Series following a unique troubleshooter as she battles to improve the lives of residents of one of the poorest parts of Manchester. Sister Rita's unusual approach has given her a reputation for being able to take on any problem. The issues she and her team tackle - whether troubles with benefits, debt, or finding work - are replicated in countless communities across the country. In this episode, Sister Rita has to act fast when it seems not everyone coming to her food bank genuinely needs its help. As the team offer assistance to those who need support and advice but aren't sure where or how to get it, some of the solutions offer life-changing results.
Observational series following no-nonsense nun Sister Rita and her team at their drop-in centre in one of the poorest parts of Manchester, offering advice and support to those who don't know where else to turn for help. As Sister Rita continues her mission to change the lives of the people who most need her help, she finds herself thrust onto the national stage when she takes her views right to the top, and has an unexpected result. Her drop-in centre is chosen to pilot a new government scheme, but as she weighs up how it will benefit the community, has the no-nonsense nun bitten off more than she can chew? Plus the team at the Lalley helps visitors unravel how to understand their benefits and a woman fighting the system needs assistance to get her life back on track.
As she celebrates her 50th year as a nun, Sister Rita battles to resolve the sort of issues seen in hundreds of neighbourhoods across the country, cutting through the red tape to sort things in her own unique way. In this episode she tries to help even more people in her area by tackling loneliness, but her attempts to start a friendship club for residents don't get off to the best start. Never one to give up, the nun hatches a plan to bring the locals together, and as she's reminded of the importance of community, she retraces her own roots, revisiting the family and places she grew up with. Meanwhile, as the team finds solutions for people needing advice and support, there's help for one of the food bank regulars when the true extent of his problems is revealed.
As she celebrates her 50th year as a nun, Sister Rita battles to resolve the sort of issues seen in hundreds of neighbourhoods across the country, cutting through the red tape to sort things in her own unique way. As they try to achieve success on a wider scale, the Lalley Centre staff try to encourage locals to take pride in their neighbourhood with an anti-littering campaign. But things don't go to plan. Volunteers at the centre reveal why they give up their time to help, and the team helps a couple forced to adjust to a dramatic change in fortunes when illness leads to both of them having to give up their jobs.
Sister Rita steps up her mission to improve the lives of people in the community who need help, as the run-up to Christmas provides new challenges and opportunities to make a difference. A regular visitor to the Lalley Centre has a welcome change in his fortunes, and Sister Rita marks her 50th year as a nun in a characteristically unusual way. As the team comes together to mark its achievements, there's a final push to spread some festive cheer throughout the area.
The second series begins with an insight into Sister Rita's softer side as she's surprised and touched by the huge response from the previous series. Not one to rest on her laurels, she is soon back to business, coming to the aid of a young single mum who needs some basic furniture for her home, and helping a woman desperate to get a job after a two year search.
Not content with launching the allotment, Sister Rita takes her ambition to new heights when she decides to transform the row of empty shops next to the food bank. But not everyone is convinced that even she can pull off a project of this scale. We also meet Donna and Kevin, regulars at the Lalley Centre, who discover that volunteering at the allotment sparks a love of gardening that could lead to new opportunities. And the first crop is given out at the food bank, much to the delight of Sister Rita.
With two enormous projects on the go - regenerating the row of shops next to the food bank and setting up the community allotment - Sister Rita launches a a cookery course to ensure that people using the food bank learn to cook healthy meals. She also helps to transform the life of Adrian, a man living with severe depression since the death of his father.
When Sister Rita meets a retired fork lift truck driver offering free training for some of the people in her area searching for jobs, it creates a life-changing opportunity for one of her own volunteers. The impact of Sister Rita's work outside her own community is recognised when she's asked to officially open a food bank in Edinburgh. But the nun goes on the war path when she hears rumours that produce from the food bank is being sold at a local market, and is forced to introduce a new system to stop anyone taking advantage. And as Sister Rita takes some of the regular visitors to the Lalley centre on a day trip to the seaside, for some of them, it's the first time that they've ever seen the sea.
After the successes of an unusually busy summer, Sister Rita decides to give the allotment a grand opening, holding a harvest festival on the grounds. Sister Rita invites the great and the good of Collyhurst to celebrate what the community has achieved. Meanwhile, the nun galvanises a team of volunteers to transform the exterior of the shops she hopes to revitalise, getting rid of the graffiti and planting new shrubs as she waits on tenterhooks to see if the council will approve her plans.