A handful of famous faces and inspirational figures were honoured at the first-ever Gaydio Pride Awards in Manchester last Friday.
Greater Manchester‘s thriving LGBTQ+ scene shone brighter than ever before as the inaugural Gaydio Pride Awards were held in our city last Friday night to celebrate the extraordinary efforts to bring Pride to every corner of the UK.
The annual awards ceremony are all about honouring the LGBTQ+ community members and allies making the biggest impacts nationwide.
Awards were handed out at the glamorous ceremony held at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel, which was hosted by hosted by Gaydio’s breakfast show presenters Paris and Dave, while performances came from chart-topping artist Raye, a set from dance-legend Sigala, and a show-stopping performance from Danny Beard, the winner of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK Season 4.
When it comes to the winners, so many inspirational names and organisations were honoured and quite-rightly celebrated on the night.
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The first-ever Gaydio Pride Awards took place on Friday 10 February in Manchester / Credit: Supplied
Trans Pride Brighton took home the Grassroots Pride of The Year award as the longest-running and first-ever Trans Pride event, and there was a joint award for Major Pride of the Year with Manchester Pride, Birmingham Pride, Brighton + Hove Pride, and Pride in London – with all four major prides coming together to condemn the world cup in Qatar and the human rights abuse against LGBTQ+ people.
Joel Mordi, who is organiser of the first pride event in Nigeria, was the winner of the Volunteer of the Year award having volunteered with a myriad of nonprofits including UK Black Pride, Crisis UK, and National Student Pride.
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Famous faces and inspirational figures were honoured at the ceremony / Credit: Supplied
Trans Radio UK Football Club were honoured with the LGBTQ+ Club or Sports Team of the Year award for providing a space for trans people to play football in a safe way, without having to be subjected to questioning, harassment and doubt, while Great British Bake Off finalist, Janusz Domagala, was awarded LGBTQ+ Champion award for using his platform to support and promote LGBTQ+ in his bakes and his attire, as well as being the first to use the word transgender on the show.
Filthy Gorgeous, the weekly student night held at The Brewers in Manchester, picked up the award for Venue or Event of the Year as the favourite hit night where people in the LGBTQ+ community can come together safely and dance the night away.
Chart topper Raye, and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard were two of the night’s performers / Credit: Supplied
Charity of the Year was awarded to George House Trust to recognise all the work the organisation been doing around HIV and fighting the stigma by providing support, advice, and advocacy services to improve health outcomes for those affected since 1985.
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Revered screenwriter, Russell T Davies, is one of the charity’s ambassadors, and he was proud to attend the ceremony last Friday.
One of the famous names honoured on the night was up-and-coming black lesbian musician, Cat Burns, who has had great success with back-to-back hits ‘Go’ and ‘People Pleaser’, and took home the award for Music Artist of the Year.
Last but not least, the Lifetime Contribution award went to Peter Tatchell – a human rights campaigner who was arrested in Qatar for promoting the dangers for LGBTQ+ people throughout the 2022 World Cup.
Sigala also provided a DJ set on the night / Credit: Supplied
“The inaugural Gaydio Pride Awards took place to recognise the fantastic achievements of our community and LGBTQ+ people across the UK,” Gaydio’s Director, Ian Wallace, commented after the ceremony happened to huge success.
“It’s important to offer an event, open to the public, that is able to showcase everything from the smallest of Pride festivals, to trailblazing queer music artists.
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“Bring on 2024.”
Featured Image – Supplied
News
Enzo Maresca to Manchester City: Ex-Chelsea coach looks set to replace Pep Guardiola
Danny Jones
With Manchester City manager and club legend Pep Guardiola now confirmed to be leaving the Etihad Stadium at the end of this season, it appears that Enzo Maresca has already been identified as his replacement.
With the game-changing Catalan head coach now gearing up to leave Man City after a decade, following the conclusion of the 2025/26 Premier League campaign, Blues are already getting ready to bid a bittersweet goodbye.
