Volunteering

Greater Manchester has many different ways you can get involved and make a real difference to our environment. From helping out in nature and our amazing places, to volunteering at your local food bank or repair cafe. There really is something for everyone. It's also a great way to learn something new, stay healthy and make new friends.

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Climate Ed Volunteer
Climate Ed

Climate Ed is a charity which offers primary school workshops about carbon literacy and climate action led by volunteers. They have just launched in the North West and are looking for volunteers to deliver our programme of 5 one-hour sessions in schools. Our aims are to engage children about climate change and inspire them and their families to take action.

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Two people examine plants in a greenhouse, one wearing a white headscarf and denim shirt, the other in a bright yellow jacket.
Green Spaces Fund

The Greater Manchester Environment Trust (GMET) is a charity that funds nature and climate projects across Greater Manchester. One of its key initiatives is the Green Spaces Fund, which offers grants to community groups to create or improve local green spaces, especially in areas with limited access to nature.

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10GM

10GM partners can provide a range of services not only for voluntary and community groups but also for social enterprises, local businesses and public sector organisations.

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Salford Loaves and Fishes

The Drop In Centre has a committed and enthusiastic team of volunteers and are always keen to recruit new people.

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Good to Grow

Search the Good to Grow map to find a local community garden or growing project near you. Get involved!

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RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford

There are so many ways you can get involved at Bridgewater. We look forward to welcoming you to be part of our journey as we bring Bridgewater to life and create this iconic new garden.

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Northern Roots, Oldham

Northern Roots is creating the UK’s largest urban farm and eco-park on 160-acres of beautiful green space and we’d love your help! If you’d like to help support wildlife and improve habitat, whilst being outdoors and meeting new people, Northern Roots Environmental Volunteering is now open.

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Action Together

Find out about the many volunteering opportunities that exist across Greater Manchester. From all things to help the environment to volunteering at foodbanks and local allotments.

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The Bread and Butter Thing
The Bread and Butter Thing

The Bread and Butter Thing makes life more affordable for people on a low income, builds stronger communities and reduces food waste using an innovative and self-sustaining approach to the redistribution of surplus food and non-food items. See how you can get involved.

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Tram travelling through Manchester City Centre
One Manchester

Volunteering is a fantastic way of gaining work experience, as well as learning new skills and making new friendships. To hear the benefits of volunteering please read Caroline’s story. Check out the current volunteering opportunities we have available below.

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Mustard Tree volunteers
Mustard Tree

Do you have a hobby or interest you’d like to share? Do you have experience and skills that could help people in need rediscover their confidence and reignite their potential? Help us to create opportunities for the people who come to Mustard Tree, and become a Friend Of Mustard Tree.

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Urban Outreach, Bolton

Our volunteers are predominantly occupied in helping us collect, sort and redistribute food for parcels that are going out to needy households across Bolton. You can view a summary of our food sorting role here. You can view a summary of our food collection and delivery role here.

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Take action…

To make a big change, we must all take small actions. Becoming greener and making an impact is easier than you might think. We have put together a range of blogs, articles, toolkits and checklists to help you make a start.

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Although we set out with a simple mission to reduce plastic waste, we’ve quickly realised that it’s just one piece in the sustainability puzzle. One of the biggest, but most easily attainable actions we can achieve is to look at where our goods come from and reduce the carbon footprint needed to get a product from manufacturer to consumer. Many of the products we stock are made by local, independent manufactures, who provide us with a wide range of things from reusable face wipes, wax food wraps, face coverings, soap bars, plant pots, kitchen cloths/sponges and butty bags.

Carl from Lentils and Lather

Our aim is to start changing the habits of families in Greater Manchester by getting them to ‘borrow’ rather than ‘buy’ brand new toys. We’re making sure that toys can be reused again and again by children who need and want them – and they are not just sitting in a cupboard or under someone’s bed.

Kim from That Toy Thing

The best part of upcycling is that old furniture is often better made than the equivalent flat-packed furniture we get today and with a little bit of time, love and care, you can create a completely unique piece of furniture for your home that no one else will have. I also love that these pieces of furniture have a history of their own and through transforming and updating them we can breathe a new lease of life into them.

Hannah from Tread Softly

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is providing a further boost to the ambitions of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership to create a thriving, inspirational and connected landscape. It supports the recovery of wildlife through habitat creation and improvement as well as community recovery through providing opportunities for local people to develop skills, knowledge and beneficial connections to their local natural environment.

Jo Kennedy, Coordinator of the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership

The reason I signed up to the Green Homes Grant scheme was two-fold, selfishly the measures will add value to the properties and make them more valuable in the future. But more importantly it benefits the tenants, keeping them warmer and prevents problems like damp and condensation. Ultimately measures like external wall insulations should keep tenants happier and ensure they remain in the house for longer.

Neil, Rochdale property owner

We used to think we didn’t have enough time to shop on our local market because we were working; how wrong we were?  We discovered it is an amazing place to shop for plastic free. We swapped tea bags for tea leaves and coffee jars for beans which we buy from The Market Grounds on Ashton Market – well worth a visit as the homemade cakes are delicious. All the stall holders have been amazing, not one of them minds us taking our containers to be filled with meat from the butchers. We get our bread, cheese, fruit and veg from the market too.

Julie from Ashton-under-Lyne

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

Kat Mulhall, Events Manager at Victoria Baths Trust in Manchester

The Business Growth Hub has given us focus and extra knowledge. They’ve helped us form the base to grow sustainably and work efficiently as a team while making us conscious of our environmental impact as a business.

 

Ollie Birchall, Founder of Nutri Bar

I’ve not really been a cyclist throughout my life, more of a runner to be honest. And certainly not commuted. But I just thought if I’m going to change, surely now is the moment to change. I’m feeling the personal benefits of doing it. You just feel better when you come into work. It clears your head. There are benefits of cutting congestion, cleaning up the air. Everyone benefits when people cycle.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

We think our water fountain is INCREDIBLE, it’s the perfect place for people to ‘refill’ and help themselves to any of the free edibles we’ve got growing in Market Place. We’re so grateful to all the organisations that helped make this happen. Alongside the plastic free motion that was passed by council and helped us achieve our first Surfers Against Sewage objective and in turn our Plastic Free Community status, it shows real commitment in reducing plastic waste and supporting our community.

 

Pete Fillery, Plastic Free Rammy and Incredible Edible Ramsbottom

I guess I’ve always been what you would call a conscious consumer. I’ve always detested plastic bags, all of my skin care products at home are plastic-free, vegan, and sustainable. My toothbrush is made of bamboo, there’s no plastic anywhere in the house. Everything in the salon has to be vegan – that was the first rule for me. We started with one brand of haircare products that was vegan, organic, and Fairtrade, but the distributor in the UK was wrapping all of the deliveries in plastic, and it felt really needless, so we ditched them.

 

Rachael, Gronn eco-salon in Bury

Although becoming carbon neutral is important to our organisation, it’s a lot of work for a small team to put the measures into place. The Journey to Net Zero course has given me practical, step-by-step advice that has made it easy for me to lay the foundations for our organisation to be able to take action and achieve our goal of becoming carbon neutral.

 

Kat Mulhall, Victoria Baths Trust, Manchester

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