From buzzing community centres to wildflower meadows – a day with Southway Housing
28 August 2025
Our visit to Southway Housing in Manchester showed what’s possible when housing organisations work hand-in-hand with their communities.
My day began with first train out of Worthing on a sunny Thursday in August. I met Matthew Walker, the Chair of PlaceShapers, at the train station and we hopped in a cab to Gorton Mill House, an extra care scheme in Gorton, for the first stop on our tour.
Gorton Mill House, where we met John Bowker, the Chief Executive of Southway Housing, is a special place. It was buzzing with activity when we arrived – the café was packed, there was a men’s cooking class underway, and the notice board was covered with leaflets and offers for residents.
John is from Gorton, he went to the Primary School there, and his pride in Southway and the difference they make to the communities where they work was evident throughout the day.
Over lunch Trish Martin, the Advice Team Leader, told us more about Southway’s support for their residents and communities. Along with advice on budgeting, debt, employment and benefits, Southway have developed innovative partnerships with many organisations, including a credit union and a rug company – meaning residents can access affordable responsible loans when they need them and get a free rug to help turn their house into a home.
Our next stop was the Westcroft Community Centre in the heart of Burnage, one of Southway’s largest neighbourhoods. When we arrived a biscuit decorating class was in full swing. Matthew Barker manages the Centre and has clearly had a huge hand in building a vibrant, crucial and obviously well-loved resource for the community. But Matthew is very quick to point out that the success of the centre is down to local partnerships, local volunteers, and because it is owned by the local community.
Pictured: Community notice board at Westcroft Community Centre.
You can see the Centre has been responsive to what the community needs, filling in the gaps the withdrawal of other services has left behind where it can, for example setting up a women’s group and providing a food club. But it has also been strategic and targeted in what it does and how it works, linking in with other providers through the creation of an Anti-Poverty Network, making the most of their collective support for the Burnage community.
We finished the day with a tour of some of Southway’s greenspaces, guided by Debbie Wallace, one of Southway’s Urban Rangers. Debbie, like everyone we met working for Southway, is passionate about her work and ambitious for the communities she works with.
Debbie is leading nature recovery projects in areas like Chorlton – turning road-side green spaces into biodiverse pocket-sized nature spaces. She works in partnership with the community and has built a team of willing volunteers to create spaces for people to connect with nature. There are winding paths through small patches of woodland, fruit bushes for people to pick from and enjoy, and experimental wildflower meadow plots, all accessible to the passing public and integrated into the local environment.
Pictured: Community fruit bushes.
Thinking about how we can use our land and assets to aid nature recovery, improve biodiversity, and ensure our communities have access to good quality green space is becoming an important topic for our members. There is a lot to learn from Southway – where they’ve looked at what space they’ve got, thought creatively about what they can do with it, then rolled up their sleeves, involved the local community, and got on with it.
We crammed a lot into our day with Southway, an organisation driven by their partnership with the city council and the needs of their local communities. Their work shows the power of creativity, collaboration, and community ownership. They make the most of the spaces and resources they have, involve local people every step of the way, and deliver real change. Imagine if every community had a Southway: a thriving extra care scheme, a vibrant community centre, green spaces to be proud of, and practical support that helps people live well without endless hoops to jump through.