Manchester has been the home of Autotrader, the UK’s largest automotive marketplace, since 2014. As part of their environmental strategy to “put the brakes on carbon” and their purpose-led mission to drive change within local communities, they have partnered with the Greater Manchester Environment Trust to support our Green Spaces Fund.

Speaking about the collaboration, Christos Tsaprounis, Autotrader’s Director of People & Culture, said:

“We want to make meaningful contributions to help Greater Manchester become greener and an even better place for all of us to live and thrive, and partnering with the GMET is a great way to identify local projects to invest in.”

To date, they have contributed over £100,000 to the Green Spaces Fund, and fully or partially funded seven Green Spaces Fund projects across Greater Manchester. 

We first spoke to Autotrader at the Greater Manchester Green Summit in 2023 and discussed their aim to provide more social value and environmental benefits to Manchester communities. 

They decided to join us as a “Bud” level corporate supporter: an organisation who picks brand-new Green Spaces Fund projects to fund from start to finish. 

The full list of projects that Autotrader has contributed to is: 

• “Going Green in Deane” by Daisy Dell Community Action Group in Bolton 
• “Our Happy Place” by Rainbow Surprise in Manchester  
• “Wildbrook Ponds & Wildflower Meadow” by Local Food First in Oldham  
• “Rewilding Fairfield Hospital for Everyone” by NorthCare Charity in Bury 
• “Bankfield Community Growing Project” by Bankfield Community Growing Project in Bolton 
• “South Street Community Garden” by St Barnabas PTCA in Manchester 
• “Chadwick Dam Cooking Forest” by Silversprings Primary Academy in Tameside

As part of their support of these projects, Autotrader have attended various corporate volunteering days with their chosen groups. They recently visited the Chadwick Dam Cooking Forest project at Silversprings Primary Academy in Tameside. 

In a few hours, the volunteers took a mound of woodchip, cardboard and logs, and turned it into the start of a new forest school seating area and insect hibernaculum for the school. 

Their hard work was a huge boost to the project, which is creating a community food forest full of fruit trees, berries, herbs, vegetables, mushrooms, and pollinator-friendly plants in the Chadwick Dam area. 

One Autotrader volunteer said, “It's nice to know that what we’re doing today has a big impact - it's good for the environment but it's also going to help bring a bit of cheer to the area.” 

This ongoing partnership is set to continue into the seventh round of the Green Spaces Fund, and we look forward to working with Autotrader to select the next projects they’ll be supporting across Greater Manchester. 

Becoming a ‘Bud’ level supporter like Autotrader  

The GMET offers three core ways to support our work: Root, Bud and Bloom. 

Bud level, which Autotrader chose, is where you choose to fund a new Green Spaces Fund project or multiple projects. and see them grow. 

You will cover the full cost of a project of your choice and follow the group's journey from start to finish, from grey to green.  

You will be sent a shortlist of new projects that are being assessed within the next Green Spaces Fund round, and you can pick the projects that you want to support.   

You will receive an impact report upon project completion, your company logo will be added to the ‘Our Supporters’ page on the GMET website, and corporate volunteering session at your chosen project(s) can be arranged on request subject to T&Cs.  

Email info@gmet.org.uk with the subject line “Bud” to start a conversation about contributing at this level.