Forever Manchester’s Birthday Party raises £100,000!

A fantastic night was had by all at Forever Manchester’s Birthday Party, with a record-breaking £100,000 being raised for Forever Manchester to fund and support community activity across Greater Manchester.

430 passionate and dedicated supporters came together at the Kimpton Clocktower on Friday 9th February 2024 to celebrate another year of Forever Manchester helping local people doing extraordinary things in their local communities.

100% of the money raised will stay in Greater Manchester and contribute, once again, to grants supporting over 1,500 grassroot, volunteer-led, community projects over the next 12 months.

We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that contributed to a truly entertaining and inspirational night.

The event was kindly sponsored by Zuto. Jim Wilkinson, Forever Manchester President and Co-Founder & CEO at Zuto said:

“Last Friday I attended Forever Manchester’s annual Birthday Party with over 400 other awesome Greater Mancunians. For sheer joy and energy, I don’t think there is another event that comes close. The generosity of our local businesses and our local people is well known, but in a year where we’ve all experienced huge economic pressure, raising £100,000 in one evening is an amazing achievement and knowing that 100% of the money raised will stay in Greater Manchester to make grants and support grassroot community projects is the icing on the cake. Congratulations to all the Award Winners and a special mention to Acapolla, Rhodes Bank Choir and Ward- Mallinson School of Irish Dance; three awesome community groups who kept us mesmerized and entertained throughout the evening. I’m honoured to be President of this brilliant charity”

Entertainment

Hosted by Tony Walsh and Captain Manchester, the Birthday Party featured first class entertainment, starting with pianist Georgia Clark in the Drinks Reception and then performances from three local community groups:

Acapolla Choir
Ward-Mallinson Irish Dance Group
Rhodes Bank Choir

Powell and Rose Band then rounded the evening off with a disco-tastic performance of floor fillers, before Dave Foran took to the decks with a DJ set that kept everyone up and dancing until the early hours.

Award Winners

The Birthday Party also acknowledged the impressive achievements from local community groups as well as the efforts and contributions by local businesses who support Forever Manchester. A huge congratulations goes to our well-deserved award winners:

Mandem Meetup – The Connecting Communities Award, sponsored by Manchester Building Society

Beever and Struthers – Employee Engagement Award, sponsored by OBI Property

The Eagles Wings – Transforming Lives Award, sponsored by BCL Legal

Salford Food Parcels – Outstanding Community Contribution Award, sponsored by OFR Consultants

David Foran – Captain Manchester Award, sponsored by Auto Trader

Community Media Crew – For Everyone Award, sponsored by AO Arena

Jigsaw Bury (Special Olympics Team) – The Forever Manchester Lifetime Achievement Award sponsored by Maxwell Bond

Auto Trader– Business Supporter of the Year Award, sponsored by Startline

K.I.N.G.S Foundation– Community Group of the Year Award, sponsored by CDL

Thank Yous

Our Forever Manchester Birthday Party wouldn’t have been such a success without the support from sponsors, so a massive thank you to:

Zuto, AO Arena OFR Consultants, CDL, OBI Property, Auto Trader, Manchester Building Society, Maxwell Bond,BCL Legal and Startline.

Thanks as well to all the volunteers who gave up their time to help out at the Birthday Party and to everyone that took part in Captain Manchester’s Magical Tombola or placed a bid on the auction, and all of our auction donors.