Locals in Bolton have been raising funds to carry out repair works to a bench after it was damaged in a road traffic collision.
This isn’t just any ordinary bench though.
What makes this bench – affectionately known as ‘Tommy’s Bench’ – so special, is that it’s often sat on by Bolton’s very own ‘waving man’.
Tommy Halliday has been sitting on the bench – which is found on the junction of Smithills Dean Road and Scout Road in the Greater Manchester borough of Bolton – for the past four years after his wife sadly passed away, and can often be found smiling and waving at those passing by.
The beloved community figure is often credited with “bringing a smile to people’s faces” at all times of the day.
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And it was this joy that prompted locals to set up an online fundraiser via JustGiving in his name with the kind-hearted intention of buying Tommy a Christmas present “to show him how much we all support and appreciate what he does”.
Wahid Khan, who set up the fundraiser, said: “Tommy is a Bolton legend.”
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“He is on the bench seven days a week come rain or shine. Every morning on the way to work, I always see Tommy sat on the bench.”
“I do not think he knows how much Bolton appreciates him.”
He continued: “With everything that’s going on in the world, it would be great to buy him a Christmas present.” and it was clear that the people of Bolton shared in this wish, as the fundraiser quickly went on to raise hundreds of pounds towards a gift for Tommy, however on Tuesday, in an un-expected event, the bench was destroyed in a road traffic collision.
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This is when the community really rallied around.
Mr Khan encouraged those who had a few pounds to spare to donate towards helping to repair / replace the bench, and within the same day, the bench had been repaired and bolted-down by the Bolton Impact Trust, with the addition of a new plaque honouring ‘Tommy’s bench’.
Writing in an update on the JustGiving page, Mr Khan said: “Just got the news that the amazing kids from the construction team at Bolton Impact Trust have managed to repair the old bench and it’s just waiting to be cemented before the plaques go on.
“Money raised will go towards a much-needed shelter and Christmas present.
“I absolutely love our community – this is brilliant”.
The JustGiving page for ‘Our Tommy’ has now raised over £1,995 towards Tommy’s Christmas present fund and you can donate here.
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The player celebrations from Stockport County’s League Two trophy presentation are glorious
Danny Jones
If you’re a Stockport County fan, you’ve had a very good year as the Hatters have just been crowned League Two champions and will be back in the English third tier next season – safe to say they’ve been making most of the trophy celebrations.
Players and staff very much included.
Edgeley was filled with flares and even people climbing on rooftops when they officially secured promotion back to League One for the first time in 12 years – the second time they’ve managed to go up in three seasons – and there was a great attendance in Stockport town centre for the bus parade.
But it was last week’s trophy presentation back at the stadium that produced some of the most memorable scenes, with County topping off a season of impressive and often high-scoring performances on the pitch with plenty more pageantry. Cue the music.
We still haven’t stopped laughing at Kyle Knoyle.
From bringing Isaac Olaofe’s ‘Tanto’s on fire!’ chant to life to hammering home puns on names like Fraser Horsfall, no matter how obvious, these are the kind of deeply unserious celebrations we expect from a trophy presentation.
County fan or not, you’ve got to admit it looks like a good party.
It’s moments like these that players, fans and staff work hard all season for; to prat around like muppets in front of their adoring supporters. They even got assistant coach, Clint Hill, in the mix and, as it turns out, he proved to be one of the biggest ring-leaders.
We sincerely hope the Hatters keep trickling out more of these party scenes as we know there’s plenty more that fans would love to watch back.
We’re still yet to see captain Paddy Madden, who won Player of the Month for April, and the gaffer himself, Dave Challinor, who has comfortably secured his legacy as one of the club’s all-time greats.
Challinor and the club have made no secret of seriously eyeing up the Championship and who knows what else at County’s momentum continues to build, especially with a huge stadium redevelopment kicking off soon.
What do you reckon, Hatters – do you reckon a third promotion could be on the cards?
Liam Gallagher says he’ll ‘gig in Lidl’ if Co-op Live still isn’t ready – and they sound pretty game for it
Danny Jones
Following the ongoing palaver with Co-op Live, Liam Gallagher has joked that he’d happily play his scheduled gigs in a Lidl if the arena still isn’t ready – at least we think he’s joking…
With Liam Gallagher having been named as one of the first acts booked to play Co-op Live last year, many are now wondering whether the venue will even by June, with the former Oasis frontman set to play four Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary sets. That being said, he’s come up with a solution if not.
Vintage LG, we’ll give him that.
Obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quip at the venue being sponsored by a supermarket and convenience store chain, it could have been any other competitor that the ever-witty youngest Gallagher brother picked but it somehow made it extra funny that he chose a budget brand like Lidl.
However, with the 51-year-old already having fun with stunts like voicing the tannoys on the Metrolink last year, for instance, we wouldn’t put it past him to take this joke a little further.
Better still, not that we’re getting carried away or anything but Lidl themselves seem pretty keen on the idea too; they even spent the time to build an entire setlist for the fictional show. Fair play.
Can you imagine? Liam Gallagher swapping the occasional tambourine shake for beeps from a barcode scanner as he moves back and forth on the conveyor belt. We know it’s absolute nonsense and we definitely shouldn’t be even remotely considering it… BUT it’s the stuff of dreams and strange things have happened.
A lot of stranger things have happened this week alone. As for the latest with Co-op Live, the Chairman and CEO of key-backers Oak View Group, Tim Leiweke, issued a full statement sharing his “sincere apologies”and insisting that they understand “there is work to be done to rebuild your trust in us.”
With the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Peter Kay, The Black Keys and more having their gigs pulled by the venue due to numerous issues, including an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling, fans are understandably fearful that other upcoming events could face delays or general misfortune.
Much like the venue itself, we imagine we’ll be playing catch-up on this whole saga for the foreseeable, but here’s a recap of the story so far: