A local community in Rochdale has come together to donate hundreds of gift boxes to residents in the borough’s care homes ahead of the festive period.
The project is the brainchild of Heywood resident Richenda Mather and her 14-year-old son Ady.
Richenda – who works with her daughter as a hairdresser and was forced to temporarily close her business due to the second national lockdown – launched the heartfelt idea with a social media post earlier this month, and it has since resulted in thousands of pounds being raised, as well as almost 200 festive gift bags being distributed to care home residents, many of whom haven’t seen their families in months.
The pair said the festive gifts would simply cheer the care home residents up, and it doesn’t have to cost much to “make someone very happy”.
In true Greater Manchester spirit, the local community quickly rallied around the idea, and people were soon dropping gifts off at Richenda’s house, sending her money toward putting gift bags together, and one of her friends – who works as a train driver for Northern Rail – even managed to raise an impressive £1,000 in just 24 hours for the initiative.
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Each bag contained a variety of pick-me-ups including chocolates, sweets, scarves, blankets and perfumes.
Richenda also asked a group of childminders if they would consider asking children to make homemade Christmas cards too and in total, the mother and son duo managed to pack around 180 gift bags, which they successfully delivered to four local care homes last week.
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How brilliant is this?
Richenda Mather
Speaking to the MEN on the initiative, Richenda said: “We saw something on telly where there was a nursing home and nobody had seen their family since March [and] my son said, ‘why don’t we do some Christmas gift boxes for these people?’
“So we went and made one and I asked on Facebook whether anyone else wanted to get involved and it just went absolutely mad.”
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Care homes to benefit from Richenda and Ady’s festive gifting project include Springfield Park Nursing Home, Springbank Nursing Home, Beech House, and Tudor Court, with staff sending their thanks for brightening the residents’ days and saying the community coming together in such a way to provide the donations “brought a tear to the eye”.
If that wasn’t incredible enough as it is, the pair even borrowed elf and penguin outfits to dress up in when dropping the gifts off, waving at residents through the window.
“I got a message from the nursing home and they said they are going to go out and buy an elf outfit for the residents as they loved it so much,” Richenda added.
Richenda Mather
Expressing his gratitude to the community for supporting residents, Michael Jones – Manager at Springfield Park Nursing Home – said: “I wanted to say thank you so much to her and her friends and colleagues who have donated to our residents at such a difficult time.
“They are missing out on family and friends visiting and this will be such a great boost for them. It was a massive surprise [and] we weren’t expecting it at all.
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“It has put a smile on their faces.
“There are handmade cards from children in the local area too – they are so heartwarming [and] it brings a tear to the eye. It’s amazing to know that they are not forgotten and that people are thinking about them at this time.”
Richenda Mather
It wasn’t just festive gift bags and boxes donated though.
Enough money was even raised to be able to buy a tablet device for one home, so that residents could stay connected with their families, and staff at the homes also had a surprise too as Richenda said: “At the end of it all, I think we had about £50 left, so we got the staff a bottle of vodka each and some chocolate and thank you cards, as we thought we can’t leave them out,”
After all their hard work, Richenda and Ady have said they would like to send their thanks to anyone who has donated to the successful initiative. She said: “It wasn’t just me who’s been doing this – everyone in Heywood has been contributing,
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“One woman dropped six gift bags off – it really has been madness.”
“It was so worth doing – it was a stressful week but we managed to do it all… I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone [as] I couldn’t have done it without everyone else.”
She continued: “Usually this is my biggest time of the year, so I don’t know if I’d have been able to do it otherwise, but I am thinking about trying it again next year as I have really enjoyed it,
“But with a bit more help dropping them off.”
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From everyone here at The Manc, to Richenda, Ady and the local Heywood community who played a crucial part in contributing at a time when it is truly needed most, we take our hats off to you.
Thank you for helping to keep Greater Manchester great.
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Castlefield is being transformed into Gotham amidst more Hollywood filming in Greater Manchester
Danny Jones
Castlefield, with its iconic viaduct and cobbled streets, is once again being used for big-budget filming as the latest Batman/DC Universe title, Clayface, looks to be setting up in the eye-catching Manc corner.
Whether it’s football kit reveals and brand shoots, BBC dramas or the next upcoming Netflix series, production crews can’t get enough of Castlefield, it would seem.
