A big thank you to everyone who turned out on a lovely sunny morning on Saturday to help tidy our streets. We picked up lots of litter, some smaller fly-tipped items, and had a good time working and chatting together. A big thank you again to MSA for use of their office as a base, and to Marzena for providing refreshments and the brilliant bubble machines! Thanks also to Manchester City council for bags, gloves etc, and Biffa for the bags pick-up.

We would still much rather that lazy people did not drop litter, but it's good to turn that negative into a positive and we can feel proud of improving our environment in this way. Not everyone was around when we took the photos, but they show some of the workers and bags we collected.

Our next community litter-pick will be on Saturday May 14, 11am to 1pm. We will meet as usual at the MSA Office at the corner of Upper West and North Groves for handing out bags, gloves and pickers. If you can’t come at that time but can help sometime over the weekend, get in touch and we’ll get you a bag (or two). This is always a fun time together, to chat and catch up while we make the Groves look better. And doing something to improve our environment always seems to make us feel better. Maybe we can find some prizes for the best junior litter picker uppers…

Thanks to everyone who turned out to help with our Groves New Year Litter Pick. Some of our litter heroes are in the photo. There was a lot to pick up, and we filled about 20 bags (some more will be added as other neighbours take a turn over the weekend). Our street and alleys now look a lot tidier, and it was great to meet and chat as we worked. And the chocolate rewards went down well!

It would be so much better if people learned to be tidy and respect their environment so days like these were not necessary, but while they are (because we don't want to live in a tip) we will enjoy them.

We're having a community litter pick on Saturday January 22nd from 11:30am to 1pm.
Collect bags, and pickers and gloves from outside the MSA Office on the corner of Upper West and North Groves and come and help clean up our streets and alleys alongside some of your neighbours.
If you prefer to do another time over the weekend, contact Judith to arrange to collect a bag (plus picker and gloves if you need them). Filled bags can be left at the Upper West Grove end of West Grove and will be collected by Biffa on Monday.

A tree in nearby Swinton Grove Park is being fitted with Christmas lights and we're having a community switch-on event next Wednesday, November 24, 4:40-5:30pm. There will be refreshments, singing of traditional carols and other music, plus special Christmas treats for the children, and prizes for any children who come in a Christmas hat, particularly one they have made themselves. It's all free thanks to support from the Council and a number of local organisations including Moss Care St Vincent Housing and Elizabeth Gaskell's House, which will also be open all day for free entry for M13 postcode residents.

Thanks to a Council grant we have been able to get some tree surgeons in to the Community Garden to remove a few problem or dead trees and bushes and trim some of the others. This will let more light into the garden for the benefit of all the trees, bushes, grass and other plants there.

Yesterday Upper West Grove became an Active Play Street for the day. Residents were asked to park their cars elsewhere and the street was closed to traffic from 11-4pm. We began with a litter pick with prizes for the children who joined in. Then Manchester Active brought in loads of games, lots of neighbours brought food and we had 3 hours of fun and conversation while the children played and laughed. We reckon around 30 adults and 50 children came for all or part. One neighbour said it reminded her of how the streets were back in the 60s when not many people had cars. Thanks to Manchester Council, Manchester Active, MossCare St Vincent Housing and Biffa.

Our Great Groves Tidy Up today went really well, with lots of residents helping pick up litter and dispose of larger items of rubbish. It's so good to see the Groves spick and span – long may it last! Good also to meet up again and do work together for the good of our community and environment.

It was great to welcome PC Josh Wigley and two of his colleagues who got stuck in. Big thanks to all who helped and also to MossCare St Vincent housing for providing lots of goodie bags and refreshments, Dave from Grove Village for the truck for removing several loads of large items of rubbish, and Manchester City Council for bags and pickers. Here are some photos from the day.

On Saturday May 29, between 11 and 2pm we are having a clean-up of our streets and alleys, linking up again with the Great British Spring Clean. One of the not so good outcomes of the Covid lockdowns has been an increase of littering and fly-tipping. But on May 29 we Groves residents can do something about it.

Come to the Community Garden between 11am and 2pm to collect a bag and litter-picker, and do your part as a good neighbour.  Thanks to Moss Care St Vincent there will be refreshments, children’s treats and goody-bags. It will be good to meet up again too!

​Email for more details.

We have produced another issue of our newsletter – everyone on the Groves will have had one through your doors in the last few days. It has an important message about Covid vaccination. If anyone else wants to read, download here.