After celebrating a decade in business and improving more lives amidst the cost-of-living crisis
North-West based social enterprise firm – Healthy Me Healthy communities (HMHC) – has been named the Best Firm for Health & Wellbeing SME at the Greater Manchester Good Employment awards, having marked a successful 10 years serving the community.
Deep-rooted within the Manchester region, the firm champions health and well-being services that empower, educate and inspire people for a healthier, happier and longer life.
Having built community engagement and development projects in Rusholme, Fallowfield and Longsight, the firm subsequently identified that food insecurity was becoming a growing concern, and from there ‘Gorton Central’ was established. The scheme helps to provide more well-being and training opportunities for the wider community, as well as narrowing the food poverty gap, particularly prevalent during the cost-of-living crisis.
Rich Browning, Founder & CEO at HMHC said: “We’re so proud to have seen our success in the North-West grow during recent years thanks to the commitment, care and sheer dedication of our incredible team.
“We have been located at the centre since 2017 and following closure due to the pandemic reopened with a range of covid support services. Since then, we’ve taken sole charge of the building or taken on a 25-year lease for the building, refurbished the centre, created a new community room for well-being activities, training & co-working space for learning opportunities, as well as a food hub. The scheme has subsequently distributed over eight tonnes of food diverted from landfill and six tonnes of fresh produce to people experiencing food poverty.”
Growing their revenues by an incredible 30 per cent in the last three years and adding to their growing team of talent – the Northern firm have continued to bolster their operations of late.
Following a time of significant growth, they are now undergoing a £350k transformation at their Gorton Headquarters. Local businesses are also supporting the transformation by donating either money or time to the projects ranging from refurbishment to delivering financial expertise and other forms of training.
Rich went on to say: “The centre has already delivered more than 3500 hours of community activities, ranging from keep-fit to job clubs, and the club’s advice services have led to over 600 referrals to partner services. Residents have also gained more than £175,000 from accessing the One Manchester Money Service, through benefits checks and debt advice.”
Rich’s motivations for the business were clear and unwavering from a young age, having lived amongst poverty and unemployment in his early years. As a teenager he cared for his mum, who was in and out of hospital with mental health issues, and his experiences spurred him on to set up a business that would help people overcome social exclusivity and discrimination.
His drive to alleviate food poverty has also led to his recent appointment as Vice-Chair of Manchester Food Board, bringing together decision-makers from multiple sectors to use food for positive, meaningful and lasting change within a sustainable food system.
Rich added: “In terms of alleviating poverty, projects such as Community Grocer are just the hook. What’s important is the quality of engagement people have when they come for that food. Our volunteers are trained to find out what is going on in people’s lives, why they’re using food poverty projects and how can we support them.
“Another objective when starting the business that I’ve never lost sight of is helping people get back into work. It’s really important to create jobs and opportunities as employment is the best way to help people out of poverty.”
Ambitious plans for the next three years include increasing their turnover by a further 60 per cent, expanding their accredited training programmes by partnering with some private sector training providers and growing Gorton Central. The next phase of which will include overhauling the three quarters of an acre RHS award-winning community garden at the back of the property, a favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh who visited on several occasions – putting into perspective the potential of the sizeable green space.
Most importantly to the firm, they plan to work towards making a lifelong impact on people’s lives and creating lasting change for communities.
Rich concluded: “It feels as if there is a real drive in the community right now, something special is happening to make Manchester seem fairer for all.”