Participate Projects supports people and organisations across West Yorkshire to develop and grow their ideas into sustainable projects and enterprises.
Participate’s vision is for a more socially impactful economy which works better for local people and responds to local priorities. As well as providing venture support to social businesses, Participate works with individuals and community groups, particular those experiencing disadvantage, to help nurture and grow their ideas.
Their programmes include Made in Manningham which distributed small seed funding grants, the Rising Stars Womens Leadership programme and Youth Venturists social action programme with 9-11 years olds. Participate is also part of a Bradford-wide partnership with the council and voluntary and community sector organisations which together to build capacity, citizen engagement and community voice in the region.
Based in Lister Mills, a historic landmark of the area's industrial past, they have a partnership with Equality Together, a disabled-led organisation, who holds a long-term lease for part of Lister Mills. Together, they aim to further embed community ownership of the space.
Connection to Esmée's strategy
- Priorities
- Long-term outcomes
- Community-led enterprises are a proven and widely adopted model that underpin fairer local economies.
From Rosa Sulley, Funding Manager Lead, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation:
Participate Projects' vision for a more socially impactful economy strongly resonated with the outcomes we are aiming to achieve through Creative, Confident Communities funding. Through the programmes they deliver, like Made in Manningham, Participate are building towards this vision by directly enabling local people to have a stake in their local economy and to drive change for themselves. Their enterprise support programme supports community and social ventures to emerge, establish, grow and become sustainable for the long-term. This is underpinned by a peer-to-peer, discussion-led approach tailored to local need, and focuses on the under-represented communities in the local social enterprise sector including South Asian communities, women and working class communities. It is exciting to watch how this work is becoming so quickly established out of the historic Lister Mills site, creating a community-led hub which will drive wider impact and regeneration across Manningham.
From Waj Hussain, Senior Enterprise Coach, Participate Projects:
Support from Esmée has given us the opportunity to work long term with people from Manningham to develop a community enterprise space in the iconic Lister Mills. We are now starting to see local people come together to think about the possibilities for this community space. Through workshops, enterprise coaching and learning exchanges, ideas are now starting to take shape.
An important part of this work is developing a group of local people who work collectively to mould and shape the future of this community hub. Monthly meetings of the group are creating the right environment for the group to develop their skills, networks and experiences. The group is exploring options and learning from what similar community-led groups across the country have already achieved.
Funding from Esmée is enabling local people to take ownership of their community assets that will ultimately shape the future of locally led community enterprise. As Manningham has a thriving young population, this will be a catalyst for positive change for years to come.
