The first Community Fridge in Manchester was officially unveiled today as part of a new network scheme from environmental charity Hubbub.
The Wythenshawe Community Fridge – which is located at Ken Collis Court – is one of 100 new community fridges that will be opened over the next year in partnership with Co-op, which are expected to save 6.8 million meals from going to waste.
Community fridges are open to everyone – with fresh food donated by businesses and Co-op itself.
As well as improving access to food, the fridges go beyond this by “empowering communities to connect with each other” and learn new skills through activities such as cookery sessions and workshops on how to grow your own fruit and veg.
We are delighted to be taking part in this partnership with @coopuk and @hubbubUK!
Our Community Fridge across the road at our Sports Centre will be run by our students for our community. https://t.co/XJGsRBM6i6
— Co-op Academy Failsworth (@coopfailsworth) May 19, 2021
The Wythenshawe Community Fridge will be run by Know Africa – a charity dedicated to supporting, empowering, and celebrating the wide cultural diaspora of African people living in Manchester and beyond.
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The group will welcome donations of unopened, packaged foods within their use-by date and raw fruit or vegetables, which will then be available to anyone in the community.
The fridge will also be used to strengthen community bonds – with a nearby kitchen functioning as a hub for food education.
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The initiative has been endorsed by local hero Marcus Rashford, who has championed its ability to support local communities access food and skill.
The footballer stated: “The Co-op is a valuable founding member of the Child Food Poverty Taskforce and has consistently stepped up to the plate throughout the global pandemic to support our most vulnerable families.
“They have demonstrated how community action can make real sustainable change and just how powerful we can be when we come together.
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“Together with Hubbub, the Co-op has developed a programme that spans far beyond access to food and I’m so excited to see that my own community in Wythenshawe will benefit”.
The Wythenshawe Community Fridge is one of 100 set to open in the UK / Image: Dave Phillips via PinPepCommunity fridges can be accessed by everyone / Image: Dave Phillips via PinPep
The Wythenshawe fridge is one of several community fridges coming to Greater Manchester, with others opening at Co-op Academy in Failsworth and Crumpsall Community Hall.
Speaking on the launch of the first Manchester fridge, Steve Murrells – Group Chief Executive Officer at Co-op - said: ”Thanks to our members and customers, we’re delighted to be partnering with Hubbub to expand its community fridge network into Wythenshawe.
“It’s an innovative scheme to bring communities together, empowering people towards community-led food solutions that will help to build community resilience.
“As a co-operative, we recognise our responsibility to make a genuine difference and have already made a number of interventions to help tackle food poverty and create fairer access to food, through our food share partnerships and our donations to FareShare, however, our work in our local communities has shown us that to really make a sustainable difference we need to co-operate with others to build the resilience needed for the future”.
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You can find out more about Community Fridges and the new partnership here.
Featured Image – Dave Phillips / PinPep
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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 -
19th May 2021 
