Manningham Mills Community Association and Prohelp companies

Manningham Mills Community Association (MMCA ) is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. It was established in 1997 with an aim to ensure the long term development of the mill and its contribution to economic and social development of the surrounding community.

The decline of the mill has affected the Manningham area due to the loss of trade and jobs in this building. The MMCA was formed in 1995 by a group of local people and held a series of meetings regarding the future of the mills.

Through applying to West Yorkshire ProHelp for support, several needs of the community group have been met. Hammonds solicitors in Leeds worked on the lease with MMCA and Urban Splash, to agree the lease of the community space. Robsinson Design Group and Northcroft worked on drawings and costings for the space which have completed the grant application to funders such as the Lottery Fund and ERDF for completion of these plans. Alongside this, KPMG worked with the group to design their business plan.

Val Harris of Manningham Mills Community Association said, "The Prohelp support has been invaluable; the project wouldn’t have moved without this input. The response of all the people we have had active support from has been amazing and more than I could ever have hoped for. They would make changes to plans and costings within hours of receiving my pleas, they shared their knowledge in a clear way that made it easier to understand what was possible and how to fill in the technical aspects of the forms".

Future of the project

The good news is that the council are negotiating a landswap to provide a 25 year lease on the community space.