Over a million new trees will be planted in the North West following a £15 million funding boost into The Northern Forest project.
The North of England is home to around 13 million people, but this beautiful part of the country that us Mancunians call home has just 7.6% of woodland cover, which is significantly lower than the England average – and this is why The Woodland Trust launched the ambitious project back in 2018 to transform the landscape of the area for years to come.
The Woodland Trust is working together with City of Trees Manchester, The Mersey Forest, White Rose Forest, HEYwoods, and the Community Forest Trust to drive forward this government-backed initiative.
Stretching from Liverpool across to Hull, with the M62 as its spine, The Northern Forest will comprise of 50 million trees planted over 25 years.
More than a million of those trees will be in the North West.
Simon Mageean – Programme Director for the Northern Forest at The Woodland Trust – said: “This new funding is massively significant for this project and enables us to push on with this new phase.
“Not only do these new trees have the power to transform people’s lives through all the green space they bring in areas of traditionally low tree cover, they are also set to bring a big boost to our fight against climate change and encourage nature recovery.”
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Spanning over 120 miles across the cities of Bradford, Salford, Hull, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, The Northern Forest will help provide natural flood management, boost wildlife habitat for woodland birds and bats, and protect ancient woodland areas and iconic species – such as the red squirrel.
It will also improve health and wellbeing by providing a tranquil space for millions of people living in the area, and will generate more than £2 billion for the country’s economy.
The Northern Forest will comprise of 50 million trees planted over 25 years / Credit: The Woodland Trust
The Northern Forest will both “accelerate the creation of new woodland” and “support sustainable management” of the existing woods right across the area.
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According to the Woodland Trust, more trees, woods and forests will deliver a better environment for all by “improving air quality in our towns and cities, mitigating flood risk in key catchments, supporting the rural economy though tourism, recreation and timber production, connecting people with nature, and helping to deliver improvements to health and wellbeing through welcoming and accessible local green spaces”.
City of Trees is one of the ‘Community Forests’, and is the Greater Manchester part of The Northern Forest.
The Northern Forest will both “accelerate the creation of new woodland” and “support sustainable management” of the existing woods / Credit: The Woodland Trust
Speaking on the new £15 million funding boost, Jessica Thompson – Director at City of Trees – said: “This investment must not only provide the means to ensure our landscape is resilient to our changing climate, but also have a positive impact on people’s lives in the North.
“City of Trees is committed to ensuring that the investment in trees and woodlands open up opportunities for training and green jobs.
“We’ve seen the impacts of COVID-19 and lockdown and people relying on quality greenspace for their mental health and wellbeing [and] we want to encourage people to get directly involved in planting trees and looking after trees for years to come.”
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You can find out more information about The Northern Foresthere.
Featured Image – The Woodland Trust
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Trafford Centre announces opening hours for 2025/26 festive season – including Boxing Day
Emily Sergeant
Trafford Centre has published its full list of opening hours for this current festive season.
We all know that the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year for the retail industry, with people flocking to the shops in their millions to snap up festive gifts for their loved ones, and it only gets busier from Boxing Day onwards too when all the sales launch, offering shoppers some unmissable deals and bargains.
And nowhere in Greater Manchester gets busier during the festive season than the Trafford Centre. After all, with more than 200 stores all under one room, it’s not hard to see why.
This year, shoppers can make the most of extended opening hours at the Trafford Centre right through to New Year’s Day – with late night shopping until 11pm on selected dates in December leading up to the big day.
Alongside being a one-stop-shop for gifts, there’s also dozens of festive events and new Christmas lights to enjoy at the Trafford Centre too, so visitors can tick everything off their list and have a great day out while they’re at it.
The shopping centre will be open from 9am – 5pm on Christmas Eve, so you can whip round and grab any last-minute presents, before it’s closed fully on Christmas Day, and then opens again bright and early at 8am on Boxing Day.
Trafford Centre Christmas Opening Hours 2025/26
18 and 19 December: 10am – 11pm
20 December: 10am – 10pm
21 December: 12pm – 6pm
22 and 23 December: 10am – 11pm
Christmas: 9am – 5pm
Christmas Day: Closed
26 December: 8am – 8pm (some stores may be closed, please check with individual brands)
27 December: 10am – 9pm
28 December: 12pm – 6pm
29 and 30 December: 10pm – 10pm
New Year’s Eve: 9am – 5pm
New Year’s Day: 12pm – 6pm
It’s also worth noting, however, that not every store inside the Trafford Centre will be open on Boxing Day, so you’ll need to check with individual brands ahead of time.
For the restaurants, stores, and leisure venues that are open, you can check their specific trading hours on the Trafford Centre website here.
When it comes to festive event, The Grotto is open until Christmas Eve for pre-bookings only, and the Christmas fairground and ice rink, Big Wheel, and Gandeys Snowstorm Firebird show are all open until 4 January (closed Christmas Day).
Featured Image – Trafford Centre (Supplied)
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Greater Manchester’s ‘clean taxi’ plans backed by government funding
Danny Jones
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) ‘clean taxi’ initiative has been officially backed by the UK government, with an extra boost coming from a leading electric vehicle brand.
Millions of pounds are set to be pumped into the scheme over the coming years as the North West at large strives to become greener.
The Mayor himself, Andy Burnham, has made environmentally conscious travel a core part of his plans for the city region ever since he took up the post back in 2017; now he and his team are helping link up with connections in the capital to secure further investment.
With the new £8 million Hackney Support Fund being put into action as we speak, a further £2m is now set to go towards Manchester city centre and its surrounding boroughs via LEVC.
LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) have done away with classic petrol and diesel engines in their particular corner of the automotive industry, setting a more eco-friendly example for metropolitan cities up and down Great Britain.
As a result, Manchester City Council and the GMCA as a whole are looking to take a leaf out of their book as part of their wider carbon reduction targets, with local authorities having recently reaffirmed their five-year ‘climate change action plan’.
For context, the Hackney Support Fund in question is a series of government-backed grants aimed at helping taxi drivers replace older black cabs with more modern, zero-emission capable vehicles.
Not only that, but LEVC will also be offering licensed carriage drivers extended warranties on new and used TX cabs – like their new ‘eCity powetrain’ pictured above – as well as taxi scrappage allowance on other models.
Like any part of the country, our region itself has its own clean air goals, and with the continued expansion of the Bee Network continuing to advance that progress, we’re heading in the right direction.
It goes without saying that adding a fully-fledged fleet of cleaner, more energy-efficient EV taxis into that mix could help benefit these greener pursuits.
Managing Director at LEVC, Chris Allen, noted that the company has “helped the capital achieve legal air quality targets for the first time” and strongly believes that they can do the same up North.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Our taxi trade is a vital part of Greater Manchester’s transport network and supports the local economy.
“That’s why we’re working hard to secure funding and practical support to help drivers upgrade to cleaner, greener vehicles – improving air quality for everyone, while protecting livelihoods. By backing our taxi trade, we’re building a fairer, healthier city-region for all.”
Emily Sergeant -
27th September 2021 
