We’re delighted to announce that Levenshulme Old Library was a winner at Manchester City Council’s inaugural Best of Manchester Awards!
The awards celebrate the people, groups and organisations making a positive difference to neighbourhoods across Manchester. More than 900 nominations were received across ten categories and the winners were announced at a special ceremony at Manchester’s beautiful Midland Hotel. We were frankly thrilled just to be invited along – we were shortlisted alongside Higher Blackley Community Centre and the Students of Colour Association at Chorlton High School in the ‘Bringing Communities Together’ category, and were bowled over to be announced as the winners.
The ‘Bringing Communities Together’ award recognises organisations that help build bridges between people from different backgrounds, create opportunities for shared experiences and strengthen people’s sense of belonging within their communities – which feels particularly fitting for us. Bringing people together has been at the heart of Levenshulme Old Library since local residents fought to save the building following its closure as a public library in 2016 and came up with a plan to give it a second life as a community space with a focus on creativity.
Which is where we are today – we can now say Levenshulme Old Library is not only a thriving community arts and cultural centre but an award-winning one too. We welcome more than 60,000 visits each year and our programme includes everything from meetings and school workshops right through to live performances and even a recent live BBC broadcast. We’re also very proud to be able to provide a home to a organisations like ALLFM Radio and Manchester Library of Things, as well as the dozens of community groups who we provide with affordable space and support to help them deliver activities right here in the heart of Levenshulme. Our own projects like Roma Create Together, Active Wellness, the LOL Art Clubs and Kahaaniya, our free bilingual Urdu and English storytelling sessions for young children and their families, demonstrate how cultural activities can help local people build friendships, celebrate their heritage and feel more connected to both their creativity and their neighbourhood.
Like we say, just getting nominated for an award is a massive deal to us. Much of our work involves residents who face a range of challenges in their lives and the scrappy labour of trying to secure funding to support activities which help them overcome them, so we’re incredibly proud to receive this recognition. But none of this would be possible without the many, many people who have contributed to the Old Library’s success: our volunteers, trustees, staff, community partners, activity leaders, members, everyone who visits, participates and supports what we do, and most of all our community who paid for our building’s construction back in 1904, fought to keep it alive in 2016 and continue to inspire us with their warmth, resilience and DIY ethic. This award is a wonderful recognition of what this community has achieved together so far, and a reminder of why keeping this space open, accessible and in community ownership matters so much.
Thank you, Levenshulme!
