Extracurricular activities: 20 clubs and classes in Manchester

The Alliance Française de Manchester is the place to return to your schooldays minus the Tricolore textbooks and fixation on le babyfoot. The teachers are all native speakers and make learning French really fun – and there’s no chance of a detention if you don’t do your homework.

Altogether Otherwise is NOMA’s hobby house. Initially, it seems like a forgotten relic, an unloved outbuilding at the back of a car park. However, this place is bursting with creativity and free stuff to do.

Ancoats Run Club began life in the midst of the pandemic lockdowns when a group of Royal Mills residents began meeting for socially-distanced runs around the city.

So called because the performers used to play on a stage situated halfway up the wall, Band on the Wall has been a stalwart of the Manchester music scene for about 200 years.

Carrington Riding Centre offers lessons to children and adults with a stable of good-natured horses and ponies ready to ride.

With 180m of downhill skiing and snowboarding, Chill Factore is the UK’s longest indoor real snow slope. And though you can’t compare it to the glistening slopes of Chamonix, it offers enough action to make a day trip there a must for anyone interested in snowsports (or just larking about on a sledge).

Clay Studio moved to its new home in Stretford at the end of 2024, offering more space and more activities. Whether you’ve seen The Great Pottery Throwdown and thought it looks like good squidgy fun or you’re a ceramicist yourself, looking for a space and a kiln to build your collection, Clay Studio is the place for you.

Food Sorcery Deansgate Square is an award-winning cookery school that runs classes on cuisines from all over the world, from Cambodian foodie sessions to dim sum masterclasses to pasta-making workshops.

Graystone is Salford’s action-packed home of high-adrenaline sports. Skateboarding is the big deal here. Practise on all sorts of drops, ramps and bars or sign up for a group coaching session ran by passionate staff. As well as skateboarding, you can also go for BMX or scooters in the park area.

Situated in an industrial estate on Pollard Street, Hope Mill Theatre has made a name for itself despite its back-street location and small beginnings. It’s particularly well-known for its musicals and it also has a thriving amateur dramatics group and a community orchestra.

House of Books and Friends is a bookshop with a difference. As well as knowledgeable, friendly staff, a great selection of books and a café with some very nice cake, this place is a bookshop on a mission.

The Instituto Cervantes is a wonderful place to learn Spanish with enthusiastic native speakers and excellent teaching. Even the building is inspiring – a Grade II listed Victorian gem.

Manchester Academy of Gymnastics offers gymnastics to adults and children, boxing for anyone over ten, and parkour.

Part running club, part social club, The Manchester Road Runners turns ten-years-old in 2023. 

If you’ve ever wondered what came before tennis and squash, head to the Manchester Tennis and Racquets Club to find out. This membership club has been on Blackfriars Road, Salford since Victorian times (1880 to be exact) and some of the games you can play there have barely changed since.

Pennington Flash is Greater Manchester’s only National Nature Reserve. This wetland habitat, formed by flash flooding of former coal mining sites, is home to all sorts of wildlife. With a number of bird hides dotted around, you might even be lucky enough to spot a kingfisher or a willow tit.

Planet Ice is not just for Christmas. Enjoy year-round indoor skating sessions for a reasonable price.

Rather than being consigned to one small shelf, Queer Lit celebrates literature that reflects the queer experience throughout the shop. Have you ever struggled to find a book that reflects your ethos or lived experience as a gay person? Seek out Queer Lit.

Situated at Dock 8, Salford Quays, Salford Watersports Centre aims to make its activities accessible to everyone who wants to dip their toes in the world of watersports. It offers open water swimming (winter and summer), paddleboarding, sailing, kayaking and powerboating.

Trafford Watersports Centre is the organisation that runs most of the lake-based and land-based activities you’ll see happening at Sale Waterpark.