On Saturday, 29th June, our Community Age Friendly team took a group of Southway residents on a trip to Chapeltown Cohousing (ChaCo) in Leeds.  

chaco.jpg

First chance to visit a cohousing scheme 

Eleven residents joined us on the day, along with staff from Manchester Metropolitan University and GM Community Led Homes. For many of us, it was the first opportunity to look around a cohousing scheme and the ChaCo residents were incredibly welcoming. 

We had a fantastic day learning about how the scheme was established and what life in a cohousing community is really like. We toured the houses, their beautiful garden, food-growing site and common spaces. We were also treated to a delicious lunch made by the ChaCo residents. 

Cohousing workshop 

In the afternoon, we used the scheme’s common house to hold a workshop on developing a Vision Statement for our own cohousing group. This is an important step in creating a cohousing scheme here in South Manchester. It was great to hear from so many residents about what is important to them and what they would want from a cohousing scheme. 

20240629_122202.jpg

A great day 

We headed back to Manchester after a great day and everyone who attended said they really enjoyed the visit and that it gave them ‘food for thought’ for our cohousing project! 

Find out more 

We will be holding another cohousing meeting/workshop very soon to build upon what we learned and discussed on this visit. If you would like to know more about our cohousing project and get involved, please contact Paul Greenwood at p.greenwood@southwayhousing.co.uk or 07860 758 361. 

In the meantime, you can click here to find out more about our ongoing cohousing project.