You won’t find many City supporters who will be happy to see him go, having overseen not only a period of dominance but the most successful period in their history – one that has quite literally changed English football – but they will at least be optimistic about the frontrunner to succeed him.
As per the ever-reliable Fabrizio Romano, among other sources, an agreement is said to have been reached for the Italian to take over in East Manchester.
🚨🔵 BREAKING: Enzo Maresca has a total verbal agreement with Manchester City, HERE WE GO!
The Italian manager has always been considered the ideal candidate to replace Pep Guardiola.
Deal in place and Maresca will sign an initial three year deal at #MCFC. 🇮🇹
Going so far as to state that the deal is now in place, he claims that Maresca will sign a three-year deal with Man City.
Obviously, this is all still pending an official announcement by the club, which may now be moving up their plans for an official reveal since they have now confirmed that Pep will be departing as reported earlier this month.
According to The Athletic‘s Sam Lee, who was part of the outlet’s team that helped break the story alongside David Ornstein, the 46-year-old has been earmarked for the top job for more than half a decade, as it turns out.
He states that former City Football Group exec and director of football, Txiki Begiristain, already believed Maresca could follow in the Spaniard’s footseps back in 2020.
MCFC have now shared an emotional farewell video following the news most have been dreading. Tissues at the ready, Blues…
The 46-year-old has gone on to win the likes of the Championship, UEFA Conference League title and a FIFA Club World Cup in his last two jobs at Leicester and Chelsea, respectively, barring his very first stint at Parma in 2021 when he missed out getting his side promoted.
Yes, it’s also worth reminding that Maresca has already worked as part of the staff at the Etihad Campus, not only leading their Elite Development Squad (EDS) of U23s players, but also being part of the backroom staff alongside the serial winner, serving as an assistant coach in 2022.
Safe to say that Maresca has quickly gone on to be one of the most promising managerial prospects in a relatively short space of time, and was even linked with being both the England boss and a rival position for Manchester United at one point or another.
It’s only a matter of time until we find out if/for how long he gets the job following Pep Guardiola’s contract expiration (he still technically has a year left, by the way), but he’ll have quite the job on to better his predecessor.
Would you be happy with the appointment, Blues? More crucially, perhaps, are you ready to say farewell to your greatest-ever manager?
Government to slash prices of cinema tickets, bus travel, and LOADS more across UK for kids this summer
Emily Sergeant
Cinema tickets, trips to the theatre and the zoo, and children’s meals out are all set to be cheaper than ever this summer.
That’s because the Government has announced its newest initiative, Great British Summer Savings, which means that from 25 June through to 1 September 2026, a temporary reduced rate of VAT – down from 20% to 5% – will be introduced on children’s meals in restaurants and family leisure activities over the summer period.
Children’s meals served in restaurants, children’s and family tickets for the cinema, theatre, exhibitions, shows, and concerts, and admission tickets – for both children and adults – to a wide range of different attractions will be eligible for the discount.
Whether you want to visit an amusement park, fairs, circuses, museums, zoos, adventure parks, soft play centre, or something similar this summer, it just got a whole lot cheaper.
The Government is slashing the prices of cinema tickets, bus travel, and LOADS more across UK for kids this summer / Credit: Artem Kniaz (via Unsplash) | Supplied
This aim of this initiative is to make family days out more affordable, while also supporting businesses through increased footfall.
The Government says it will work with eligible businesses to get the scheme ‘up and running’.
And to make it even better, this is a UK-wide initiative, so no matter where you are in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the reduced rate will apply.
Going one step further, there will also be free bus travel for children aged between five and 15 in England in August, helping to support families getting out and about this summer.
The Government says the Great British Summer Savings initiative supports the action it has already taken to reduce the cost of living – including cutting energy bills, freezing prescription charges, protecting motorists from fuel duty increases, and raising the minimum wage.
Businesses will be able to apply the 5% rate of VAT on eligible sales between 25 June and 1 September.
Emily Sergeant -
13th February 2023 
