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Homeless charity appeals for help to find van after it was stolen in Salford

A white Ford Transit van was stolen from Emmaus Salford’s Pendleton community base on Monday evening.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 18th December 2020
Emmaus Salford

A homeless charity in Salford is appealing to the public for help after a van it relies heavily on was stolen from its community base earlier this week.

The white Ford Transit box van was stolen from Emmaus Salford’s Pendleton community base on Monday evening, and can be identified through its distinctive markings of green Emmaus Salford stickers on both the sides and back.

The stolen van is pictured above, with the registration plates beginning MF14.

The charity – which supports 25 formerly homeless people by providing a stable home and meaningful work – used two vans to carry out their service.

The vans were used to collect and deliver furniture for Emmaus Salford’s charity shops, and to also deliver food and household essentials to vulnerable residents across Salford, but with Christmas time typically one of the busiest for outreach services such as Emmaus Salford, the theft of one of the vans means there is added pressure for staff to support the vulnerable people across the community.

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The van was also used by volunteers at Lucie’s Pantry social supermarket to deliver food and household items to members of the pantry, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet through debt, illness or low income.

This is why the charity is appealing to the public for any information that may help to locate the vehicle.

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Rachel Richardson – Community Director at Emmaus Salford – said: “We were all devastated to find the van had been stolen from our community home. The timing couldn’t have been any worse as we try to catch up on collections after lockdown and getting ready to deliver Christmas food hampers to our 200 Lucie’s Pantry members.

“I urge everyone to keep a look out and call the Police on 101 if you have any information which may help us find our missing van.”

Emmaus Salford

Anyone who has spotted the van, or has any information is urged to call the Police on 101 and quote crime reference number CRI/06FF/0026816/20.

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Alternatively you can contact CrimeStoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

You can also make donations to Emmaus Salford ahead of the festive season via its website here.

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Gig review | Catfish at Heaton Park, Manchester – are the Bottlemen properly back?

Danny Jones Danny Jones Catfish and the Bottlemen gig review Heaton Park Manchester 2025

10 months on from their last gig and more than a year since they officially ended their hiatus, Catfish and the Bottlemen finally returned to Manchester for a sold-out show at Heaton Park, and while the reviews online have been mixed, we had a blast heading back to the fields again.

Making their Manc comeback just hours before this year’s Parklife Festival got underway, the beloved Welsh band had stirred lots of worry leading up to the day itself and, in truth, even in the moments leading up to (and after) their stage time.

Apart from their huge headline slot at Reading and Leeds, 2024 was the year of cancellations and controversy, so their fans had plenty of reason to be concerned. Nevertheless, we had faith and kept our spirits high, especially with the weather holding out.

Local legends and indie rock veterans James certainly helped on that front, delighting both die-hards watching from up on the hill and younger gig-goers who may have only heard a few of the big hits like ‘Sit Down’ – though they certainly didn’t heed that message, there was merely jumping up and down.

james catfish and the bottlemen heaton park support set
Some great computer-generated imagery backdropped the set.
catfish heaton park reviews
We watched this thing like a hawk.
You can read our recent interview with them HERE. (Credit: Audio North)

Once the main support act had wrapped up their pretty perfectly timed set, we’ll admit, standing on that grass felt like an eternity, especially considering Catfish had us waiting an extra 15 minutes beyond their expected arrival at Heaton Park.

You could call it fashionably late, but in this case, it saw several people around us uttering, ‘they’re not coming on any time soon’, and some even beginning to walk off.

However, they did eventually arrive just over a quarter of an hour past schedule, and the eruption of cheers from the crowd and a fair few screams from those nearest the barrier signalled what summed up the entire night: we were just so happy to have them back.

Even more notably, in fact, the boys themselves looked to be equally as buzzing, with bassist Benji Blakeway and ever-charismatic frontman Van McCann embracing each other before the opener and the latter flashing that familiar grin all night long.

We’ve heard people debating the sound quality and taking issue with parts of Van’s performance, but we’ll just leave this here and let you decide for yourselves:

One thing’s for sure: the energy was immaculate from start to finish.

From kicking things off with ‘Longshot’ for a limb-worthy intro, to hearing a fully acoustic version of ‘Hourglass’ as the lead singer stood alone on the dramatically lit main stage, soon to be followed up by a plethora of Parklife acts, we’d wager you they’ll remain a tough act to follow all weekend.

