A number of the North’s most famous faces have show their support for a Crowdfunder campaign set up to save the People’s History Museum in Manchester.
After making it through a financially-challenging year due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the People’s History Museum (PHM) is starting off 2021 seeking Mancunians’ urgent support with a fundraising appeal that will help the national museum of democracy to continue its culturally-significant work in the years to come.
The People’s History Museum (PHM) said it has lost more than £200,000 since England’s first lockdown in March, and costs £900 per day to run.
Over 300 people have already pledged their support to the museum, with public figures including Ian McKellen, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Maxine Peake, Alfred Enoch, Mike Leigh, Tony Walsh and Melvyn Bragg all proudly backing the campaign.
Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh said that the People’s History Museum was her “favourite museum in the world” as it “deals with ordinary people and our struggles”, and one of the UK’s most revered actors Ian McKellen also told of the “amazing exhibitions” that he has seen at the museum – which he “cannot recommend too strongly” – and urges people to support PHM should be be in a position to do so.
ADVERTISEMENT
THANK YOU to all who've helped raise over £10k of our £25k crowdfunder target! There's still a way to go; it costs £903 a day to maintain PHM's online presence, look after the collection & care for it's historic listed building. Help #SaveOurMuseumhttps://t.co/mMQMjn6Psq RT pic.twitter.com/Gryj253gFR
Broadcaster, author and Parliamentarian Melvyn Bragg said he sees the People’s History Museum as “one of the most important museums in this country”.
He continued: “It tells the story of us – 97% of the people in this country and their fight over centuries for their rights, for democratic rights, for voting rights, for the equality of women, for trade union rights to give everyone in this country the entitlement to live their life as full as possible.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Bolton-born actor Maxine Peake also said PHM was “one of my favourite museums in the country”, adding that: “We will only move forward in the future if we learn from our past [and] we need places like PHM that look after that history and preserve it for future generations.”
The People’s History Museum’s Crowdfunder has a target set of £25,000, which it must achieve by 11am on Tuesday 26 January 2021.
Although the museum’s outgoings have been dramatically reduced since the pandemic first hit, it still costs £903 per day to maintain an online presence, look after the collection and take care of the historic listed building that makes up part of the museum site, so all of the money raised by the Crowdfunder will go towards alleviating the income shortfalls.
ADVERTISEMENT
People’s History Museum
Speaking on the Crowdfunder campaigh, Katy Ashton – Director of People’s History Museum – said: “People’s History Museum has carved out a unique role for itself in its dedication to exploring the past, present and future of British democracy and in leading the way forward in co-creation, community engagement and inclusivity.
“We find ourselves in this challenging situation at a time when we feel that the conversations, discussions and work that we carry out are more relevant than ever,
“[And] reflective of this is the contemporary collecting that we’ve carried out over the last 12 months, with COVID-19, Black Lives Matter and Brexit some of the key issues that the museum’s Collections Team have been focusing on.
“We hope that the support of our friends will carry us through the difficult months that lie in front of us and that we can continue to stride forwards with our groundbreaking work.”
Donations to the People’s History Museum can be made via the Crowdfunder here.
ADVERTISEMENT
And that’s not all either, as a selection of rewards are also up for grabs for those who support the campaign, and they range from a newly-added virtual tour experience for a donation of £25, to the chance to become a Radical Supporter for a pledge of £1,000.
You can find more about the People’s History Museum online here, and keep up to date its social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
News
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
8th January 2021 
