Stefanie and Ben both joined with Ardwick Climate Action 🌳 for their site clearance and litter pick of the green space (not a park) near Dryden Street.

Along with other volunteers Dan, Gordon, Abigail, Gosia, plus a council member and other members of the community (plus Juno of course), we set about to collect as much discarded waste as possible 🚯

Little did we know how big a task that would be... In amongst the hedges and bushes, a whole host of objects were found, including:

• kettle
• bedding
• condom wrappers
• clothing
• pillows
• vapes
• bottles and cans
• mop
• woven basket
• takeaway containers
• laughing gas canisters

Once the site was looking more sightly, we moved onto St Saviours graveyard. Here we collected yet more bottles and clothing, including coats, socks, and a high visibility jacket, plus lots of empty "packets" and a suitcase 💼

At the end, we must have collected 35-40 full refuse sacks of waste and neatly collected it near a council bin to arrange collection, before moving it en mass to a site mote protected from the wind and possible animal life to raid it.

Was great to get involved and a good 2.5 hr workout on a Saturday.

GRIT Studios have been going for 3.5-4 years with bases in Stockport and a studio in Manchester, Deansgate. now they have a space for "Gritters" in Salford. An old natwest bank in Salford shopping centre has been left empty and unused for 6 years(!) so hopefully the space can be put to better use!

Upon arrival, it was clear it would be a big task. With builders in this week to do bits of plastering and filling in holes in the wall and ceiling, the space was safe to use.

Jordan and Stefanie donned their overalls to fill in walls and plaster, including over a disused lift shaft with paint to give a clean slate for incoming artists 🎨🖌. Pavel, Gameel, and Peter helped scrape and clear paint from the windows, clear large items as rubbish🗑, and clear rooms of any bits left from previous incumbents. Ben helped scrape paint, paint over removed wallpaper, and clean windows🪟.

After a couple of hours, we had done what we could with a likely repeated trip back to finish any specific tasks with opening days not too far away.

It was really great to help out and good numbers to get a lot done in a short amount of time. Hope you enjoyed the task and see you soon!

Stefanie, Sam, and Ben braved a chilly Monday evening to run the 2.3 km each way to the foodbank drop-off location at ASDA in Hulme. Inspired by Random Acts of Kindness Day, we dropped off a range of food such as rice pudding, instant noodles, pasta sauce, and peanut butter. All part of the Holiday Hunger donation drive (details below), we hope that the small donation helps those who need it.

Manchester South Central Foodbank have a Holiday Hunger donation drive to help out those children who would normally get free school meals:

"Winter is a tough time for everyone. At our food bank we are currently supporting around 100 clients a week. With the rising price of food and bills, people in our area are struggling to choose between heating and eating. You can support people in your local area by donating to us. Last year we distributed 1033 holiday hunger food parcels to families in crisis. Our Holiday Hunger project provides a lifeline for families during the school holidays, by providing food parcels containing breakfast and lunch items and reading activities."

They also have online pages for donating items:

• an online donation site to donate food online that is delivered to their warehouse
• a monetary donation page too.

Manchester Central Foodbank also have a few locations in Manchester for accepting food donations to provide for those who need it. For other nearby foodbanks/donation points, Trussell Trust have a handy search tool.

World Cancer Day is on February 4th with the campaign titled "United by Unique", placing people at the centre of care. Manchester is a hub for cancer research and much of the work we do is done with patient care as the main priority.

From Me To You are a charity inspiring people to write letters to those living with cancer. Thank you to Anwen from GoodGym Oxford who tipped me off about the charity

For the task, we divvied out the pack from the charity ranging from A4 posters to A6 flyers and even a batch of bookmarks. After a false start a SPACES near St Peter's Square, we gave out posters to:

• nearby pharmacies
• community notice boards in multiple Tesco and Sainsburys outlets
• Oxford Rd Tap who have a small section for posters
• Student halls (Vita Student First St)
• HOME Manchester
• Instituto Cervantes (small library)
• Coffee shops including a couple at Black Sheep Coffee
• Holland & Barrett

The posters and flyers are to advertise their letter writing service, both for people to receive letters and to encourage people to write letters too. We got plenty of positive reception, and even the places that couldn't take them were very polite and sorry they couldn't!

From Me To You

From Me To You also have a letter writing marathon this coming weekend for those who are inspired to put pen to paper and get involved.

Through letter writing workshops, and hints & tips on how to reach out to family and friends, 'From Me to You' charity aim to reduce the social isolation and loneliness so often associated with cancer. Writers, from all over the world, send in their letters, which are then distributed to those most in need. 'From me to You' work with partners - hospitals, cancer centres, and fellow charities - as well as sending letters directly to people’s homes, which anyone can request whenever a boost is needed.