Work Avenue wins Lottery grant to support Manchester businesses

Work Avenue wins Lottery grant to support Manchester businesses

We’re thrilled to announce that Work Avenue has received a £19,960 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund to help us expand our work supporting people across the Manchester region to start and grow successful businesses.

The grant builds on the success of our WE Hub Manchester shared workspace – which opened earlier this year – and draws on our 20 years of experience working with businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups and freelancers across the community.

Our CEO Debbie Lebrett said: “We are very proud that the National Lottery wanted to invest in Work Avenue, and specifically in our growing outreach in the Manchester region.

“The timing of the grant, coming after the dreadful terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, feels especially powerful and relevant, as the community there shows such resilience and unity.

“The Work Avenue team has two decades of expertise in helping businesses grow, succeed and thrive, and we can’t wait to bring our knowledge and passion to this project.”

Thanks to this funding, we will be able to:

• Offer personalised one-to-one advice to 30 new businesses.
• Run regular in-person and online workshops on topics including business development, finance, marketing, pitching, confidence building, business plans, social media, AI tools and more.
• Provide free access to our workspaces and meeting rooms at WE Hub Manchester.
• Host networking events for new businesses, local companies and the wider community.

A spokesperson for the National Lottery Community Fund said: “We are really happy to be funding this project to make a real difference to people and help the community thrive.”

To find out more about the Manchester Business Programme, visit https://theworkavenue.org.uk/mbp/