Youth group lend a helping hand in West Gorton

A group of young people from West Gorton, Manchester, gave up their time last weekend to do good deeds for their neighbours despite the wet weather.

The 20-strong group of 10 to 15 year olds donned their raincoats and took part in a ‘Helping Hands’ day on the West Gorton estate on Saturday 8 October, which was organised and funded by local housing provider Guinness Northern Counties.

The award winning youth group, who won the Young Citizens of the Year Award in December 2010 at Manchester City Council’s Be Proud Awards, worked in teams with Guinness Northern Counties staff to tackle various jobs across the estate.

Jobs ranged from helping tidy up residents gardens to clearing large unwanted household items into one of the skips that were placed in various locations throughout the estate. Teams also litter-picked and also painted the community meeting room at the West Gorton local housing office.

The Youth Group is run by Groundwork Trust and has been established on the estate for over two years with over 20 young people aged between 10 and 17 in regular attendance.

Guinness Northern Counties has secured funding £45,000 for The Groundwork Trust to work with young people on the West Gorton estate since April 2009 as part of its ongoing commitment to building stronger communities.

Annemarie Finnigan, housing manager for Guinness Northern Counties, said on the day: “Today has been a real success, it has shown the real commitment from young people in West Gorton to helping their local community.”

The Helping Hands event marked the end of Guinness Northern Counties’ National Customer Service Week, which involved making fruit smoothies, and a prize draw to win a week’s supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. The housing provider also worked with Healthy Ardwick to provide taster keep fit classes for local residents.