Welcome to The Didsbury Parsonage Trust

The Didsbury Parsonage (Old Parsonage) is a Grade II listed building situated opposite St James' Church, adjacent to the original village green of Didsbury, Manchester. The building and gardens were left to the citizens of the City of Manchester by Alderman Fletcher Moss in his will following his death in 1919.
 
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Until the late 1980's it became a branch of the City Gallery, but because of  increasing costs and security risks it was converted to office use except for a brief spell from 1988 to 2001 when it housed the Art Gallery's education section. It was closed as part of Manchester City Council's cutbacks in January 2011.
The Didsbury Civic Society approached the Council with a plan to convert the building into a community hub and formed a new charity, the Didsbury Parsonage Trust in order to carry out this plan. After 18 months of negotiation with Manchester City Council the Didsbury Parsonage Trust finally signed a lease for the Parsonage in June 2012,.There followed an intense 12 week building programme to completely renovate the building
The building was formally opened on September 7th 2012 by the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Councillor Elaine Boyce, after nearly £150,000 worth of renovations.
This money was raised by a terrific effort by the local community and included a grant of £56,000 from the Lottery Heritage Fund  and other grants from the Co-operative Society, Manchester Airport, Manchester City Council and United Utilities as well as donations from  local companies such as Towers, Manchester and Siemens. Nearly £60,000 has been raised from individual donations from the community which reflects the interest and fondness that local people have for the building.
 
The building is comprised of two floors. As well as three larger rooms on the ground floor there are several meeting rooms. All the rooms are available to local community not-for-profit organisations, but rooms are also available for commercial use on an ad-hoc daily basis. 
All these rooms can provide ideal facilities for meetings, presentations, films, exhibitions, debates, training sessions, language courses, exercise workouts and a multitude of community uses. Please click on room hire to view further details.
We also have four single offices for commercial rent on the first floor, all these offices are currently occupied.
 

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Now that the Parsonage is up and running there are some fabulous forthcoming events and interesting classes so please do go to the Events pages to find out more. Don't forget to contact us if you wish to hold an event or run a class.

There will be several events at the Old Parsonage as part the Didsbury Arts Festival go to www.didsburyartsfestival.org.uk to find out more. 

NEW EXHIBITIONS - 

8th to 16th JUNE - NORTHERN POTTERS

22nd to 30th JUNE - SOUTH MANCHESTER CAMERA CLUB ANNUAL EXHIBITION - This event is part of the Didsbury Arts Festival

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22nd - 30th JUNE - DRAWING MATTERS - This event is part of the Didsbury Arts Festival

IF NOT HERE WHERE - Preview: Sunday 7th July  1-5 pm - Exhibition: Monday 8th July – Sunday 21st July 12-4pm

see Exhibitions 
Please be aware that exhibitions are not fully open to the public all day every day because of the use of the rooms for classes etc. We suggest you contact us if you are coming specially to see an exhibition, or travelling a distance.
SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF EVENTS -

WILLOW WEAVING WORKSHOP - This event is part of the Didsbury Arts Festival - on Tuesday 25th June 10am– 3.30pm - £38 for the day including materials

SUMMER WINE FESTIVAL AT THE PARSONAGE - Thursday 4th July 6.30 to 9.30pm - Tickets £20.00 - Reserve Wine Shop, 176 Burton Rd, West Didsbury, M20 1LH, tel: 0161 438 0101 www.reservewines.co.uk

AND CLASSES -

NEW 7 week Level Yoga & Meditation Course at The Old Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2RQ from Tuesday, July 2nd 2013 7.00pm - 8.30pm £60/£47 conc.

To book a place please go to http://www.manjunuga.com

Monday 6pm - 7.15pm new drop in class (all Levels) Starting 1st July - £6.50/£5.50

Monday 7.30pm - 9pm drop in class (beginners) - £6.50/£5.50