Projects

GRIT Studios

Completed: 2024
Location: Stockport, Greater Manchester
Region: North West
Other local partners: City & Guilds Foundation

About the project

In 2021, Sophie Macaulay, the Founder of Grit Studios, found a quirky 4,800-square-foot derelict building in Stockport town centre with massive potential. She set out to restore the building, transforming the space into fabulous creative studios, bringing colour to the neighbourhood, and providing jobs to local communities. Grit now offers free music and arts events and workshops such as carpentry, welding, and jewellery making. Over the past 3 years, the GRIT team have transformed their wider site to create a biodiverse and low-impact centre for young people and the local community to meet and connect.

The project:

With funding from the Eden Project and our first direct funding from our National Partners City & Guilds through the City & Guilds Foundation, we created bespoke storage and a special community table to bring people together for their ‘The Big Lunch‘ event – a national annual community get-together, bringing people from different communities together through friendship, food and fun.

The Impact:

  • Local young people volunteered during the summer holidays alongside our Trade Mentors to help create the table, gaining an Entry Level 3 City & Guilds accreditation in Carpentry as part of their experience
  • Grit received the Sharing Table Award by Eden Project Communities, who organise The Big Lunch event, including our work with City & Guilds to create The Big Lunch sharing table as part of their wider community project to develop their site as a truly collaborative and creative space
  • Michael Osbaldeston, Senior Advisor, City & Guilds Foundation and part of our VIY Advisory Board, said: “The City & Guilds Foundation was delighted to be able to support the creative community at GRIT studios in Stockport through a VIY project.  The quality of the VIY work makes a real contribution to the working environment and displays craft excellence in a practical way. Having been fortunate enough to see the young people in action, what was clear was the level of tuition they were being given, and their excitement at being able to learn new skills in such a supportive environment.  We were proud that this project demonstrably delivered benefits to the client, the trainees and the local community.”