Can you help make Manchester even better?
If 1,000 new members join by December 14th, we’ll fulfill six pledges to improve the city.
But we need your help. Tell your friends, family and colleagues to join The Mill, and they can pay what they want for a full subscription.
And help make Manchester better.
Our 6 pledges to you
We asked you how we could improve Manchester in 2026. If we reach 1,000 new paying members, here’s what we’ll do:
Teach fact-checking in schools
We’ll visit schools across Greater Manchester to talk to pupils about online misinformation and teach them how to do their own Mill-style fact checking journalism on social media.
Celebrate the good stuff
Our new Good News edition will shine a light on great ideas, successful organisations and inspiring local people. There’s a lot going right in this city - in business, culture and the environment - and we want to make sure it gets noticed.
Shine a light on politics
We’ll dedicate a reporter to local politics in the run-up to next year’s elections so readers across Greater Manchester’s ten boroughs can be better informed about their political choices.
Widen access to our journalism
We’ll broaden the audience for our journalism by producing a beautiful printed edition of The Mill twice a year and making weekly videos that reach well beyond our core audience.
Mentor the next generation
We’ll launch a structured mentorship programme for aspiring journalists in Greater Manchester. Regular sessions with our editorial team will help them build skills, confidence and connections in the media.
Support first-time voters
We’ll give free subscriptions to all first time voters ahead of local and general elections. It’s a small step to help young Mancunians be better informed about what’s going on.
We’re heading into the wild.
We have just launched our first ever Mill membership campaign. We’ve printed 50,000 copies of a special print edition and you’ll see our team handing them out around the city – come and say hello.
The point of this campaign is to bring our journalism to a much wider audience. We’re trying to sign up 1,000 new Mill members in the next few weeks. And if we do, we’ll make those pledges happen.
Know someone who would love what we do? they can pay what they want (or nothing at all) for a full subscription if they join by December 14th. We can’t do it without you!
FAQs
It’s super simple! For the next few weeks, new members can sign up for a paid subscription at any price – including for free. If 1,000 new members sign up, we’ll fulfill our six pledges - promises you helped us craft that we think will make a difference to the city in 2026. We have created a system where existing subscribers get their own referral link and can track how many people they have helped sign up by sharing The Mill. .
Our pledges are all things that we are going to do in 2026 if we hit our taget for this campaign. We came up with them in dialogue with our paying Millers, and we'll start implementing them in January if we get to our goal. Some of them will take a bit of planning - like the schools one. Others - like the subscriptions one - can be done pretty quickly. We will regularly update members on how they are going and get your ideas about how to make them as effective as possible.
We're planning to run the campaign for a few weeks, starting on Thursday 19 November and ending around the 11 December. But we've never done this before, so we'll be a bit flexible about when we wrap things up depending on the public response.
If you have any questions or ideas, please contact maisy@millmediaco.uk and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can.
Not at all! If you're a paying Miller, all we want is for you to share the campaign page - our homepage - with as many people as possible. And if you're not yet a paying member, during this limited period you can become a member for a price you choose.
Absolutely! The unique referral links can be shared on social media, via WhatsApp or text, via email or however you want to reach people. Plus, you can track all your referrals in real time to see the difference you’re making.
We’ll keep everyone updated every step of the way. We have a counter at the top of our site, and we will regularly communicate with Millers about how things are going.
Manchester deserves great journalism.
You can make it happen.
The Mill is reader-funded, just thousands of Greater Manchester residents who believe our city deserves journalism that digs deeper, asks tougher questions and tells the stories that matter. Help us reach 1,000 members and unlock six pledges that will make Manchester even better.