Supporting the green spaces of Greater Manchester

As part of Autotrader’s commitment to putting the brakes on carbon, our partnership with the Greater Manchester Environment Trust (GMET) has enabled us to contribute and give back to the spaces and communities around us. To date, the project has made great strides, planting 250 new trees, establishing 80 square meters of new green space and improved an additional 10,074 square meters within Greater Manchester.

Community engagement has also been significant, with 5,600 participants involved across the various initiatives, nearly 200 individuals receiving training, and approximately 60 engagement sessions conducted. These results underscore the positive influence of the partnership on both local environments and communities.

Rainbow Surprise, is a high-quality community garden located at the side and rear of Rainbow Suprises: Our Happy Place, an already popular hub for the community. It offers a food bank, community shop and classes/groups for the community.

Shakar Hussain, the Chair of Rainbow Surprise shows us what he and the members of Rainbow Suprise have done with Autotrader’s contributions. These include a purpose-built barbeque area alongside seating, in addition to an outdoor house with covers to still enjoy the outside if the weather is not up to par.

Another of these projects included rewilding efforts at Fairfield Hospital. The work there has taken a neglected patch of land and transformed it into an accessible space for staff, patients and visitors to use.

While on-site at Fairfield Hospital and getting stuck in, one Autotrader colleague remarked, “It's nice to know that what we’re doing today has a big impact - it's good for the environment but it's also going to help bring a bit of cheer to the area.”

The instillation of the Wildbrook ponds and the 120 square meters of Wildflower Meadow on a community allotment in Oldham, a project by Local Food First. Also at the location, a nature education shelter provides opportunities for the learning within the community, hosting forest schools and horticultural workshops.

Dave Hanlon, Founder of Local Food First, spoke about the “fantastic pond” the project produced and the benefit to the local environment, “[the pond] will attract all forms of wildlife - it will really impact the biodiversity.”