Projects

GM Mayoral Election Hustings - 28th July

Many thanks to those of you that attended our Cost of Living hustings for the GM Mayoral election last Tuesday, or were able to follow along online. While the eventual winning candidate (Labour's Bev Craig) did not attend, we got clear support from the two candidates that attended (Green Geraldine Coggins and Lib Dem Richard Kilpatrick) for the campaigns of all three organisations that ran the hustings.

Each of our three organisations already have established relationships with Bev Craig from her time as leader of Manchester City Council and we sincerely hope to see continued engagement with our campaigns as we push for GM-wide changes. We know that politics affects every aspect of our lives, from the price of food and rent, who can access our train stations, and even where we're allowed to live. Elections are just one small part of this politics, and to have a truly democratic society we must continue to work to push for change, for all of us, all year round.

You can be at the heart of this push for change by taking some of the actions below.

Greater Manchester Living Income
A campaign to reform our social security system: giving people enough money to live on, remove the sanctions used in Universal Credit, and making it available to people with No Recourse to Public Funds.
Stay in touch for training opportunities & to join our organising teams across GM by clicking here. Or, if you're part of an organisation that would back the campaign, you can register your organisation as a supporter here.

Socials:

ACORN Manchester
The GM branch of a national community union defending renters, campaigning to end the use of bailiffs and taking the fight to the organisations driving a rising cost of living.
If you have any housing issues, you can contact ACORN for support here
ACORN Manchester meets on the second Wednesday of every month, from 6:45-8:30pm at Methodist Central Hall (M1 1JQ). At their August meeting (12th Aug), we will be planning an action to combat the cost of living - if you'd like more info, you can contact James on 07923020480.

Socials:

Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People
An organisation campaigning for the rights and inclusion of disabled people, 100% run and controlled by disabled people.
You can sign up to be a member of GMCDP for free by clicking here - non-disabled allies are welcome to join to. GMCDP also runs an online drop in session weekly from 12:45 - 15:00, which you can sign up for here.

Socials:

Many thanks once again to those you that made it, and if you weren't there on the day, we hope you'll be in touch soon!

Solidarity,

James (Living Income team)

Learning from East Marsh: Inspiration for Middleton by James Luckham

On Wednesday last week, I had the honour of being invited along to visit East Marsh United East Marsh United (EMU), a community group in a ward of Grimsby that shares the same name. Visiting EMU was a truly inspiring experience, seeing how they have crafted a beautiful strip of community out of what was once dubbed 'Murder Mile'.

The driving force behind EMU's work has been their CEO, Billy Dasein. To give you a glimpse into how EMU is run, one of Billy's colleagues told me CEO in this case stands for anything from Chief Enthusiasm Officer to Chief Empathy Officer. Billy was born and raised on Rutland Street, the centre of East Marsh. Having left Grimsby for university, and then worked away, Billy returned to Rutland Street to look after his dad after his mum passed away. The local council had called a meeting in response to problems of crime and anti-social behaviour. Billy was originally reluctant to attend, but when a neighbour prompted that his mum would have gone, he went down to the meeting. This meeting was filled with the patronising, paternalistic approach typical of local councils, until Billy "got on [his] soapbox" with a clear message: if there was to be any change in the East Marsh, it had to come from the residents themselves.

What started with 30 people giving their details at that meeting has, about a decade later, transformed Rutland Street and the surrounding area. East Marsh United own 18 homes on the street, which are rented out at a price that would be completely covered by the minimum possible Housing Benefit, meaning no resident would need to go into debt to afford their home. EMU also run several community sessions in a local church, including dedicated sessions for young people and families. Thanks to a partnership with Create Streets, the corner plot by the church is being transformed into a community garden, giving residents opportunities to get involved in growing and taking care of nature. A few staff are employed by EMU (including a Chief Storyteller, another insight into the EMU approach), but the majority of their work comes from the residents themselves, covering projects on people and places, knowledge transfer partnerships, creativity, community roots, and much more. East Marsh United's self-deterministic methods are a great inspiration to us at Middleton Cooperating, and we hope to harness the same community energy right here in Midd.

I was lucky enough to attend EMU, representing Middleton Cooperating, alongside a bubble of community savers from Miles Platting, Wythenshawe and Hulme. This was made possible thanks to the fantastic work of Community Led Action and Savers Support (CLASS - Community Savers), who brought these phenomenal people together. CLASS is a charity committed to supporting, developing, and facilitating majority women-led community and co-production processes focused on reducing poverty and inequality. What that looks like in practice is connecting everyday people in their communities to save small amounts of money and help build financial independence. CLASS' work is completely in step with what we're doing at Midd Coop, so much so that you might even see a Community Savers group popping up in Middleton in the near future!

If you're lucky enough to live in M24, and for some reason you're not a member of Middleton Cooperating yet, you can sign up Join us | Middleton Co-operating.

