University of Manchester academics are working closely with Manchester City Council to tackle health inequalities.  

Making Manchester Fairer is Manchester City Council’s action plan to address health inequalities in the city. The plan draws on lived experiences and research to address the socioeconomic factors that drive inequalities between people with the worst health and people with the best health. 

The University’s Institute of Education has developed Local Matters, an initiative that empowers staff in primary and secondary schools to engage in action-based research to develop an evidence based local response to local issues.  

We work alongside and empower the school and community through a range of research skills and principles to create a localised, evidence-based response to local issues. The approach recognises that poverty is different in different places; Southampton is not the same as Bradford, so requires localised knowledge and localised answers. Essentially, it supports school staff to become place-based social justice researchers. 

Funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, a cross-disciplinary team, including researchers from the University of Manchester, have improved Covid outcomes in Kenya’s slums. The project aimed to identify local knowledge and attitudes surrounding Covid and implement an effective public health campaign. All work on the ground was conducted by trained local field workers, in cooperation with community health volunteers, local officials and village elders, ensuring messages were communicated through trusted personnel with knowledge of the local area and language. The findings from the study highlighted that consistent and targeted health campaigns in informal settlements can facilitate compliance, engagement and understanding alongside ongoing public health campaigns. 

Our University, alongside King’s College London, are proud to partner with The Raheem Sterling Foundation to offer scholarships to support Black African and Caribbean heritage applicants from socio-economically under-represented backgrounds. The Raheem Sterling Foundation envisions a world where young people will always have the support they need in the pursuit of improving their opportunities, their future careers and their quality of life. The foundation aims to fund seven students on undergraduate degree programmes at The University of Manchester over the next three years. 

Each year our University organises the Student Volunteering Week which aims to encourage students to take part in various volunteering opportunities to help society and the environment. For example, in 2022, students took part in ‘cleaning and greening’ the Fallowfield Brow area which elevated the space for local wildlife and residents.

The University has partnered with Hazaar to provide our students with an eco-friendly, zero-waste platform for buying and selling pre-loved items online and at on-campus market events. The Hazaar app connects students within a Manchester-specific marketplace, eliminating the need for postage and offering a more affordable and sustainable way to shop while supporting student entrepreneurs. 

The Manchester Christmas Dinner project started in 2013 with a vision: “No care leaver will be alone on Christmas day.” The initiative aims to provide young care-experienced people, usually around 50, with a memorable Christmas Day experience. It offers a warm and welcoming venue, delicious food, engaging activities facilitated by friendly hosts, and, of course, presents. The initiative received a Making a Difference Award for its outstanding professional services in social responsibility. 

At the University of Manchester we are proud to be part of the City of Manchester team who worked together to achieve the Living Wage City Status. The University is a pioneer and advocate for the Real Living Wage in the City and has been a Real Wage employer since 2019.

We’ve worked with our Students’ Union and current Women’s Officer to initiate and fund a new scheme providing free period products for our students, helping to combat period poverty and ensure sanitation for all.