Dragons Den investor Steven Barlett has thousands of pounds to help feed struggling UK families after a woman’s charity allotment used to help people through the cost of living crisis was vandalised, rendering all of its food inedible.
UK gardener Carly Burd, who has multiple sclerosis (MS) and lupus, had transformed her garden into a vegetable allotment and was using it to feed more than 1,600 hard-up families struggling to make ends meet.
Then this week, she discovered that vandals had poured roughly 5kg of salt across the plot – destroying enough potatoes and onions to feed more than 300 people, as well as ‘hours and hours’ of her hard work.
Taking to social media platform TikTok to share her devastation at the discovery, a tearful Carly said she was “absolutely heartbroken” and explained that someone must have jumped over the fence in the night.
Image: Carly Burd via TikTok
Image: Carly Burd via TikTok
She continued: “That means everything I’ve planted won’t grow and I can’t replant on it because it won’t grow.
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“All the hours and hours and hours of work that we’ve put in is now dead, and they’ve done it everywhere.”
Carly’s emotional video quickly went viral as people began sharing their dismay that someone could do such a thing, and a GoFundMe account set up by Carly soon began racking up donations from outraged viewers.
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At the time of writing, the fundraiser has received over 10,000 donations totalling more than £171,000 – with one of the largest being from podcaster and Social Chain founder Steven Bartlett, who contributed £2,000 to the cause.
Appearing in a list of one of the top supporters, he is not the only celebrity to have given money to the cause with Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker also donating £500.
Carly first began her A Meal on Me With Love initiative for people on benefits, low incomes and pensioners in 2022, growing fruit and vegetables to give to people on low incomes in her local neighbourhood.
On her GoFundMe page, she expressed sympathy with those living on low incomes writing: “I know how hard its going to be this winter with cost of living .So I transformed my garden into an allotment to provide those on benefits, pensioners on state pension & those on a low income FREE organic fruit an vegetables plus essentials.
She explained: “They receive a large box that contains essentials plus enough food, fruit, vegetables, pasta, rice, breakfast etc for the amount of people in the household. I made all the planters from old wood & I grow everything from seed.
She also shared her own struggles with the cost of living, writing: “I’m on disability so I have to keep the cost down. I can’t sit back & watch people struggle; not being able to feed their kids or go without food so they can have the heating on.
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“Last year I went without heating, having MS with no heating is horrific. Why are we left to live like this?”
If you would like to support Carly’s GoFundMe page you can do so here.
Inside The Black Friar as Salford pub unveils incredible floral display
Daisy Jackson
Spring has really sprung in Salford – legendary pub The Black Friar has just revealed a sensational makeover, with gigantic flowers sprawled across its frontage and a new seasonal menu to go with it.
The historic pub is celebrating the changing of the seasons with both a striking floral installation and a menu that celebrates spring and Salford in equal measure.
Most Mancs will by now have spotted the 4,000 flower-strong installation that now adorns the front of The Black Friar, with bright pink, yellow and purple flowers spilling from a gigantic pink tap.
And all those florals continue inside, with the pub’s Tavern – previously a cosy winter hideaway – now filled with trailing blooms and woodland installations, just off their award-winning garden.
Cheshire-based artist Kelly Louise Chapman is the woman behind this sensational transformation of the much-loved gastropub.
As for the pub’s kitchen, they’ve crafted a new very seasonal and very British menu, with plenty of nods to Black Friar’s Salford roots.
There are dishes like a Boddingtons braised ox cheek (the pub still proudly displays its Boddingtons sign outside), aged beef tartare, butternut squash and ricotta tortellini, and pan-roasted cod fillet.
Spring small plates at The Black Friar pubDelicious spring drinksInside The Tavern at The Black Friar
A popular item from the Valentine’s Day menu – the Cornish crab vol-au-vent – will be sticking around on the spring menu, along with an enhanced grill section that includes a lamb Barnsley chop cooked over coals.
Then for desserts, you’ll be spoilt with a banoffee knickerbocker glory, and passionfruit panna cotta.
And for drinks (because this is a pub, after all), The Black Friar has put together a range of seasonal drinks like a rose sangria sharer, and non-alcoholic sodas like kaffir lime and coconut.
Ben Chaplin, head chef at The Black Friar, said: “This new menu is all about celebrating the best of spring produce.
“We’ve carefully crafted each dish to highlight fresh, seasonal ingredients and bold flavours, adding new depth to our offerings while still delivering the comfort that will always be associated with The Black Friar.
“My top recommendation and personal favourite dish is the Slow-Cooked Boddingtons Braised Ox Cheek.”
Neil Burke, owner of The Black Friar, commented: “We wanted to bring a taste of spring to The Black Friar, inside and out. This floral installation will transform the space and bring sunshine and smiles, whatever the weather!
“My top recommendation on the new menu is the Cumbrian Spiced Lamb Scotch Egg. It’s EXCEPTIONAL.”
To find out more about The Black Friar and to book a table, visit HERE.
You can now get a Pot Noodle as part of your Tesco meal deal
Danny Jones
If you ask us, a big key to a happy life is all about celebrating the little wins as much as possible and in this case, when we heard that you can now get a Pot Noodle as part of your Tesco meal deal, we nearly did a cartwheel.
Are we exaggerating? Only a little bit, to be fair. Is this still kind of a big deal (pardon the pun) for the millions of Brits whose lunchtime meal regularly consists of a Tesco butty, beverage and perhaps some crisps? We think so.
We only heard the joyous news through word of mouth, but it looks as though the rumours are true after being not-so-quietly confirmed via the official Pot Noodle social media channels last week, revealing that you can indeed get your flavour of choice as part of your meal deal.
That really is the headline here, let’s be honest; the fact that you can now get a Pot Noodle – something many people have for their tea or a more than satisfying late-night snack – as the bonus side along with your main item at Tesco it an absolute result.
With meal deal prices having steadily crept up across the nation over recent years, no matter which supermarket, Tesco Extra, Asda Express, Sainsbury’s Local, convenience store and so on you seem to look in, getting an extra bit of value for money like is a big win for those on a quick dinner dash.
This is just like when we figured out you could get a proper Ginsters sausage roll, Cornish pasty or steak/chicken slice as your snack too. Just as buzzing then as we are now.
The brand also recently revealed what the UK’s most popular meal choices were last year, and some of the selections might surprise you.
Once again, it’s all about enjoying the little things, and put it this way, if we’re overreacting, then so are plenty of others.
Now accepting donations so One Drunk Redneck can get to the #UK and experience a #Tesco meal deal. I only need to raise enough for a one way ticket. I'm not too worried about how I'd get back home.
Oh, I probably should take my spouse. Ok, enough for two, one way tickets.
The only slight downside is that right now, as you might have spotted in the Instagram post above, this offer has only been rolled out at select Tescos.
As for those in Greater Manchester, there are just two local shops: the Tesco Extra in Walkden in Salford, as well as the Extra on Huddersfield Road in Bolton; the next closest after that is Warrington.
Nevertheless, you would expect that if the popularity of this new deal takes off – Tesco’s lunchtime package being one of the most popular in Britain – it’s likely that they will expand their plans up and down the country at large.
Speaking on the launch in an official press release, Pot Noodle’s senior brand Madeleine Boulton said: “We know our fans are always looking to get the most bang for their buck, so our move into the Tesco Meal Deal as a side is our way of giving customers the ultimate ‘snackisfaction’ and for some, the perfect hack that will ensure their meal deal sees them through the day.”
Can’t lie, we do rather fancy a Bombay Bad Boy now.
Georgina Pellant -
13th April 2023 
