A little lad from Wigan got to have his “wish come true” when he went to his local police station to become an officer for the day.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has gone viral and been praised for inviting George Latham down to spend a day at the Wigan district offices last week after the five-year-old wrote to them during lockdown to say he likes the police and would always wave at officers when he was out and about on his walk, as they keep the community safe.
Officers at the station invited George and his family for a special guided tour during the school holidays to have a look at what they do as a thank you to the youngster “for being so kind”.
George was known as PC Latham 999 for the day.
The “confident boy with a beaming smile” was presented with his very-own GMP police kit – which included a police high-vis vest, police hat, warrant card, whistle, baton, handcuffs, and radio – and managed to make everyone smile when he met with officers from all different areas of the division and got to find out more about they do behind-the-scenes.
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George was apparently “in awe for the full afternoon”, and GMP says he will “undoubtedly make an excellent police officer in the future”.
The five-year-old took interest in what other people were doing and was “always asking questions”.
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Sergeant Steve Aspinall, Chief Superintendent Emily Higham, and PC Andrew Kay all looked after George on the day, and each took the time show him round, explain the equipment he had on him, show him the police vehicles, demonstrate the sirens and lights, and so much more.
Plenty of other real-life officers all took time out of their busy day to say hello to George and answer his questions, and George returned the kindness by sharing some of his biscuits and sweets.
“I like the sirens and flashing lights on the cars,” George explained.
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“I want to be a policeman when I’m older – I’m really happy and can’t wait to tell my friends when I go back to school in Year 1.”
George’s dad also added of the youngster’s special day: “It was great to get a response and it’s been special for us all. He was so excited to come and it’s just great to see the local police take the time to do what they have done, going above and beyond any expectations.”
“It’s the first time I’ve personally experienced something like this and it’s great,” Chief Superintendent Emily Higham admitted.
“It’s the least we can do to, to take a couple of hours out of our day to make a very special boy’s dream come true. It’s a nice thing to do and has made a big impact us on all, reminding us why we love doing what we do – it’s all about the local community and protecting people like George.
“To be able to meet a loving family that supports policing also makes our day.”
Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
5th September 2022 
