Coming on Tuesday August 22, from 1-4pm, a free event in Swinton Grove Park for all the family. Lots of green and eco-friendly activities and crafts for children and parents, advice on how to save money by 'up-cycling' instead of throwing away. Free resources and information to help us all be more planet-friendly.

Run by Manchester City Council with support from the Friends of Swinton Grove Park, Ardwick Climate Action, M13 Youth Project and more.

On Thursday we will be visited by staff from the Council, MossCare St Vincent housing and other landlords for a morning of gardening in our 'Secret' Community Garden, plus removing of fly-tipping. There will be new shrubs and flowers planted and gifts and healthy snacks for children. Why not come along and join in, meet your neighbours and say thank you in person to those coming to help us make our garden and streets look nicer for the summer? 

Who would have thought re-cycling could be so interesting? 17 of us visited the Re-cycling Centre at Sharston and were given a tour of the Materials Recovery Facility and its huge machine that sorts out metals and plastics. These can be sold on for lots of money to help with the costs of our rubbish disposal, and keep our Council Tax for things like children's services. But... if something goes into the wrong bin and gets into the machine it can cause a breakdown, costing lots of money to fix! Another reason to recycle correctly: its good for our planet, our pockets and our services.  We also had games, a quiz, and learned that our rubbish can also be used to generate electricity and make compost for growing fruit and vegetables. Good fun, good company.

Saturday, February 23, 12:30-3:30pm
An afternoon of art workshops, conversation and Family Fun with Community Artist Trae at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, 84 Plymouth Grove.
Bring food to share with your neighbours, drink tea, create art with Trae, learn more about re-cycling, and celebrate your community’s achievements.
Please note: Children must be accompanied.

Ever wonder just how our rubbish gets re-cycled? On February 28 there will be a special Groves trip to the Re-Cycling centre at Sharston. Suitable for all ages, it should be lot’s of fun. We will hire a minibus or coach so we can all travel together. There will be activities, refreshments and a tour, and altogether it will take 2 hours: plus 30 minutes each way for travel. Meet at 5:45pm by the MSA office. Back by 9pm. If you’d like to come, let us know by email or through the WhatsApp group, or just knock on. Please note, numbers are limited.

Our next Bring & Share Picnic in the Community Garden will be on Saturday August 25 from 1-3pm. Please bring some of your favourite food to share with your neighbours. Some soft drinks, and a few tables and chairs will be there, but feel free to help out with more.

Community artist Trae will be providing some fun and creative family activities around learning about re-cycling, and the M13 Youth Project will be organising some games.

Please note all children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

We have been given some funding to work with a community artist on some fun and creative ways for all ages to learn about the importance of re-cycling, and even do our own bit of re-cyling of objects to make them into works of art! More news to follow...