Regardless of where you live, you can keep up to date with everything we're doing by following our socials; GMLivingIncome Official: Instagram, Facebook | Linktree). Just like East Marsh United, we're making the changes we want to see for our communities, not waiting for anyone to come and save us.

Manchester Living Income Power Party June 2026

Thank you to all those who joined us at the Greater Manchester Living Income Power Party on Tuesday 30 June and for those unable to make it, hope you enjoy this update and we hope to see you at a future event soon!

What made the day so special wasn't simply the programme or the venue – it was the people in the room. Seeing 300 community members, partners, supporters and organisations come together with a shared commitment to building a fairer Greater Manchester was truly inspiring. Your energy, ideas and enthusiasm reminded us that meaningful change happens when people come together with a common purpose.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make the day possible. To our hosts, speakers, performers, volunteers and everyone working behind the scenes, thank you for your generosity, time and commitment. This event marks another important step in our campaign, and we're excited about what comes next.

Let's continue the party Inspired by our Power Party and want to keep supporting the Living Income campaign?

See some next steps below.

1. Sign up to our joint hustings event with ACORN and GM Coalition for Disabled People on Thursday 23rd July 6.30-8.30pm at Friends Meeting House.

Cost of Living GM Mayoral Hustings

2. Interested in a getting more involved in a local organising team, or a follow-up conversation? Fill in the form below:

Get involved

More great things coming to Middleton!

illustration of middleton co-operating activities

We’ve got great news to share with you all!

We’re ready to go massive and do even more amazing things with you all in Middleton.

Thanks to National Lottery players, Middleton Co-operating has received almost £4.5 million of truly life-changing funding over seven years to make good things happen with people in Middleton through working with residents, community organisations, businesses and institutions; to build community wealth and ownership, strengthen democratic civic participation and develop community-led & co-operative solutions that will make long-term systems change happen in Middleton and beyond. The funding comes from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Solidarity Fund – a key part of its efforts to deliver its strategy and address inequity and inequality by supporting experienced organisations working with communities facing poverty, disadvantage and discrimination. It is central to its commitment to put community agency, power and control at the heart of its funding in England, as it plans to distribute at least £3 billion of life-changing grants by 2030.

You can also read what the National Lottery Community Fund say about the Solidarity Fund & how it's come about.

The first group of organisations that have received the funding are amazing too and we’re really looking forward to working with everyone, building networks and connections and growing solidarity so that we can change the things that work for so many of us & create something beautiful instead.

Kerry, one of our directors, says: ‘It’s hard to convey how monumental this opportunity and investment from The National Lottery is for us. It’s an opportunity to do things differently in our Town. It’s an investment in people, ideas and place…and more than that it’s an open door to real community ownership , a re-balancing of local power and radical people-led change.

It’s going to be a true learning journey for Middleton Co-operating, as we support local people to help shape our collective future. We have set ourselves some really big goals and we aim to achieve them thanks to the trust, enthusiasm and encouragement offered by the Solidarity Fund at The National Lottery.’

We’re so excited & are really looking forward to connecting with our members as well as everyone else in town who wants to join us along the way to make amazing things happen with people in Middleton.

Middleton and Langley: A Slightly Awkward Split

In the early 1970s, local government decided it was time for a tidy-up. As part of the Local Government Act 1972 (which actually kicked in during 1974), places across the country were reorganised—including Middleton and the Langley Housing Estate.

Langley had already been built by Manchester City Council as an overspill estate, so it had one foot in Manchester from the start. Meanwhile, Middleton found itself placed under Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council when the new boundaries came into force.

The result? Two neighbouring areas, closely linked in real life, quietly managed by different councils. Not quite a dramatic breakup—more like being assigned different group projects and told to get on with it.

Over time, that administrative divide helped shape differences in services and identity, even if, on the ground, the connection never really went away

A reflection of 'who owns Langley'

Land and rent extraction in a Middleton estate

Who owns Langley.pdf (3.08 MB)

Feel Good Family Picnic

We’re going to be at the Feel Good Family Picnic in Middleton and it would be great if you can come & say hello.

The picnic is in Limefield Park on Wednesday 30th July, 12-4.

Here are all the details: https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/feel-good-family-picnic/middleton

Middleton Tenants Union folk will be around to chat with, our Art House team will have creative activities to join in, you can learn more about our community energy work and…

…alongside all this fun stuff we’re also super excited about the announcement of Middleton Development Corporation (MDC) - we’ve got a great chance to shape what will come to Midd and we want to start the conversation with you at the picnic - come and tell us what you’d love to see change/move/shift in our town so that we can all get what we need and enjoy where we live.

