No longer Invisible - Women Training in Manchester

Aim: No longer Invisible-Supporting Women in Manchester and organise women and those who identify as women training to become guides!

Invisible Cities is an award-winning social enterprise that trains people who have experienced homelessness to become walking tour guides of their own city. We provide transferrable skill training to anyone looking for a positive opportunity and focus on:

-Public Speaking & Confidence Building

-Storytelling

- 5 Star Customer Service

-Accountability and Time management

-Budgeting and money management and more!

Our training is available to anyone who has experienced homelessness regardless of their on-going goals, but of course we want to be able to recruit and employ guides directly so they can deliver unique tours of our cities to tourists and locals alike. 

In the last 9 years we have trained over 152 people in 6 locations across the UK, and currently employ 21 guides.

On average from the people who attend our training:

25% become directly employed as guides with Invisible Cities

25% stay involved as volunteers

25% find positive opportunities (employment, education or with their families)

And 25% disengage. 

Our campaign today is for Manchester only where we want to specifically train women and those who identify as women in the city! 

We have three amazing guides in Manchester: Ste, Nic and Andy who are already taking hundreds of guests on tours every year. But it is high time we diversified the team and offered this opportunity to more people!

By raising £5,000 we can organise a training cohort of up to 8 people over several weeks, looking at those transferrable skills and supporting them one-one-one so they can achieve their goals. This will take place from October 2025, so we can have at least one guide ready by Christmas 2025- which is often a busy time of year for group tours!

How will our training benefit participants?

Our training will be divided into three parts:

Group workshops based on transferrable skills that can be used not only as tour guides (for those who will become directly employed by Invisible Cities but also for everyone else looking for employment externally, looking at further education opportunities, etc. These sessions will include:

- Confidence Building - Customer Service - Public Speaking - Storytelling - Time Management - Money Management & Budgeting- CV writing and Interview Readiness

We expect all trainees to take part in these sessions. 

Visits and Discover of our city. A big part of our training is also based on discovering our city and its wonderful venues, galleries and museums so people feel a sense of pride and belonging in Manchester. We believe this is essential in making everyone feel more empowered and confident in the fact that they belong and are worthy citizens in the city!

Finally, one-to-one support and mentoring. On average 80% of trainees take up the opportunity to work one-on-one with a member of our team. Looking at their personal situation, we provide either confidence or practical support and signposting to relevant services for things like: goal setting, accessing further education or employment, setting up businesses, debt management, etc

Our training is meant to be a tool for us to recruit people we can employ directly and thus provide them with a regular income and a step back into an active life. But for everyone, it is about being empowered and becoming more confident in facing their own challenges.  

Why do we want to work with women or those who identify as women in Manchester ?

Women and those who identify as women are often underrepresented in homelessness counts with one survey suggesting up to 9 times more women could be experiencing homelessness than what is currently counted. We also know that certain specific groups such as people from the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to be at risk of homelessness. And for some women the reason they are homelessness or at risk of homelessness is due to domestic violence. That is why it is important we provide a safe and specific space for them to gain skills, learn and achieve their goals.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 22nd August 2025 at 8:19pm