Granada Projects

Granada transmits to Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire, South Cumbria and the Isle of Man.

Over the past five years of the People’s Millions competition we have seen some great projects in the region. Previous winners include a community cinema, a special school, play areas and many more.

Community Garden

The project is to create a green garden for all the community by landscaping an overgrown area of allotment.

Springhill Hospice Young Volunteers Project

This project will improve the garden area in front of the hospice as it is currently overgrown and unsightly. The overgrown bushes cause problems with security as they form a screen in front of the car park for staff and visitors. The project will be completed with the assistance of local disadvantaged children, who will volunteer through Skill Force, a local organisation. Improving the space will make the hospice safer and more welcoming. It will provide a peaceful resting place for patients, visitors and the local community.

The Regeneration of Woodlands Park

The project is to create a multi-sports facility to provide a range of healthy activities for young people aged 5 to 25 years. It will also provide facilities for disabled young people from the local college. The project will form a safe place for young people to congregate and take part in sporting activities.

JJ's Play Centre

This project will create a sensory play centre with soft play areas, interaction facilities, toys and games for children and young people with additional needs and their families.

Interactive Multisensory Room Refurbishment

The project will fund the refurbishment of an existing nursery soft play area into an interactive multi-sensory room.

Pictor School Grounds Development

The project will improve outdoor provision for children with special needs. The school will improve the outdoor field area, install wheelchair accessible pathways, play facilities and develop a woodland and wildflower area. There will also be seating an

The Bronte Welcome Project

The project will upgrade an existing youth and community building which is in a bad state of repair. The current building is 33 years old. The repairs are required to the flat roof; flooring, toilets, and upgrading of the entrance area. The centre offers activities such as dance, pottery, football, mother and toddler group and bingo.

Kingsley Road Community Garden

The project will convert an area of derelict land into a community garden. The group intend to involve neighbours and local agencies in the design and implementation through workshops, planting days and social events in the garden.

Battery Woodland

The project will transform a former landfill site which housed both a prisoner of war camp and an anti-aircraft gun battery that protected the Lancaster Bomber aviation works in nearby Trafford Park, into a series of small woodlands and meadows. The area would maintain the historical importance of the prisoner of war camp and battery, by including a memorial sculpture and a poppy field as a sign of peace and remembrance. The plans for the project have been put forward by the local community, who will also help to carry out the work.

Wishing Well House Arts Project

The project will provide music, dance and drama classes for children with autism in the North West. The children will be taught new communication and social skills through one-to-one tuition from sessional staff and volunteers. A range of sensory equipment and musical instruments will also aid in their development. There will be an estimated 100 beneficiaries.

A Facelift for the Smallest Show on Earth

The project will enhance and improve the external appearance of the Plaza Community Cinema, based in Waterloo, North Liverpool. The cinema operates as a community facility; providing social and education programmes that address a wide-range of issues in an area of socio-economic deprivation. The external frontage of the building will be renovated to enhance the overall appearance of the cinema, thus increasing levels of attendance. There will be an estimated 76,000 beneficiaries.

Padiham Riverside Nature Trail

The project aims to make the river a focal point in the community. It will create a well-defined riverside walkway with seating and litter bins, to enable people to access the riverbank and observe wildfowl in their natural environment. The project will benefit all 12,000 inhabitants of the town, plus any tourists or visitors.

Adventure Zone Project

The project will create a multi-sensory adventure zone within an existing playground of the school to be used both in and out of school hours, for the use of local children with special needs and their families and carers. The project will provide an opportunity for the beneficiaries to have access to multisport, sensory, and disability equipment as well as improving the local environment by planting trees and shrubs which will create a green boundary for the playground. A total of 500 people will benefit from this project.

Our Back Field

The project will transform a redundant space, adjacent to a busy motorway on the housing estate of Hunger Hill in Bolton. The project site is an area of waste ground that, following demolition, has over the years naturally regenerated itself into a wildlife haven with copses of native trees, open grassy areas and ponds. The site suffers from fly tipping, youth vandalism and off-road motor bikes. The project would reclaim the space for safe community use. The number of beneficiaries are estimated at 1500.

Renovation of the Ellenroad Engine House

The project will restore the Engine House in order to protect the exhibits within the building. The project will preserve an important part of the local heritage of the area and continue to allow schools and local people to learn about it. The project will also develop links with schools to encourage older students to take up engineering and become involved with heritage activities. A total of 2,500 people will benefit.

