Wythenshawe Housing Trusts join the procession for Manchester Day Parade

Published by Parkwaygreenhousing for Parkway Green Housing Trust in Housing and also in Education

A giant ‘Gulliver’ and a giant ‘Runner’ were stunning ambassadors for Wythenshawe in the Manchester Day Parade held in June.  The theme for the parade was a Voyage of Discovery with ‘Gulliver’ in the category for ‘A voyage through literature’ and the ‘Runner’ in the category of ‘Medical Advances and Wellbeing’.

Willow Park and Parkway Green Housing Trusts were two of the proud sponsors of the giant Gulliver which various Wythenshawe community groups and housing trust staff carried through the streets of Manchester on, what turned out to be, a fabulous sunny afternoon.  Ben Harrison, a Willow Park Housing Officer who helped to carry Gulliver, commented, “It was a fantastic day. The streets of Manchester were buzzing with thousands of spectators and all the entries in the parade were unbelievable.  So much hard work had obviously gone into it all but it really gave Wythenshawe and Manchester something to be proud of.”

The giant ‘Runner’, a symbol of wellbeing for the forthcoming ‘Wythenshawe Games 2012’, also wowed the crowds and was accompanied by volunteers from the two housing trusts and University Hospital of South Manchester – just three of the many partners involved in the organisation of the Wythenshawe Games.  Dean Slavin, Resident Involvement Manager for Parkway Green and one of the volunteers with the giant ‘Runner’ also commented, “Everybody had an amazing time and it was a fantastic opportunity to highlight the great work that goes on in Wythenshawe.  It was also great for the partners involved in the Wythenshawe Games 2012 to come together in such an exciting way and we are all really looking forward to the end result next year”

The Wythenshawe Games 2012 will be held in July next year in Wythenshawe Park and is a partnership project which aims to help encourage healthy lifestyles for Wythenshawe residents by encouraging more people to improve their fitness and well-being.  Willow Park and Parkway Green are part of a steering group organising the games and the whole community of Wythenshawe will be involved.  The aim is for a long lasting legacy of increased physical activity and increased use of local facilities to live on after the games.