Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund awards £27,000 in grants to non-profit organisations

Manchester Airport’s Community Trust Fund has started off its 25^th year with a pledge of more than £27,000 to 13 community projects in Cheshire and South Manchester.

The Fund, which is overseen by the airport and is managed through a committee of independent Trustees made up of councillors from neighbouring communities, provides funding either as a contribution to, or to meet the cost of, not-for-profit initiatives. Applicants located within 10 miles of the airport site can ask for up to £3,000 of funds for equipment or costed projects, with applications reviewed on a quarterly basis.

Among the recipients include the village of Goostrey in Cheshire which will soon have a new Community Shed workshop (pictured). The Community Trust Fund has awarded a request for just shy of £1,500 to cover DIY equipment. Goostrey Community Shed’s Colin Mottershead said:

“The donation will help to improve the life of the local community by supporting a workshop where individuals can meet, create and socialise in a relaxing atmosphere which helps to reduce loneliness.

“The workshop will promote knowledge sharing and provide the opportunity to expand friendships and reduce social isolation.”

Each year Manchester Airports Group contributes £100,000 to the Fund, alongside finds levied at airlines whose planes have breached noise limits. Other Cheshire recipients of the latest round of funding include Mobberley Parish Council and Knutsford Football Club.

Karen Smart, Managing Director at Manchester Airport, said:

“The Community Trust Fund was established in 1997 to benefit our neighbouring communities, and to ensure they had the opportunity to share in the airport’s success.

“We are incredibly proud the fund has invested more than £3.5m in community-led projects over the past quarter of a century, and we remain as committed to this as we always have been, despite the challenges that the pandemic has created.”

Details on how to apply for a Community Trust Fund grant, and the full criteria, can be found here. The deadline for applications to be considered at the next quarterly meeting in April is this Sunday (6^th March).