→CREATIVITY IN PLACE → COMING SOON

A research and listening project that takes a close look at how artists, community groups and cultural organisations in North Manchester and Wythenshawe use arts and culture to serve their communities.

In 2025, Something To Aim For was commissioned by Manchester City Council to deliver demographic and capacity-building mapping, research, and development for the city’s Place Partnership – Creativity in Place.

The project set out to understand the cultural landscape of the North Manchester Wards and Wythenshawe, exploring how artists, small arts organisations, community groups, and residents shape creativity locally, and how the city can better support their work.

We used a participatory and data-driven approach, combining ward-level data and cultural asset mapping with interviews involving 12 community organisations and conversations with 15 Manchester creatives.  Most of those we heard from were individual creatives or people working in small, locally rooted organisations. They included CICs, voluntary arts organisations, neighbourhood collectives, sole traders, and residents who take part in cultural activity. Their experiences and ambitions revealed what is thriving, what is missing, and what matters most.

At the heart of the process of the Something To Aim For Cultural Health Check approach, which is built on:

• Observing what is happening across the cultural ecosystem

• Listening closely to community voices

• Asking questions of those with lived experience

• Sensing the pulse of Manchester’s cultural life

The resulting insight report explores how funding, governance, access, collaboration and local relationships shape cultural activity. It surfaces overlooked knowledge, highlights community assets, and offers ideas for how Manchester’s cultural sector can grow more connected, equitable, and sustainable.

The report and its recommendations are currently being finalised. We will share more when they are ready. Watch this space. 

This is only the beginning. If you live or work in North Manchester or Wythenshawe, we invite you to continue the conversation by contributing to the Directory (below), sharing stories, insights, or details of cultural assets in your neighbourhood.

Together, these contributions will help grow a living resource that reflects the creativity of communities across Manchester.