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
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‘Prolific’ South Manchester burglar jailed for thefts which included peanuts…
Daisy Jackson
A ‘prolific’ burglar has been jailed for just over two years, for numerous thefts including sunglasses, airpods, and peanuts…
The man was caught red-handed inside someone’s property, where he claimed he was just wanting a glass of water – but was found by police officers to have the resident’s car keys in his pocket.
Fazal Alnesi, 26, from Moss Side, was then linked to a number of other burglaries, attempted burglaries, and thefts across South Manchester.
Fazal was sentenced to 27 months at Manchester Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to offences including six counts of burglary in June of this year.
He was arrested on 12 June, when a man returned to his home in Fallowfield in the early hours of the morning and discovered Fazal inside his address.
He claimed he was there because he wanted a glass of water but subsequently refused to leave, which led to police being called.
Officers placed Alnensi in handcuffs and found the resident’s car keys in his pocket, as well as indications that he’d been rummaging through the man’s drawers.
He was later linked to other thefts include a wrench set from a car, a pedal cycle worth £350, airpods, sunglasses – and even peanuts from one address.
He additionally took an electric bike charger from one address worth hundreds of pounds.
PC Jon Holden, from GMP’s City of Manchester district, said: “Alnensi took various items from several homes and cars across a two-week period earlier this year, making off with hundreds of pounds worth of goods.
“Ultimately, Alnensi left people feeling unsafe in his own home, and I am glad he is now behind bars.
“Our team will investigate all burglaries, and I would encourage people to get in touch with us – all intelligence helps us lock up criminals and bring them to justice.”
The top 10 ‘happiest’ places to live in the North West in 2026 have been named
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 happiest places to live in the North West have been named for 2026.
It comes as Rightmove has published its annual ‘Happy at Home’ index this week, just as it has done for the last 14 years now, exploring exactly what it is that makes people feel content about where they live, and highlighting the happiest places nationwide ahead of the new year – with thousands of residents across more than 200 locations providing feedback.
The residents told the leading property listing platform what they love (or don’t love) about their community, from the friendliness of their neighbours, to job opportunities, access to green spaces, and so much more.
The survey also outlined the differences in happiness in rural, urban, and suburban environments, as well as the way our sense of ‘home happiness’ changes as we age.
So, when it comes to the North West as a whole then, where do we have in the top 10?
Well, to kick things off, you may have already seen that one Lancashire market town has earned its place in the top 10 nationwide, not just for the North West region – and that’s Chorley.
Closest to the Bolton and Wigan boroughs, Chorley – which is is about a 40-minute drive outside of Manchester, and sits on a direct train route into the city centre.
But aside from the national top 10, when it comes to the regional top 10, the next two towns following Chorley in second and third are both in Greater Manchester.
The North West’s top 10 happiest places to live 2026
Chorley
Stockport
Altrincham
Chester
Macclesfield
Southport
Kendal
Wirral
Northwich
Carlisle
Altrincham has been named one of the North West’s happiest places to live / Credit: The Manc Group
The ever-thriving Stockport comes in at number two, followed by Trafford favourite Altrincham directly behind it at number three.
Other of the region’s inclusions like Bury, Bolton, Wigan, and the Manchester borough itself all ranked towards the bottom.
Speaking on this year’s list, Colleen Babcock – a property expert at Rightmove – explained: “The balance between greenery and everyday convenience runs through the wider findings. Even among people who would ideally choose a rural setting, access to amenities, parks and public transport remains important.
“This year’s results suggest that the places people rate most highly aren’t simply urban or rural, but often bring together some of the best elements of both.”
Featured Image – Roger Kidd (via Wikimedia Commons)
Emily Sergeant -
13th February 2023 
