)
• Stockport Car Scheme (Stockport)
• Smart Works Greater Manchester (Stockport)
• Stockport Wheelchair Races (Stockport)
• Didsbury Good Neighbours (Manchester)

The Community Trust Fund’s board next meets in October and is already welcoming applications for up to £3,000 from locally-based not-for-profit organisations.

Image: L-R: Anthony Lord (Willow Wood Hospice); Tina Large (Manchester Airport); and Cllr Bill Fairfoull from Tameside MBC on behalf of the Trust Fund.