A little lad who lost his sight due to a brain tumour has been given a “special” day-out at his local Asda store he regularly visits.
10-year-old Jacob – who sadly lost his sight when he was just 10 months old following a brain tumour – is known as a “little gem” to those who work at the Asda branch in Swinton, and is always chatting to his favourite colleagues when he goes into the store that’s just around the corner from his house twice a week with his mum Emma.
Rachel Howarth, the store’s ambient section manager who organised the visit, says everyone at the branch is so fond of Jacob – which is why staff decided to organise a special visit for him.
They wanted to treat him to a day he’ll never forget.
After promising Jacob that she’d get him his own Asda uniform for Christmas, Rachel not only decided to arrange this for him, but also to have his own lanyard and name badge, and give him the chance to go on the checkouts and speak over the tannoy too.
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“He’s such a lovely character and everyone knows him in the store,” Rachel explained.
“For Christmas, I promised to get him his own Asda uniform so he could wear it and come and join us and he was so happy with it, so Iarranged for him to come in when I was on a late shift and he had a go on checkouts.
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“He enjoyed the fuss and the chocolates he took home.”
Rachel also explained that although battling a brain tumour may have caused Jacob to lose his sight, this “does not stop this young man”, and that every time he goes into the store, he’s sure to tell staff all about what he’s been up to.
Staff arranged for Jacob to have his own lanyard and name badge, and the chance to go on the checkouts too / Credit: Asda
“He recently completed 10 lengths of the swimming pool at school and he plays the piano too – his disability certainly doesn’t stop him,” Rachel concluded.
Jacob’s mum Emma said she couldn’t thank the team at Asda Swinton enough for their kindness towards her son, adding: “I would just like to say a big thank you to everyone there as they have been absolutely brilliant and I couldn’t ask anymore from them.
“He loves going in and he wants to work there when he gets older.
Jacob visits the Asda Swinton store just around the corner from his house twice a week with his mum Emma / Credit: Asda
“He’s got an incredible memory and knows the colleagues by their voices – and he knows all their phone extension numbers too – so he had a great time on the checkouts as he loves scanning and going on the tannoy.
“People don’t believe me at first when I tell them that he can’t see, as he loves playing the piano and he’s just started playing the guitar more seriously and he’s very good at that too.
Alex Sanderson summons Rudyard Kipling as Sale Sharks scrape into the semi-finals
Danny Jones
Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson referenced the famous Rudyard Kipling after Sale Sharks managed to book their place in the playoffs of this year’s Gallagher Premiership following a nail-biter of a fixture against Exeter Chiefs.
The Sharks sealed their spot in the semi-finals with a 30-26 win over the Chiefs on Saturday night, with a trio of tries, a singular pen and calmness when it came to conversions proving just enough to make it to full time.
Speaking on the narrow score at Sandy Park, Sanderson himself applauded that same composure during his post-match duties, casually quoting Kipling ahead of the next big game.
Writing on social media after nerves had just about settled, the club simply said: “Apologies for raising the heart rate, Sharks Family… but Saturday we go again.”
Beginning with an expression of that same defiant spirit that has seen them across the line on so many occasions, the 45-year-old told TNT Sports, “We got another Monday in us.”
The Sale Sharks coach went on to add: “So if you can keep your head, when everybody else is losing theirs – I think that’s the old Rudyard Kipling poem – you’re in such a better place on the back of that, knowing what we can fix from the Leicester game and what we can do better from today.”
It’s not every day you hear sportsmen calling up the poetic words of the beloved British-India writer, but it certainly impressed plenty of supporters, though Sanderson has always been popular among fans for his candour and charisma in interviews.
Ultimately, it was Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Bevan Rodd, Luke Cowan-Dickie and George Ford that the Greater Manchester outfit had to thank for the electrifying finish
You can see how much it meant, clear as day…
Not done yet…
Thank you for your support Sharks Family, it’s truly appreciated!
Sale Sharks will now take on Leicester Tigers (who the local side finished just behind in third place following the result against the Chiefs) in the Premiership semis as they look to get revenge for previous painful meetings
Are you feeling hopeful, Sharks Family?
You can see the full highlights from Sale Sharks’ tense victory over the Exeter Chiefs down below.
Alex Sanderson channelled Rudyard Kipling and Sale scrapped like true Sharks.
‘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 -
4th April 2022 
