The initiative that has made such a difference to one corner of Stockport was born out of tragedy. Tony Farrar and Steve Cunningham both grew up on the same road in Adswood, one of the biggest council estates in Stockport. Yet, until two and a half years ago, they didn't know each other.
Tony, 42, and Steve, 47, who had both lost friends and relatives following mental health battles, met a funeral. At the wake, Steve told Tony that he had failed in a bid to secure a thousand pounds worth of funding for a community fun day on the Bridgehall estate, next door to Adswood, where Steve has lived for nearly 30 years.
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The pair agreed something needed to be done to make life for people in the area better and they decided to take matters into their own hands. And so they started an organisation that the pair hope can be a blueprint for how how people across the country can improve their communities.
"We wanted to give the community something to do, somewhere to go, someone to talk to." Tony says, sitting on a bench in the park in the middle of the triangular-shaped estate.
Around 5,000 people live in Adswood and Bridgehall combined. However nestled in between Adswood and Edgeley, Bridgehall doesn't consider itself a part of either, but as a place in its own right. Built in the 1930s, on land previously occupied by a hall and farm from which it takes its name, local authority housing provider Stockport Homes has around 600 properties on the estate.
Manchester City and England star Phil Foden, who grew up in Edgeley, went to Bridge Hall Primary School as a youngster. And Labour's frontbencher Angela Rayner grew up here, even launching her successful bid for the deputy leadership of the party from the community centre.
But it is not without its challenges. It is one of the most deprived areas in the borough. According to a 2018 public health report, the area performs significantly worse than the national average on unemployment, income deprivation, child poverty and child development. There is also health disparities, with life expectancy shorter than the national average.
"It's a typical council estate," grandad Steve says. "And I can say that because I live here and I'm not putting anybody or any other estates down.
"But it is a typical council estate in that you have got poverty and deprivation. You have got people that can't work for whatever reasons. You've got issues with drugs, and alcohol abuse. Anything you might imagine on any typical council estate happens on this estate."
Tony and Steve felt they were well placed to tackle those issues. Steve, a well-known community figure, was previously coach at the local grassroots football team, Adswood United, who he played for as a boy and where he oversaw the reintroduction of their junior teams.
Meanwhile Tony was no stranger to getting things done - having previously spent over two decades assisting UK government departments in designing and implementing policy in his day job.
"We were sick and tired of listening to policy but no practice," Tony says. "This gave us an opportunity to actually deliver some of the policy aspirations we hear left, right and centre from government, in an area where we grew up."
"I've lived here all my life. I've been here 50 years over the two estates," Steve says. "My kids went to the school. My grandkids still do. So I know the people inside out.
"Where we come at this from, is the same, but we come at it from different ends of the scale. Tony understands the policies around everything. Whereas I'm more community focussed and based. So it works perfectly in that sense."
The pair's joint mantra is that physical activity is a ‘natural human right that everyone should have access to.' In the summer of 2019 they formed a partnership with the school in the middle of the estate and set up the not-for-profit organisation Active Community Experiences, better known by its acronym ACE, to offer affordable activities for local kids.
For just £10 a month, people in the area were able to take part in a range of 40 to 50 classes in a number of sports and other activities.
Although a lot of the first influx of members were youngsters, the dozens of activities they offer are "intergenerational" and go way beyond football, Steve points out.
"As much as football can be a conduit for young lads, and there are some girls who want to play football, we wanted to create something that was for everybody," he says. "This was the perfect opportunity and place to start it." The activities range from gymnastics to netball, Zumba, dodgeball, music, arts, crafts and much more.
"Everyone has something they are going to excel in or that they believe in and want to focus on," Steve says.
"Now in terms of the school curriculum that's not always gonna cover it. Take Ronnie O'Sullivan for example. A multi-millionaire who has won seven world titles. But snooker isn't taught in schools. So it's about finding that niche for every child and every person.
"There are other things we've got planned as well, like mechanic sessions" he continues. "A lot of kids on estates like this want to tinker with motorbikes and want to tinker with cars.
