About Willow Park
Willow Park Housing Trust was set up in 1999 to tackle the deep deprivation in the Benchill area of Wythenshawe. A wholesale transformation has been driven by residents’ priorities. More than 250 residents are active in governance, community associations service panels and other activities, and 50 community volunteers have been recruited and trained.

The award-winning project
Through a resident-led programme, the Willow Park Housing Trust has turned the most deprived ward in England, which was scarred by high levels of crime and unemployment and huge numbers of empty homes, into a settlement community where only one per cent of the homes are empty and people are queuing up to live.

 The Trust has created 400 new jobs, trained 800 men and women in construction skills and created 40 new businesses and three new social enterprises. The encyclopaedic list of partner organisations includes Manchester City Council, Manchester City Football Club, Sport England, faith groups and the Big Lottery Fund.

The work has involved the SRB-funded rescue of an abandoned community centre, which is run by residents as a charitable trust, and the opening of a new lifestyle centre. Neighbourhoods have been greened through a comprehensive environmental strategy informed by residents’ priorities. Funding for the strategy, which covers everything from public realm management to public transport services, has risen by £7.5 million since 1999.

A range of services and activities has been introduced for young people who meet regularly in a Youth Panel to identify new projects for the area and allocate funding for new projects. A new £4.3 million Lifestyle Centre includes a sports hall, all-weather pitches, a boxing gym, dance studio, cyber cafés and a multi-use games area. More than 1,000 people a week use the facilities at the two centres, 200 of them young people.

Residents’ concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour on the estate have been met by the introduction of a community safety operation.

This mixture of prevention and cure has reduced crime by 20% and saved the criminal and police justice system more than £1 million a year. Tenancy turnover has halved to 9% a year and average house prices in the area have risen from £25,000 to £100,000.

“A whole organisation and community application,” said the judges, “that has secured significant improvements in all aspects of the quality of people’s lives. Unequivocally, this is a Gold winner.”

Further information
Visit Willow Park's website for further information about the organisation.