On Thursday 5 June 2025, we hosted Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, on ‘Driving Change: The BIG GM Live Well Bus Tour’, highlighting the amazing work of local community organisations across the city region, and the crucial role they play in shaping a happier, healthier and fairer future.
The tour, led by us, GM Live Well, Locality, and We’re Right Here, showcased pioneering community-led spaces in Greater Manchester (GM), to support the development of Live Well centres, spaces and support offers which have just received £10m investment from GMCA and NHS GM to tackle health, social and economic inequalities.
Grounded in the learning from the Big Local programme and the We’re Right Here campaign, insights from the tour will ultimately shape how Greater Manchester can become a pioneer in growing community-led approaches in local decision-making nationally.
Sale West and Little Hulton Big Locals are great examples of the impact communities can have when given the tools to make the changes they want to see in their neighbourhoods. We know that long term, flexible funding which places trusts in residents to make decisions on resources results in healthier and happier neighbourhoods.”
Rachel Rowney, CEO of Local Trust
Recent research has shown that, across the UK, people feel shut out of decisions that shape their neighbourhoods. Polling commissioned by the We’re Right Here campaign found that 84 per cent of those surveyed feel they have ‘no or not much’ say over the important decisions that affect their areas. A groundbreaking report by Local Trust, the Centre for Education and Youth, and #BeeWell also showed that almost a quarter of young people in Greater Manchester’s doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods feel they can’t trust people in their local area.
Community organisations understand local needs and are trusted by their communities but the impact they can make is often restricted by red-tape and a lack of resources. Greater Manchester is showing a different way forward. Through initiatives like GM Live Well, public services and communities are working together to create economic growth, social connection, and improved health.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham (left) and Local Trust CEO, Rachel Rowney (right)
Community-powered spaces like those we visited today are redefining how we put meaningful, everyday support back at the heart of every neighbourhood. They’re showing what’s possible when communities are empowered to lead. These are welcoming spaces that are delivering that help and support with, not simply at, local people.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham
Meeting the communities driving change
To learn from some of the region’s community-led spaces, senior leaders from across Greater Manchester’s health and community sectors, as well as national policymakers, travelled together on a specially commissioned Bee Network bus.
They visited places where local communities are at the heart of shaping their neighbourhoods, creating welcoming community spaces that are delivering meaningful, everyday support with – not to – local people. These spaces bring to life the GM Live Well vision in practice –demonstrating what’s possible when communities are trusted to lead.
At each stop, attendees experienced how local communities have shaped – and continue to shape – the support and opportunities available in their neighbourhoods. Whether it’s helping someone into work, offering debt advice, creating spaces of belonging, or reimagining local life, the visits showed the vital role communities play in tackling health, social, and economic inequalities.
Supporting local people to live well
Along the bus tour route, participants visited a number of community spaces, including:
- Sale West Community Centre (Trafford)
- CommUNITY Little Hulton and Peel Park Pavilion (Salford)
- All Souls (Bolton)
- CommUnity Corner (Wigan)
In each local area, participants saw the outstanding work these communities are doing and heard from the volunteers, community leaders and residents who use these spaces and help bring them to life. The tour showcased the many ways our people and communities can be supported to live well, including green spaces, bike workshops, art and digital exhibitions on citizen voice, public living rooms, advice hubs and litter picking.
For more information, please contact: communications@localtrust.org.uk