The Longsight Table is a year long community project led by Longsight Art Space in Manchester. It creates regular, free opportunities for local residents to come together through shared meals, storytelling, and creative activities. Based in one of the city’s most culturally diverse and economically deprived neighbourhoods, the project responds to isolation by offering welcoming spaces where people of different faiths, cultures, and generations can connect, reflect, and build lasting relationships. 

Over the year, the project will deliver a regular programme of free, open activities that bring neighbours together through food, creativity, and conversation. These include monthly Neighbours’ Table gatherings centred on shared meals and storytelling and seasonal interfaith celebrations reflecting how care, generosity, and hope are marked across traditions such as Eid, Diwali, Easter, and Christmas.

The project grew from pilot activities delivered over the past four years, including community meals, creative workshops, and outdoor events in both the art space and the community orchard garden. These activities showed a clear demand for spaces that feel neutral, welcoming, and non-judgemental. Since 2021, the organisation has engaged more than 9,000 people, building trust and strong relationships across the neighbourhood.

With support from the Westhill Endowment, The Longsight Table will turn short-term activities into a consistent, year-long programme. By focusing on relationships rather than outputs, and by keeping activities simple, accessible, and rooted in everyday life.