Josh’s Volunteer Story

I recently graduated with an MChem in Chemistry, and after working with a careers coach I was referred to Bury VCFA to gain more work placed experience and develop skills that would support my future career.

Nuttall Park Bowling Club were badly affected by the winter floods in 2024. They have two greens, a flat practice green and a crown green. Due to the extent of the flood damage, the crown green was not playable for the 2025 season. Kevin, Chair of Nuttall Park Bowling Club was referred to Bury VCFA by Bury Council for support with finding funding to repair their crown green and flooding defences to prevent further damage.

The Urban Cycle Centre, a social enterprise based at The Barn Countryside Centre in Whitefield, works to promote physical activity, mental wellbeing, social cohesion and community engagement.
In January 2025, the group received £995 funding from the Wellness Investment Programme Prestwich, with support from Bury VCFA. The funding enabled them to launch Coddywomple Walks, a project designed to introduce residents to the parks of Prestwich. The name “Coddywomple” means to travel purposefully towards a vague or unknown destination, perfectly capturing the spirit of the initiative.

Nature Wild are a new organisation based in Radcliffe, set up to enrich the lives of children and the wider community through the delivery of outdoor education activities and programmes. This includes a new Forest School site, which the founding director, Tamsin, has been setting up in partnership with a primary school in Radcliffe. 

Bury Voluntary, Community and Faith Alliance (Bury VCFA) is celebrating after being awarded over £250,000 in National Lottery funding to strengthen the voice, capacity and influence of voluntary sector organisations working with children and young people across Bury.

The funding, awarded by The National Lottery Community Fund, will support a three-year programme launching in January 2026. The project will be led by a soon to be advertised Children and Young People Development Officer, supported by Bury VCFA’s wider team. 

The Right to Grow was launched in Bury in June 2025 as part of the campaign led by Incredible Edible Prestwich and District. The Right to Grow campaign was about improving the council process to make it easier for community groups and other VCSE organisations to take on council-owned land for food growing projects.

Following the press release, local resident Natasha approached Incredible Edible Prestwich and District about starting a new growing site in Ramsbottom. Bury Council reviewed the proposed site and approved it for growing activities in July 2025.

Radcliffe Self- Managed Allotments are a well-established organisation who were founded during the first world war. They offer low-cost plots to local residents in addition to a veterans and community school plot. Joy and Mary from Radcliffe Self-Managed Allotment Association contacted Bury VCFA in November 2024 to discuss plans for their new community wildlife area. The committee had drawn up plans with the help of Groundwork GM to create a new community area for the local schools to use for outdoor education including growing vegetables and learning about bees.

A landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Bury’s Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector and public sector partners, marking a new era of collaboration aimed at improving outcomes for local communities.