Trafford Community Collective is pleased to confirm the 14 organisations funded through this year’s Live Well Trafford Community Grants.
About the fund
The Live Well Trafford Community Grants are made possible through funding from Trafford Council, delivered as part of the borough’s wider Live Well programme – a shared ambition to help Trafford residents live healthier, more connected lives through prevention and early, community-based support. Live Well Trafford sits alongside similar place-based approaches being developed across Greater Manchester, reflecting a growing recognition that community and voluntary organisations are often best placed to reach people before problems escalate.
As Trafford’s Local Infrastructure Organisation, Trafford Community Collective has administered this year’s fund on behalf of Trafford Council – designing the application process, convening the assessment panel, and now supporting the funded cohort through delivery. Our role throughout has been to connect, broker and strengthen, ensuring funding reaches organisations with genuine roots in their communities.
A participatory approach to decision-making
Applications were assessed by a panel deliberately built around lived experience rather than a traditional funder-led model. The panel was made up of Trafford residents, many of whom represent VCFSE groups and organisations as members and/or volunteers. We believe the people closest to a community’s needs are best placed to judge which solutions will make a genuine difference – so we built that principle into the heart of the decision-making process itself, not just the funding criteria.
Fourteen organisations funded
The following organisations have been awarded funding to deliver community wellbeing projects across Trafford over the coming year:
- Social By Design CIC – Bridges of Belonging: wellbeing gatherings for Arabic-speaking refugee and migrant women, building connection and confidence.
- Bollyfit Active CIC – Move Together: a 22-week Bollywood-inspired fitness and wellbeing programme for South Asian and ethnically diverse women in Stretford.
- Beyond Barriers CIC – LifeBEAT: specialist trauma-responsive therapy and community support for Trafford women recovering from adversity.
- Fikawelie Caribbean and African Mental Health CIC – Breathe, Connect & Thrive: culturally responsive mindfulness and wellbeing programmes for African, Caribbean and South Asian communities.
- Calm Connections CIC – a pilot peer support model bridging schools and families around children’s mental health, training parent carer facilitators.
- Lifestyle Strides CIC – Feel Good Timperley: weekly community wellbeing sessions combining movement, nutrition and health checks for an underserved neighbourhood.
- Communities United Project – a community youth leadership training programme, building local residents’ skills and confidence to run activities for children and young people.
- Rehoboth for Families – Discover and Unlock Your Potential: a 12-week holistic wellbeing programme supporting Trafford women through confidence, connection and practical life skills.
- Empower Consultants CIC – Kurry in a Hurry / Food vs Mood: using food and cooking as a trusted route into mental wellbeing conversations for South Asian women.
- Brink Productions – Terminology: free year-round DJing, music production and creative sessions for young people across Trafford, prioritising those facing the greatest barriers.
- OT Creative Space – OT Making Memories: intergenerational creative wellbeing project connecting older residents and local schoolchildren through art and storytelling.
- Trafford Hongkongers CIC – FRAME: a family wellbeing programme built on migrant community resilience, combining creative, fitness and social activities.
- MileShyClub – Restore: gentle movement, breathwork and social connection sessions expanding into Old Trafford, Stretford and Broomwood.
- Access for Music – free instrumental music tuition for children and young people in Old Trafford experiencing low income, removing cost as a barrier to creative opportunity.
Supporting our funded organisations
Funding is only part of the offer. Over the life of the programme, funded organisations will be brought together through peer network sessions, giving them the chance to connect, share learning and support one another. Alongside this, TCC will offer capacity building support, helping organisations strengthen their governance, evaluation practice and long-term sustainability well beyond the life of this grant.
We look forward to sharing more updates from these organisations as they deliver their projects over the coming months.
In their words
“These 14 organisations represent the best of what Trafford’s community sector has to offer – trusted, rooted, and genuinely led by the people they serve. We’re proud to back them, and even prouder of what they’ll go on to achieve for residents across the borough.”
Bernadette Ashcroft, Chief Executive, Trafford Community Collective
“I would like to congratulate all fourteen organisations funded through this year’s Trafford Live Well Community Grants. By directing more than 50% of Trafford’s Live Well Implementation funding to VCFSE organisations, we are investing in the local expertise and community-led support that help residents to live well.
These grants are an important step in bringing the Greater Manchester Live Well vision to life across Trafford, ensuring people can access the support, connections and opportunities they need within their own neighbourhoods.
We look forward to continuing our partnership with Trafford Community Collective to strengthen community support and build a thriving Live Well offer across the borough.”
Cllr Rose Thompson, Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Housing, Partnerships and Live Well