Here’s more about the MDC from Rose, Steve and others: https://www.rochdale.gov.uk/news/article/489/middleton-regeneration-takes-major-step-forward

Event Date & Time

Wed, 07/30/2025 - 12:00

End Time and Date

Wed, 07/30/2025 - 16:00

Location

Limefield Park, Middleton, Manchester M24 4DZ

Co-op Congress & Co-op News

We’ve had a great day at Co-op Congress on 4th/5th July and talked about all the great stuff that some of you have been part of and made happen.

You can watch the session we were part of here. It was a panel of ‘New Pioneers’ sharing some good work that is happening all over Greater Manchester and nationally - our Kal is on from 14:55 & there’s also Grace Blakeley, exciting author who writes about economy, speaking before him + Steve Coogan chats to Grace about why he’s excited about our work too.

And if you want to know more, you can also enjoy the conversation of our Mark and Steve with the team at Co-op News, where they both talk more in depth about how things can be shifted so that we all benefit: https://www.thenews.coop/steve-coogan-on-why-he-is-backing-the-middleton-co-operating-project/

Housing Justice

We’ve set up Middleton Tenants Union & are working with local people who live in unsafe, unhealthy and insecure private & social tenancies so that everyone can live in healthier homes and can get justice and compensation.

We’ve been working closely with Greater Manchester Tenants Union to challenge the current system of social housing that cares more about profit than people.

Overall, the housing situation in Middleton is becoming more difficult. Prices and rents have been rising fast – beyond what a lot people can afford. There are many fewer homes available for social rent. This is mainly as a result of “right-to-buy”. And the number of homes owned by private landlords continues to increase. Sadly, there is no security in private tenancies, with people at risk of eviction at any time for no reason.

For some home-owners, their houses are valuable assets. But for many people, finding the money to pay their mortgage or their rent is becoming more and more difficult. If they do have to leave their home, finding somewhere else to live can be really hard.

Having a secure and affordable home is fundamental to our well-being and, at Middleton Co-operating, we want this to be the reality for as many people as possible.

Alongside supporting people right now we’re also working towards and dreaming about something beautiful that we could create together instead.

We’ve become members of Greater Manchester Community Led Homes network and have been exploring alternatives to the current status quo.

If you’d like to get involved in Middleton Co-operating’s work on community-owned housing, please contact us at housing@middleton.coop

Who We Are

Middleton Community Energy is a local energy group rooted right here in Middleton. We’re community-owned and shaped by the people who live, work, and care about this place. Brought together by Middleton Co-operating, we believe energy should work for communities – not be taken from them.

We're not a big energy firm. We're your neighbours, your community centre volunteers, your school governors. We came together around a shared belief: that clean, renewable energy can – and should – belong to all of us.

Our Vision

We’re here to help create a local energy future that’s democratic, fair, and low carbon. One where local people and places benefit directly from the power we generate – socially, economically, and environmentally.

Our aim is simple: local energy for local people. Not in a top-down way, and not to make a quick buck – but to grow something long-term, rooted in trust, relationships, and care for our place.

We believe in a non-extractive approach – meaning we want to keep the value of local energy right here in our community, rather than it being pulled out for private gain. We work cooperatively, in the open, and with a commitment to community benefit.

What We’re Working On

We’ve been building strong local partnerships and listening. We’re proud of the trust we’ve built and the conversations we’ve started. We’re actively developing projects with the aim of local energy generation – and we’re doing it with care.

Right now, we’re working with local schools, community owned buildings, and grassroots organisations to explore what renewable energy might look like for them – whether through their own solar or wind installations, or by accessing local clean energy via the grid. It’s about raising awareness, building knowledge, and helping people see that this change is possible – and that it belongs to them.

Want to Get Involved?

If you’re part of a community-owned building or site in Middleton – whether a school, community centre, faith group, or local charity and want to explore how you could start your own renewable energy project, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re always up for a chat and happy to share what we’re learning.

Campaign for a Living Income in Greater Manchester

Everyone deserves to live a life that is about thriving, not just surviving.

In Greater Manchester, people in our communities are worse off than they’ve ever been in our lifetime.

The inadequate social security system sets people up to fail.

For us living in Greater Manchester, we know what we need so that we can have fulfilled lives.

We have an opportunity to work with Mayor Andy Burnham to establish a Living Income pilot in Greater Manchester.

Join the campaign so that we can get a Living Income pilot up and running here and build a social security system that works for all of us.

Whoever you are - whether you’re a single parent trying to look after your family, or a family new to the country, struggling to find work or just trying to make ends meet - we need a system that looks after us all.

A Living Income would give people the financial and employment support they need, when they need it. We are campaigning for this transformative change within our communities.

Join the campaign:
https://actionnetwork.org/forms/gm-livingincome

Read about the launch that we had at the Friends Meeting House in Manchester:

https://www.thenews.coop/campaign-for-living-income-pilot-launches-in-greater-manchester/

And here:

https://themeteor.org/2025/06/09/a-living-income-campaign-has-been-launched-in-greater-manchester-with-mayor-andy-burnhams-support/