Other highlights included an entire park’s worth of people belting every word to ‘Kathleen’, ‘Fallout’, ‘Pacifier’ and pretty much every track they played, as well Van having the crowd repeat the chorus of ‘Cocoon’ as he hung up his guitar from the stand to deliver an ice-old mic drop.

We would’ve loved to hear a fuller set filled with the extended live versions of ‘Oxygen’, ‘Heathrow’ and ‘Glasgow’ too, especially given how many sections of pure instrumentation felt like they were going to transition into another track, but you can’t have everything, I guess.

manchester and the bottlemen flag
Inflatable crocodiles and cracking flags
van mccann manchester heaton park
Credit: The Manc Group
catfish and the bottlemen photos
Eyes and arms wide open
We’re here to urge you not to be drawn in by TikTok reviews – as far as we’re concerned, Catfish were made to headline Heaton Park.

Sure, there might have been a few minor fluffed vocal notes and slightly over-lengthy solos here and there, but after all, it’s a rock show: we want a bit of mess.

The same goes for Van McCann himself, too; we worry that people are starting to forget what a proper rockstar is, and we’re not talking about contriving some kind of Hollywood lifestyle, but certainly getting lost in the music and trashing your guitar so hard that your face is draped in nothing but hair and sweat? Absolutely.

All in all, we think Catfish and the Bottlemen‘s massive outdoor show at Manchester’s Heaton Park and de facto ‘comeback after the last comeback’ was a triumph and even when they’re not absolutely 10/10, they’re still bloody good value live.

As for the question of ‘are they back?’ We think so and certainly hope that ‘Showtime’ wasn’t just released as a way of signalling fans to come along for one last ride before the final curtain call.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Audio North

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We rediscovered an old Boddingtons advert and now we’re gasping for ‘the cream of Manchester’

Danny Jones Danny Jones Old Boddingtons ad cream of Manchester canal

If you’re from Greater Manchester, the name Boddingtons likely needs no introduction, but if you’re new to the area or part of the generation that’s young enough to have never clocked the legendary logo before, the ‘Cream of Manchester’ was known for making a good advert or two.

Answers on a postcard? Yes, we of course are referring to the classic ice cream van ad that featured a young Melanie Sykes serving an ice-cold pint of Boddingtons to a thirsty athlete, played by former EastEnders actor Ken George.

In fact, the recognisable TV presenter and British household name went on to feature in a few of them, including a contemporary recreation back in 2017, but it isn’t any of her appearances that recently re-captured our attention.

The old ‘Boddies’ ad that we stumbled across in 2025, more than 30 years on from when it originally aired, is the Gondola/’Just One Cornetto’ spoof filmed right here in the city centre along Manchester’s famous canal network.

Circa 1993. Recognise where it is?

Just as beautiful as Venice, if you ask us – and that’s just the pint…

As you can see, not only did the once beloved Boddingtons advert capture a glimpse of the River Irwell near the old Granada Studios and how Manchester’s waterways used to look back in the day, but it was also a pretty modern, ironic take for the time.

Inspired by arguably one of the most famous ads of all time, the Boddies marketing team and director Jeff Stark didn’t just imitate or poke fun at Wall’s Cornetto ice cream: they played on the genuine nickname and imagery drummed up by locals who drank it week in, week out.

The famous frothy white head and the ‘do you want a Flake with that?’ is the kind of joke you still hear to this day when someone overdoes it with a Guinness, but turning the glass into a golden ice cream was a bit of genius.

In fact, the old Boddies ad even helped launch the career of stingy ‘Gladys Althorpe’ herself, Anna Chancellor, who went on to appear in What A Girl Wants, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and many more.

She and Sykes weren’t the only ones either; another admittedly sexually-charged campaign released roughly a year later featured another familiar face in Sarah Parish (Doctor Who, Trollied, The Wedding Date) – again, always ending with a stereotypically Manc, if not at least Northern, punchline.

It was smash hits like these that saw Boddingtons dubbed not only Manchester’s most famous beverage but ‘the Cream of Marketing‘ for a time as well.

The beer may not be as prominent as it once was, but its legacy as part of classic UK telly is up there with R Whites Lemonade, Dairy Milk, Compare The Meerkat, and so many more.

You can see a super-cut compilation of some of their retro ads HERE.

Oh yeah, and if watching all this has made you get a thirst on like it did us, you’ll be glad to hear that while it may be difficult to locate these days, there are still a few places you can find a pint of Boddies in and around the area.

The lost art of Boddingtons, and which pubs still serve The Cream of Manchester
By ‘eck, it’s still gorgeous.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — advertarchive (screenshot via YouTube)

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