When visiting Greater Manchester, there are plenty of opportunities to help local communities and give something back. Whether you’re visiting us on business or for a bit of fun, to be a truly sustainable tourist and to understand what the heart of Manchester is about, it’s great to get involved in some of our many community efforts taking place across every borough. Greater Manchester is a unique, friendly and collaborative place, and by supporting some of these initiatives, you can get a taste of what life in the city is like beyond the events, restaurants and bars. Maybe you’ll learn a new skill or make some lifelong friends in Greater Manchester, or perhaps you’ll leave us with the feeling that you’ve given something back. 

Across the region, we have volunteering opportunities that can suit a range of talents, from the green-fingered to the culinarily gifted, but we also have opportunities that just require a helping hand.  From supporting our natural environment to volunteering at a local food bank or café, there’s something every visitor to our region can sink their teeth into.  

Whether you’re looking to boost your business's ESG credentials during your visit or you just feel like doing a good deed and trying something new, we’ve rounded up some of the volunteering opportunities across Greater Manchester to help you ‘Visit Manchester Well’. 

Nature-based Volunteering 

Northern Roots 

Northern Roots in Oldham is the UK’s largest urban farm, turning uncared-for space into a destination for the local community and visitors to enjoy. It provides opportunities for people to connect through food, growing, nature sports, work and play. It offers a variety of volunteer opportunities from community litter picks to helping out on the farm or conservation efforts, offering a chance to learn new skills like landscaping and woodworking. Keep an eye on their social media for volunteering opportunities or contact them about corporate opportunities.  

Manchester City of Trees  

Manchester City of Trees is a community forest charity that plants trees to create better greener spaces, boost health and well-being and tackle the climate emergency. It works with volunteers and landowners to create new woodlands across our region but also helps to support wildlife and encourage people to learn new green skills and gain a passion for wildlife. 

Manchester Urban Diggers 

Manchester Urban Diggers(MUD) design, build and manage food-growing projects and community gardens across the city. Dedicated to fixing issues with food production by growing fruit, vegetables and herbs for the local community while also improving biodiversity and soil health. They run a regular Gardening Club at Platt Fields Market Garden on Fridays and Saturdays, where volunteers get a free lunch. However other projects include a rooftop growing project in collaboration with Stockport’s Where The Light Gets In, Beswick Urban Growers (BUG) in collaboration with The East Manchester Academy, as well as clean up and learning opportunities across the city. 

Sow the City 

Sow the City is a social enterprise working to create a greener city and tackle food poverty. By bringing people together to create new green spaces in the city on unused urban sites, they can bring people closer to nature, promote health and wellbeing, build climate resilience across the city and support communities by increasing food production, creating jobs and bringing people together. They regularly run volunteering sessions in their community gardens and allotments. You could get involved in planting fruit and veg or just with general maintenance. 

Food volunteering opportunities 

Person holding food with vegetables on chopping board and kitchen equipment

Cracking Good Food 

Cracking Good Food supports more people to cook affordable, seasonal and nutritious homemade food from scratch, working on the belief that everyone deserves access to good food. They’re working to reduce food poverty and increase food sustainability. They offer corporate and employer-supported volunteering opportunities with tasks ranging from installing plants to helping cook and deliver meals to people who need them most. 

Open kitchen 

On a mission to reduce food waste, Open Kitchen is Greater Manchester’s leading sustainable catering company. Working with good food that would otherwise go to waste and supporting local suppliers, they can cater meetings, occasions, and events in the most sustainable way. They also have a café in Manchester’s People’s History Museum which offers low carbon, low waste meals. Plus, all profits go towards supplying meals for people in need across Greater Manchester. Help them with food prep, packaging meals and packing grocery bags for those in need – or grab a coffee and cake at their cafe to contribute.  

Eat Well MCR 

Founded by chef Mary-Ellen McTague and her two friends, Gemma Saunders and Kathleen O’Connor in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eat Well MCR provides meals to people in need. By working with local chefs, restaurants and volunteers it has managed to deliver over 120,000 meals to date. As a collaborative effort, it is always looking for volunteers to help deliver its mission whether that’s corporate partners or individuals. 

Other opportunities 

Groundwork Greater Manchester 

Groundwork is an organisation that dedicates its time to communities and helping individuals to fulfil their potential. By making spaces greener, building climate resilience, supporting young people and helping people begin careers in green jobs, Groundwork’s overarching vision is to create a greener, fairer and stronger future for all people, and communities in Greater Manchester. Volunteering opportunities involve working in neighbourhoods across all Greater Manchester boroughs and range from working in Green Community Hubs and youth clubs to creating green spaces and protecting nature.  

Manchester Cycling Academy  

As the European City of Cycling for 2024 and a city that is heavily investing in active travel, the Manchester Cycling Academy is always looking to help people get on their bikes. Supported by a growing number of volunteers, it delivers projects like a Bike Workshop, youth engagement projects and bike maintenance classes. If you’re an avid cyclist, dedicating your time could help someone find a new love of cycling. 

Repair Café 

Are you handy and looking for a chance to help the local community? Boiler House in Moss Side hosts a Repair Café on the last Saturday of every month so people in the local community can bring in broken or damaged items to be repaired for free. Items that can be fixed include electric items, clothes, furniture and bikes. It’s all about reducing waste and building a local community.  

Smart Works 

With centres in Stockport and Manchester City Centre, Smart Works supports unemployed women from across Greater Manchester and the North West to get back into work. They help women feel more confident through career coaching, interview styling and interview preparation. They are always looking for clothing donations, and volunteers in the wardrobe and community engagement centres. Corporate options are also available to support unemployed women on their work journey. 

You can learn more about corporate volunteering and individual volunteering opportunities across various Greater Manchester organisations by visiting GM Green City, Manchester Community Central, and through Greater Manchester Combined Authority.