Transforming Manchester's green spaces with Claire Biggs

A warm Mancunian welcome to all my listeners from your host Deepa Thomas-Sutcliffe. In the third episode of Season 9 of the Meet the Mancunian podcast, I interview Claire Biggs, Director of Sustainable Northmoor Urban Greening (SNUG) and Spirit of Manchester award nominee for Inspiring Campaign.   Claire discusses her involvement with Longsight Community Artspace and the impact of their projects on the local community. From offering free art workshops and exhibitions to transforming an unused bowling green into a fruitful orchard, Claire highlights the importance of funding, community engagement, and building relationships. The conversation also touches on Claire's personal motivations and the joy of seeing community-driven projects flourish.   #community #sustainability #UrbanGreening #environment #GM #manchester #SocialImpact #NonProfit #podcast   Did you know:   ·      Urban greening involves making our towns and cities greener by adding more trees, hedges, parks, gardens, and ponds. ·      Urban greening lessens the impacts of climate change by cooling our city, benefiting wildlife, reducing flood risk, and decreasing air and noise pollution. ·      Around 26% of Greater Manchester’s urban areas are green spaces (parks, gardens, grass and woodland). ·      Almost 20% of GM's urban tree canopy is over hard surfaces such as paths, carparks, and squares. These trees provide important climate change adaptation functions including shading, cooling, and capturing rainwater. Key resources: SNUG Longsight Community Artspace   Time stamps of key moments in the podcast episode & transcript: (01:10) Episode 9.3- Spotlight on Claire Biggs and SNUG (01:28) Community Engagement and Challenges (06:10) Impact and Achievements of Longsight Community Artspace (07:06) Harvesting the Fruits of Labour (08:07) Community Spirit and Recognition (09:46) Advice for Community Projects (10:54) Signature Questions and Closing Remarks   Listen to the episode and read the transcript on www.meetthemancunian.co.uk