Somewhere to go
Familiar schools, community rooms and neighbourhood spaces kept open, active and welcoming beyond the school day.
Talk to ACE Delivered history first
A place to belong. More than a list of projects.
ACE grew from evenings at Bridge Hall into youth clubs, family activity, holiday provision, neighbourhood support and SEND testing and learning. This page separates what happened from what is still an ambition.
The simple promise underneath the work
Every neighbourhood needs three things.
Something to do
Football, netball, youth clubs, gymnastics, cheerleading, yoga, singing, musical theatre, play, food and family events without pricing local people out.
Someone to talk to
Relationships across ages made activity a doorway into friendship, confidence, safety, advice and the ordinary support neighbours give one another.
The delivered story
How one neighbourhood idea kept widening.
This is a chronology of delivery and learning. Where a claim has a public record, the original source is linked beside it.
012019
Grief became a reason to act
ACE began in Bridgehall and Adswood after the deaths of local people, including Tracy Keates and Shaun Thomson. Tony Farrar and Steve Cunningham wanted to build the everyday connection, purpose and healthier lives that too many people had been missing.
This origin is not a campaign footnote. It is why mental health, belonging and looking out for one another still run through the work.
Read ACE’s original story022019 to 2020
Bridge Hall Primary became an evening community asset
ACE started with the assets already present: local people, trusted relationships and a school building. Activity ran beyond the school day, which ACE described as roughly 4pm to 9pm. This gave children in a neighbourhood with lower incomes an affordable route into movement and friendship.
The offer grew from children to parents, carers and wider families. Participation was designed around the place, rather than asking the place to fit a distant programme.
See the original ACE Zones record032020 to 2022
One asset became a web of community life
After campaigning for local space, ACE also operated from Bridge Hall Community Centre and other neighbourhood assets. Youth clubs returned. Sport sat alongside cooking, creative activity, wellbeing conversations and intergenerational contact.
That mix mattered: familiar faces helped people feel safer, less isolated and more connected to the estate. ACE’s 2022 petition said the revived youth clubs regularly gave 40 to 50 young people a safe, fun space.
Read the public community petition042020 to 2022
Community response did not stop at the session door
During and after COVID, ACE’s public archive records online activity, holiday provision, family events and practical neighbourhood mobilisation. Christmas HAF, holiday clubs and community celebrations carried food, activity and connection into difficult periods.
The public Instagram archive preserves highlights for Holiday Club 2021, Christmas HAF 2022, February and Easter HAF 2023, football, netball, art and gymnastics.
Open the ACE Instagram archive052021 to 2022
A broad membership model made participation ordinary
Football and netball sat beside parent-and-toddler activity, musical theatre, gymnastics, cheerleading, yoga and singing. A low-cost membership helped households take part across activities instead of buying isolated sessions.
A 2022 Manchester Evening News feature recorded 350 monthly paying members and around a dozen trainees, apprentices or employees.
Read the Manchester Evening News feature062022 to 2025
SEND test-and-learn moved from family insight into the system
Bridgehall families, ACE delivery and Seashell specialist input shaped a 12 week Saturday pilot for 15 children. The learning contributed to ACE becoming a formal SLA partner from 2023 to 2025 in Stockport’s Local Pilot, funded by Sport England.
That work continued through SEND Superstars, Short Breaks and HAF provision, with family evidence describing confidence, relationships, wider participation and precious respite.
Read the original SEND pilot accountWhat community life looked like
Sport was only one part of it.
ACE’s public website and social archive show a deliberately mixed programme: different ages, interests and reasons to walk through the same doors.
FootballNetballYouth clubsGymnasticsCheerleadingYogaSingingMusical theatreParent & toddlerHoliday food & activityArts & craftsFamily events
People describing ACE
Fun mattered. So did feeling known.
“A.C.E. is transforming our community, providing accessible, inclusive and affordable after-school provision for pupils, parents, carers and staff.”
“A.C.E. has brought this community together. My favourite thing is to find a kid that doesn’t think they are as good as they actually are.”
“We are incredibly proud to support the great work that A.C.E. does.”
STATUS CHECK
These are ambitions, not delivered history.
They belong on the website because they show where ACE wants to go. They are labelled so nobody mistakes an idea, explored venue or funding proposition for completed work.
SENtathlon
A proposed bridge between mainstream and specialist activity for children with emerging, mixed or not-yet-assessed needs. A venue route was explored, then paused when all-weather safeguards were not strong enough.
Stockport movement network
A connected neighbourhood network combining universal activity, inclusive entry points, specialist partnerships, community assets and evidence that travels.
Community asset stewardship
Longer-term access to buildings and outdoor spaces so local participation is not rebuilt from scratch every time a short grant ends.
Follow the proof
The story now has receipts.
A separate evidence page distinguishes public sources, internal award records, attendance snapshots and anonymised family evidence.
Open the evidence and source linksWork with ACE
Help the next doorway stay open.
ACE is looking for the right spaces, local leaders, specialist capability and investment to turn proven neighbourhood instincts into the next Stockport chapter.
See what is ready to support