The poem that became a proud symbol of Greater Manchester after the arena bomb attack is to be “gifted” to the region to raise money for thousands of community projects.
This is the Place became an instant worldwide hit when it was performed by the poet Tony Walsh at a vigil in the city’s Albert Square on 23 May, the day after the terrorist attack.
Lines from the poem adorn buildings and bodies across the city, while a book version has raised more than £150,000 for charities, and a small economy of merchandise has grown around its use.
But as the popularity of the poem has grown, the complications around its use have too: big corporations have used the poem without permission, Walsh said, meaning charities were missing out on the royalties they would usually be due.
On Tuesday, Walsh said he was “gifting” the poem to the people of Greater Manchester to ensure that any royalties would go to the Forever Manchester charity, which funds thousands of community projects.
The licensing changes mean This is the Place can be used for free for educational purposes in school libraries and colleges, while businesses will be asked to make a donation to charity.
Profits from any merchandise will also go to Forever Manchester, for whom Walsh wrote the poem in 2013.
Walsh said: “This is me trying to give something back. There’s not a day gone by since the poem trended fourth in the world that I’ve not been approached by someone wanting to do something with it, or seen tweets about things that people have done with it unauthorised. It’s hugely time consuming.
“It’s about protecting the poem, it’s about using its commercial potential to benefit the people of Greater Manchester, putting it back to where it came from.”
Walsh said the money raised would fund community work he described as “the fabric that holds our communities together in a time of so much driving us apart”.
He added: “Forever Manchester do fantastic work: they fund football teams and old pensioners’ clubs, community centres and cancer support groups, drama groups and dancing groups and sports teams. It’s just the stuff of community life really – it’s not massive headline stuff but it’s really important to the local communities.”
The 83-line poem – which ends with the phrase “Always remember. Never forget. Forever Manchester” – was met with worldwide acclaim and cheers, tears and laughter from the hundreds of mourners in Albert Square less than 24 hours after the suicide bombing that killed 22 people and left hundreds injured.
The 6ft 5in Mancunian, who goes by the stage name Longfella, had been performing his poems for 10 years before This is the Place became a global hit.
Walsh said it had been challenging adapting to the reception of his poem, but that he now felt able to donate it back to Greater Manchester: “My life changed. People know who I am; people are having my words tattooed on them. People are contacting me every day still – families have contacted me to tell me their stories, I’ve had people stopping me and crying on me in the streets.
“As a freelancer, lots of solid work has come in and my bookings diary is looking OK, which is part of what enables me to give this back.”
