About Us
Who We Are
We are a Community Interest Company based in the North West of England. We work to support communities and voluntary and community organisations.
What We Do
- We work with young people to support them to build confidence and develop life skills.
- We have brought together a Young People’s Planning Group aged 16-24 who meet monthly to work alongside the staff team on strategic and practical planning, delivery of activities and events, and gather feedback to support project evaluation and budget decision making.
- We help communities and organisations to capture and protect their heritage and history for now and for future generations.
- We help voluntary and community organisations from the culture and heritage sector to become stronger and more sustainable.
- We want communities to be better placed to respond to the needs and challenges they face.
- We empower communities to develop creative responses to social issues.
How We Do It
- Project Delivery – direct delivery of projects within communities. Our community priorities are:
- young people and young adults
- young families on low incomes
- older people living in isolation.
- Project Management – managing and coordinating projects on behalf of other organisations and partners;
- Evaluation & Community Consultation – evaluating the impact of community projects and initiatives; giving communities the opportunity to shape the decisions that are being made on their behalf;
- Fund Raising – delivering a bespoke fundraising service, securing funding from various income streams, and delivering fundraising training;
- Mentoring & Coaching – delivery of personal and professional mentoring and coaching.
Our Team
Karen May
Director of The Community Heritage CIC
Karen is a Full-Time qualified Youth and Community worker and has managed Third Sector community projects and community buildings across the Northwest of England and within the USA. She has a master’s degree in the Practice of Community Education and a Post Graduate Certificate in Social/Oral History. In addition. Karen worked as an OFSTED Post Compulsory Education Inspector for 11 years ( 2007 to 2018 ) inspecting services for Children and Young People across the UK.
She has worked as the Regional Development Manager for the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund, and still works as a freelance Grant Assessor for BBC Children in Need. Karen has also been Head of Business Development for two UK wide charities and also volunteers in her hometown with the Friends of Hindley Cemetery who are restoring an old Chapel to bring it back into community use.
Catherine McManus
Director of The Community Heritage CIC
Catherine has many years’ experience of working in the voluntary and community sector. She set up The Community & Heritage CIC in early 2020 with Karen May in order to develop new ways to work with communities who do not traditionally engage with heritage. She has worked with older people, young deaf people, and minority ethnic communities designing, planning and managing projects which explore people’s histories and identities and help to build links across communities. Previously she managed an urban regeneration programme working with Manchester’s ethnic minority communities. She is PTTL Level 3 qualified and is studying for BSL Level 2.
Catherine is a trustee of Friends of Tottington Library, a community run library which was saved from closure in 2017. It has developed into The Tottington Centre, an entirely volunteer run community hub offering a range of services and activities to local people of all ages.
Jane Durkin
Non-Executive Director
With many years’ experience at senior operations level, she is Assistant Director at General Medical Council and is a member of the Business in The Community North West Advisory Board.
Jane is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership & Management and a Level 7 Executive Coach.
Ellie Cain
Youth Engagement Worker
Emma Taylor
Youth Engagement Worker
Chris Davis
Community Artist
Mike Moloney
IT Support