GO!

The project will create a garden and play area between two special schools. The area will be split into a number of zones: an allotment area, a recycling area, a relaxation area, a weather station and a sensory area. There will be 3,000 beneficiaries.

Healthy Body Healthy Mind

The project will provide an outdoor classroom and play facilities to improve health and fitness for pupils. These facilities will be open for community use before and after school hours. There will be 850 beneficiaries.

Adventure Challenge

The project will involve the construction of an outdoor adventure challenge that will incorporate obstacles to be used by children with physical disabilities. The assault course will also include challenges for all abilities from the wider community, helping to develop problem solving and other skills. There will be approximately 1,000 beneficiaires.

Halton Women & Girls Dev Refurb Project

The project will entail the development of the group's playing grounds, so that the facility can be made accessible to a greater proportion of the wider community, while also making it accessible all year round. Currently, usage of the grounds is restricted due to their condition. Over 6,000 people are expected to benefit from this project each year.

Wolves Camp

The project will deliver a range of sports activities to young people in Warrington throughout the school holidays. The activities will be delivered across six venues within the town and will include sessions for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities. Members of the organisation will work alongside volunteers from the Salvation Army, the Verve Place in Warrington and other young volunteers both from schools and disadvantaged groups who have already gained qualifications through the organisation, to deliver the project. There will be the opportunity for the young people to gain recognised qualifications whilst taking part in various sports.

The 'Greening' of Longford Park

The Longford Park project will: • Give Longford Park, our much-loved historic park, a real boost by creating a beautiful garden. • Allow young people from the secondary school to design an informative, sustainable and appealing garden which will benefit the whole community. • Bring back to life a former rose garden with planting better able to cope with Climate Change. • Use the latest technology to return running water to the ornamental water gardens. • Create an education pack and resource available for use by local schools that has been researched and written by the young people. The Council, Friends of Longford Park, Stretford Grammar School and other partners have come together to make this project come to life.

Adactus - Growing Healthy Lives

The project will transform an overgrown area of land into a community allotment, which will be used as a community hub and a training facility for local residents and the wider community to enjoy. The project will provide practical support to residents who will be involved in the delivery of the project. The land will be cultivated and the community allotment will enable the community to grown their own food. Cookery courses will also be offered to help facilitate this aspect of the project and young people who get involved will be able to gain an accredited certificate in horticulture, food hygiene and nutrition.

Forest School & Woodland Wildlife Trail

The project will create a Forest School and Woodland Wildlife Trail within an established woodland area in the school grounds of Windmill Hill Primary School in Runcorn, Cheshire. The project includes the installation of bat and bird boxes, insect houses and butterfly habitats to encourage wildlife back into the school grounds. The site will also comprise of an ampitheatre for outdoor performances, a tree house, environmental musical instruments, a willow weave outdoor classroom and a woodland walkway . An orchard will also be planted so that the children from the school can learn about growing and cooking regional fruits to promote healthy lifestyles and sustainability for the future. The project will also offer a range of activities, workshops and games designed to build self-esteem, self-confidence, communication skills and independence through appreciation of the natural environment. The activities will include environmental arts, den-building, treasure hunts, wood carving, drama, dance, music, butterfly walks, bird watching and bug hunting. There will also be a trim trail for physical activity to promote healthy lifestyles. The facilities will be utilised by the children of Windmill Hill Primary School, children from other schools in the local area, the local community of Windmill Hill, local groups including the Children's Centre that is attached to the school, Scouts, Guides, Air, Army and Sea Cadets and local sporting teams. The school has worked with Merseyside-Groundworks, The Woodland Trust, the local community of Windmill Hill and The Mersey Forest in designing a project that enhances, develops and sustains the existing woodland for everyone to enjoy.

Community Centre Regeneration Project

The project will renovate the existing much-used community centre facility, located within St Andrews Methodist Church. The old kitchen, at present in a very poor state & much too small & pokey for today's use will be expanded into a waste courtyard area, and part of an adjacent office, totally redesigned & new appliances installed. A disabled toilet, incorporating a baby-change unit, will be installed in the centre, bringing the building in to line with the Disability Discrimination Act, and two currently under-used rooms will be updated. The aim of the project is to improve a community facility which is used by hundreds of local people, groups and charitable organisations.