It’s not every day you see a whale in Greater Manchester. Our native fauna, such as badgers and blue tits and our signature worker bees tend to be a little more understated, albeit no less important to biodiversity in the grand scheme of things.

Nonetheless, a week ago I found myself standing beneath the majestic skeleton of a sperm whale that hangs above the Living Worlds Gallery in Manchester Museum. It’s quite an imposing sight, particularly as the rest of gallery features hundreds of taxidermied animals of all shapes, sizes and origins.

In amongst this space of still life, there was a much livelier gathering taking place.

I joined Andy Burnham and around 120 local people to celebrate the successes of the Green Spaces Fund.

The fund awards money to community groups across Greater Manchester to create, improve and nurture accessible green spaces across the city region. 86 projects have received funding to date, including an allotment in Rochdale, a community garden in Wigan and a tree trail in Trafford.

In his opening speech, the mayor noted that while a lot of people in Manchester don’t have easy access to green spaces, the assembled groups were doing amazing things to change that status quo. "You are the green spaces movement. This is as grassroots as it gets, and I can't thank you enough."

I asked some of the groups how their projects have been benefiting the people and wildlife of Greater Manchester.

This is a particularly hot topic, given that the recent State of Nature report for the county has revealed worrying declines in common animal and bird populations and the degradation of water bodies, peatlands and woodlands in the area.

The allotment association behind Blackleach Allotments in Salford are creating a wellbeing garden with support from the Green Spaces Fund. They’ve recently seen deer, hedgehogs and rabbits exploring the site, and have built bird and bat boxes to put around the plots. As one group member enthused, “once the meadow garden is ready, the bees and butterflies will love it.”

I learned that community group My Coldhurst have developed a project called 'Little Green Social Spaces' which transforms neglected alleyways in Oldham into clean, accessible spaces where residents can get involved with gardening, grow their own food and learn new skills.

The inventively named ‘A Bog’s Life’ project on the edge of Little Woolden Moss is restoring a dried-out peatland by planting 10,000 specialist species like sphagnum moss and common cotton grass.

The mood in the room was effusive, with groups sharing compost recommendations and proudly showing pictures of shiny new polytunnels and smiling volunteers.

While talk of nature and wildlife amid a climate crisis can feel bleak at times, the event was a perfect demonstration that grassroots action, powered by proactive people, can make huge and impactful changes.

So, despite spending my evening surrounded by skeletons and taxidermy, it was abundantly clear to me that a passion for protecting nature and wildlife and uplifting communities is alive and well in Manchester.

For more information about the Green Spaces Fund and our funded projects, visit Green Spaces Fund Projects | Greater Manchester Environment Fund (gmenvfund.org)