Book captures 10 years of regeneration

Reclaiming East Manchester, a book by photographer and writer Len Grant, has just been published.

Commissioned to celebrate the completion of the ten-year New Deal for Communities programme in east Manchester, the author has interviewed dozens of local residents and regeneration officers to offer a forthright account of the renewal process.

With a foreword by John Prescott MP and preface by Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, this 184-page pictorial account is priced at £10.00 is available from www.cornerhouse.org/books.

Photographer and writer, Len Grant said: "This is the story of how three east Manchester neighbourhoods won £77 million to pull their area back from the brink. It's a story of how distrust and apathy gave way to co-operation and mutual respect. And it's a story of how an international sporting spectacle put east Manchester on the world map once again and consolidated one of the most sustained regeneration efforts in the UK.  It has been a privilege to follow the regeneration of east Manchester.  I have met some truly inspirational people and been given a unique insight into one of the most ambitious urban renewal programmes this country has ever seen."

Eddie Smith, chief executive of urban regeneration company New East Manchester said: "Len has done a remarkable job of capturing the human side of the regeneration process. This first-hand account will resonate with others following a similar journey and those professionals or academics observing urban regeneration. He has sensitively documented a decade of change, capturing many of the milestones and highlights.  It is an invaluable record of our story so far."