Manchester

North Manchester General Hospital to be rebuilt and replaced with new ‘world-class facility’

"This rebuild is the lynchpin of that vision, and we are ready now to make it a reality."

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 21st January 2025

North Manchester General Hospital is set to be rebuilt following new commitment by the Government, it has been announced.

After a review of the New Hospital Programme was carried out, and found that the previous Government’s commitment to deliver ’40 new hospitals by 2030′ was behind-schedule, unfunded, and therefore, undeliverable, the Department of Health and Social Care has today confirmed funding and a realistic timetable to deliver all of its hospital projects.

This credible timeline for delivery, according to the Government, will ensure that staff and patients have access to the facilities they desperately need around the country “as soon as possible”.

Buildings and equipment across the UK that had been left to crumble, disrupting patient care and hindering staff, had been inherited by the new Government, which is why ministers said they are now “committed” to rebuilding the NHS.

North Manchester General Hospital will be replaced with a new ‘world-class facility’ / Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The new plan – which the Government say is “affordable and honest” – will be backed with £15 billion of new investment over consecutive five-year waves, averaging £3 billion a year.

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Hospitals in Wave 1 of the Programme, which includes North Manchester General Hospital, are expected to begin construction anytime between 2025 and 2030 – with these schemes including hospitals constructed primarily using RAAC, and have been prioritised due to patient and staff safety being paramount.

“We wholeheartedly welcome the Government’s certainty and commitment around the future of North Manchester General Hospital and its plans for a full rebuild,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council.

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“Working together with our communities, we will ensure that the new North Manchester General Hospital does not just provide excellent healthcare but also improves the health and quality of life for the communities which it serves.

“This rebuild is the lynchpin of that vision, and we are ready now to make it a reality.”

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The Government says its plan for implementation of the New Hospital Programme sets out a clear pipeline of schemes to be delivered over the next decade and beyond. 

Featured Image – Flickr

Manchester

World-renowned rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd announce HUGE Manchester anniversary gig

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia

Legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd are returning to Manchester for a limited UK tour at one city’s foremost venues.

Six years since their last visit, we’re sure they’ve missed ‘That Smell’ of a Manchester crowd and it’s safe to say safe we’ve missed them too.

Known for our love of live music and gigs, there’s no better place to stop off at other than Manchester when you’re playing a world tour, especially celebrating the 50th anniversary of the band’s formation.

Their name needs no introduction, however, if you need a reminder of this band’s remarkable career then ‘Don’t Ask Me No Questions’.

Just kidding, the well-seasoned country and blues veterans from Jacksonville, Flordia are one of the most acclaimed acts to ever come out of the US; in 2006 they received one of the biggest honours any artist could wish for, getting inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

With plenty of well-known radio rock staples to their name such as ‘Free Bird’, ‘Simple Man’ and, of course, the iconic ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, they’ve sold more than 28 million records and are ranked at no. 95. in Rolling Stone‘s ‘Top 100 Artists of All Time’.

Now that’s pedigree, right there.

With 14 official studio albums, several EPs and numerous live recordings, there are definitely more than enough songs to pack into one unforgettable night.

As one of just four dates here in England, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Manchester tour show is taking place at none other than the AO Arena, which has also reached a milestone in 2025 as they celebrate 30 years of unbelievable gigs. What better way to party than with a good ol’ fashioned rock show?

They won’t be travelling solo either, they’re also bringing Georgia-based rockers Blackberry Smoke as a support act, notable for their 2012 single ‘One Horse Town’ along with many others.

rock concert manchester, lynyrd skynyrd, manchester
Rockin’ it out like they always do, bring on Manchester.
rock concerts this year, lynyrd skynyrd, manchester
That iconic Lynyrd logo will look immense in AO Arena this year.
Credit: Supplied

They’ve chosen the right venue to belt the hits too and, ironically, they’ve chosen a Tuesday for their Manchester date, meaning you’ll be able to walk out of the concert singing ‘Tuesday’s Gone’ with more conviction than ever.

Similarly to Katy Perry, who also announced a gig at AO Arena set for this year, £1 from every ticket will also be donated to Live Trust in support of grassroots music venues. Love that.

One thing is for sure, with a legacy as big as this, the rockers are guaranteed to have a great time. There might not be any founding members left following the passing of guitarist and songwriter Gary Rossington in 2023, but you can bet the current lineup will do the originals justice and then some.

Lynyrd Skynyrd visit the AO Arena in Manchester on Tuesday 15 July 2025 with tickets going on sale from Friday 24 January at 10am. You can grab yours HERE.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Publicity Pictures (Supplied)

Manchester

Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Manchester’s historic connections to slavery are to be explored during a major new exhibition coming soon to the city.

The Science and Industry Museum, in the heart of our city centre, is already known and loved for telling the story of the ideas and innovations that transformed Manchester into the world’s first industrial city.

But now, a new free exhibition is set to “enhance public understanding” of how transatlantic slavery actually shaped the city’s growth.

Produced by the Science and Industry Museum, in partnership with The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, and developed with African descendent and diaspora communities through local and global collaborations, this landmark project will put Manchester’s historic connections to enslavement at the heart of a major exhibition at the museum for the first time.  

Featuring new research, it will also explore how the legacies of these histories continue to impact Manchester, the world, and lives today.

Set to open in early 2027, the exhibition will run for a year in the museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery.

Alongside that hub at the Science and Industry Museum itself, the project is also set to have a collaborative city-wide events programme, and a lasting legacy – with a new permanent schools programme, and permanent displays in the future too.

As mentioned, the new exhibition is part of The Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement programme, which is a 10-year restorative justice project launched in 2023.

Manchester’s historic connections to slavery will be at the heart of a major new exhibition / Credit: Science Museum Group Collection

Through partnerships and community programmes, the project aims to improve public understanding of the impact of transatlantic slavery on the UK’s economic development, and its ongoing legacies for Black communities – with a strong focus on Manchester, the city in which The Guardian was founded back in 1821.

The museum’s existing gallery content and ongoing work around sharing the inextricable links between Manchester’s growth into an industrial powerhouse and a textile industry reliant on colonialism and enslavement will be developed through the project.

Through a “collaborative re-examination of the past”, the exhibition will also share a more inclusive history of a city that prides itself on being at the forefront of ideas that change the world.

It’s opening at the Science and Industry Museum in early 2027 / Credit: Science and Industry Museum

Speaking ahead of the exhibition’s arrival in early 2027, Sally MacDonald, who is the Director of the Science and Industry Museum, says: “This will be an exhibition about important aspects of our past that are profoundly relevant to the world we live in today.

“Revealed from the perspectives of those who experienced enslavement and whose lives have been shaped by its legacies, we will foreground stories of resistance, agency, and skill.

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“The exhibition will explore themes of resilience, identity and creativity alongside exploitation and inequality, and will feature a specific focus on the ways that scientific and technological developments both drove and were driven by transatlantic slavery.”

Further details on the project will be announced in due course, so stay tuned.

Featured Image – Science Museum Group

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