For those who hadn’t heard, work on the new Clayface movie revolving around the cult favourite Batman villain is well underway, and the North West has been used as the backdrop on multiple ocassions this month already.
You can see early glimpses of the set being put together down below.
Come on, how cool is it that we get to stumble on stuff like this right on our doorstep so often?
Speaking to The Manc, a source detailed that the set is being assembled today (Tuesday, 16 September) ahead of a single day of principal photography on what we can only assume is more Clayface filming sometime tomorrow.
While she could not confirm with us directly, she said, “If you’re a comic book nerd and look at the posters, you’ll be able to figure it out.” We’ve certainly been studying all the easter eggs already.
It might not quite be as dark and gritty as Gotham City, but this particular part of Manchester has been used in TV and film – especially period dramas – many times for good reason.
The Victorian-era steel structure, dark red brick and overall industrial aesthetic work so well when it comes to creating a believable and cinematic world.
Besides perhaps the most famous instance of Peaky Blinders shooting in these parts, you can add multiple music videos, several Manchester United and Man City shirt launches, and so many more that we’re starting to lose track.
As for Clayface, this isn’t even the first time the upcoming DC ‘body-horror’ flick has popped up in Greater Manchester.
Last week saw the equally striking Art Deco facade of the old The Plaza Super Cinema in Stockport turned into a fictional movie premiere to stunning effect:
Speaking of, another childhood favourite is filming here in Manchester right now, too.
Besides perhaps the most famous instance of Peaky Blinders shooting in these parts, the new Narnia adaptation by Greta Gerwig may just be one of the biggest projects that has ever landed underneath the familiar ‘birdcage’.
ln fact, it just so happens that there are actually multiple noteworthy small and silver screen works fighting over the Castlefield shooting schedule at the moment…
Manchester City staff member sacked after wearing Man United shirt to shift
Danny Jones
Man City have divided a fair few supporters after they sacked a barman for wearing a United shirt to their shift during the Manchester derby.
Although it’s not exactly surprising, the decision has ruffled plenty of feathers on both sides, as well as among neutral fans.
The Blues emerged victorious in the 197th clash between the two local rivals, winning 3-0 on an evening that paid tribute to the late, great Ricky Hatton, but another backstory looming over the fixture that caught the attention of football fans online was the City staff member who lost his job.
Working on concessions inside the Etihad Stadium before the game, the barman was made known to the official MCFC Matchday Support channel on X, who quickly confirmed he had been let go before the game even began.
In the since-deleted post, the home fan who reported the worker wrote: “Absolute joke – letting one of the bar staff in block 315 wear a United shirt on Derby Day.”
Although many City fans applauded the fast action by the club on the day, it’s fair to say that sacking him so soon that he didn’t even last until kick-off has rubbed many others the wrong way.
One Liverpool fan commented: “I hate United way more than City, but to sack him from a job because of an item of clothing is crazy. So, so poor from Manchester City, this. It’s just football lads, he’s not wearing a political or derogatory symbol. It’s literally a football team…”
Another neutral added: “Getting a minimum wage worker sacked for having a bit of fun instead of just winding him up is the absolute sad state this country is in.”
Even the ‘Out Of Context Football Manager‘ parody account chipped in, writing: “The guy’s been sacked for this. All he needed was a formal warning. I get he’s taking the p*ss – but losing a salary he might really need over this?!
While many have been even more outspoken in their response, as you can see, many supporters – be they Red or otherwise – have come up with arguably the perfect solution:
Manchester City are yet to comment on the backlash, apart from the initial confirmation that the still-anonymous staff member has been released from his position, but as for Man United, simply sticking him on the kiosks in the Stretford End could prove to be a very easy bit of positive PR.
Besides the growing frustration around the fanbase, as Ruben Amorim has yet to turn things around at Old Trafford (pressure was growing even before the derby day defeat), the Red Devils could no doubt do with some positive press for a change.
In fact, it was only earlier this year that co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, CEO Omar Berrada and the wider INEOS Sports administration sanctioned a second round of redundancies at United, with approximately 450 individuals losing their jobs.
That being said, although some have labelled the sacking of the now ex-City barman as “absolutely horrendous behaviour” for Man City, many jumped to quip back that “[United are] more likely to sack more bar staff, not hire them”, as well as simultaneously taking aim at their significant transfer spending.
Emily Sergeant -
19th November 2020 