"So if we can channel that in the right direction and at the same time explain the dangers of why you shouldn't be just doing it on the estate, you've got a chance of turning someone's life around before they realise how far down the wrong they are."
They have already earned a lot of trust from people of all ages on the estate, which Steve believes has been a key element to their early success.
"We break down those barriers of 'us and them.' Even on estates, there is that. As much as you'd like people to be loyal to each other we have kind of got to be the glue that gets all that going again."
Just as they were getting the enterprise off the ground, Covid hit. They "fought through it" and did a number of activities online during lockdown, as well as in-person, when restrictions began to be lifted.
ACE has grown to the stage where it now has 350 monthly paying members on the Bridgehall estate alone. They also employ around a dozen people from the estate who joined as trainees and apprentices, as well as having a big volunteer base.
"We're not just providing the community with something to do, and improve their health and wellbeing, we're also providing employment opportunities and pathways," Tony says. "Which is really important."
The pair say their business model is "sustainable" as it is primarily funded by the people living on the estate, alongside some grant funding for specified projects. After initially being based at the school they were then allowed to use council-owned facilities such as the community centre.
Already, in their short lifespan, as well as turning political heads across the borough and beyond, they have won numerous awards for their work and now provide a number of official programmes such as holiday activities and a food programme for kids on free school meals.
They have also been told unofficially that anti-social behaviour has reduced by 21 percent on the estate during the time they have been in operation.
"The council have started to realise communities can manage their own interests if they're allowed the opportunity to do it through the intelligent use of public assets," Tony says. "It is a tiny little embryo, but we're showing what can be done."
The latest project ACE has been involved with is helping transform a previously under-used library in Bridgehall Community centre into a children's library which will be used by the school, but which will also open at the weekend to allow kids on the estate who have fallen behind in their literacy, during the pandemic disruption, to catch up.
They say kids starting at the school on the estate have a word 1,500-word deficit compared to kids in more affluent areas, and also want to help to bridge that gap.
The library was officially opened by Tameside-born comedian and Phoenix Nights star Justin Moorhouse at a ceremony late last month.
Tony says he hopes that one day their model can be rolled out across Stockport and potentially even further afield. "There's already other schools that have seen what's happened at Bridgehall. Word has spread and the school is now over-subscribed" he says.
"I want this to be a place that people who used to live here come back and go 'wow this has changed" Steve adds. "And we're making strides with stuff like this."
Angela Rayner was so impressed with what the pair had done she joined ACE's board: “I grew up on the Bridgehall Estate and I still have many friends living there," she told the Manchester Evening News.
"The sense of community spirit on the estate is incredible, everyone knows everyone and everyone looks out for one another.
“I chose to launch my campaign to become Labour’s Deputy Leader at Bridgehall Community Centre in January 2020 because I am so proud of where I’m from and it means the world to me. It always feels like home whenever I go back.
“I am a very proud ambassador for ACE and I know the work Steve and Tony are doing is having a really positive impact on people’s lives. Their efforts mean brilliant opportunities are available to people that they would otherwise not have access to.
"Everyone is welcome and everyone is made to feel like they can achieve their goals. Steve and Tony took inspiration from sad things that happened to them and used it to create something that is truly life-changing. They are heroes.”
Former Stockport Council leader and head of the borough's Labour group Coun Elise Wilson is also on the board. "I think the work that Tony, Steve and ACE are doing is really great," she said.
"It's about our community, it's about making a difference for people here locally. And as a local resident, I see it, I see the work, the passion the care that the guys have for here, for Adswood and Bridgehall and how important it is.
"What we have got going on with the school, with Bridge Hall Primary, the work they're doing with the headteacher, the new library and having that open on a Saturday.
"The difference that makes for people to be able to have somewhere to go, to do their homework or just sit and read and spend time with their parents and together, I think it's really important.
"Those who have the least end up disproportionally affected and the gap gets bigger and we've seen that through the pandemic and now with the cost of living crisis.
"I think it's disgraceful the government aren't stepping and doing more. But we have such a community here though. We look after each other round here and that's what makes this a special place, a place that I'm proud to call home."
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