Engaging ???

On my last check there are currently 666 members in the Gorton Community Initiative group which is a fair old number of people.


Last night the group met well five of us to be exact Rev David Gray, Paul Exall, Catriona Swanson & her husband Will & yes little old me.


The aim of the meeting was to discuss issues such as the park, the allotments, the donkey sanctuary, faith in the community, the old house to name but a few & how we could move forward with regards to funding & projects.


We are currently taking about emergency monies to repair Gorton House so that she is water tight until the main funding comes through to restore her & make her usable again.


We are also talking about native British bluebells in the woodland area of the park ( which via facebook has had a really positive response).


Wildflower meadows, herbs, edible mushrooms, fruit trees, green corridors full of native British hedging, bat walks, cleaning the water up - there are so many positive ideas that can be achieved.


And there is such a lot that the group can & will do to make Debdale shine as one of the brightest stars in the city of Manchester, beautiful,clean, green & organic :0)


One thing we did notice that it is the same old faces that litter pick, attend meetings,apply for funding - so how do we get the 666 people within the group to engage & have a say??


Well litter picking might not rock everybody's boat but there really is so much potential.


I suppose our goal is to work out how to get more people interested in their park & area, what can we put on the facebook page that would want people to engage with group & come forward with their own ideas.


There is a lot of work to be done that will rely on the goodwill of volunteers working with Manchester City Council & as the late great Martin Luther King said :-


"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love." – Martin Luther King, Jr.