News

Trafford Centre launches school uniform drive to help disadvantaged Manchester families

It'll be open all summer.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 2nd July 2025

A school uniform drive has been launched at the Trafford Centre to support local families ahead of the new school year.

With schools across Greater Manchester soon set to be out for the summer holidays, many parents, guardians, and carers in the region may be looking ahead to the new school year in September, concerned about how they may be able to provide their children with the necessary uniform items needed.

According to a 2020 survey by The Children’s Society, 23% of parents reported that the cost of school uniforms led to their children wearing ‘ill-fitting, unclean, or incorrect’ items.

It’s these statistic that highlight the ongoing pressure faced by families.

This is why the Trafford Centre has partnered with both Manchester South Central Foodbank and local charity, Bridging the Gap, to launch a school uniform donation drive aimed at supporting more than 700 children across Manchester this summer.

The Trafford Centre launches a school uniform drive to help disadvantaged Manchester families / Credit: Trafford Centre

From now up until the 15 August, anyone heading to the region’s largest shopping centre is encouraged to donate new or pre-loved school uniforms.

“The cost of living crisis has deeply impacted our community, with more and more families unable to afford the essentials,” commented Emily Jeremy, who is the Assistant Project Manager at Manchester South Central Foodbank.

“As an anti-poverty charity, we recognised the need for school uniform support years ago. Though costs vary between schools, a full set of branded secondary school uniform can total around £150, which is a significant burden for many households.”

Trafford Centre Guest Services
Trafford Centre
All items can be donated at the shopping centre’s Guest Services point / Credit: Darren Robinson Photography | Trafford Centre (Supplied)

Simon Layton, Centre Director at the Trafford Centre, added: “We’re proud to be working alongside Bridging the Gap and Manchester South Central Foodbank to support local families during these challenging times.

“School uniforms shouldn’t be a barrier to education, and we hope this initiative will ease some of the pressure many parents face as the new school year approaches.”

The school uniform donation drive is running up until 15 August.

Read more:

All items can be taken to the Trafford Centre’s Guest Services Lounge, which is located on Lower Regent Crescent next to M&S, and they must be clean and free from stains or damage.

Find out more here.

Featured Image – gov.uk

News

Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his brother have died in car crash

Danny Jones Danny Jones Diogo Jota

Liverpool FC footballer Diogo Jota has tragically died in a car crash along with his brother, Andre Felipe, according to multiple outlets.

The Liverpool forward, who just won the Premier League earlier this year, has been confirmed dead by Spanish police following a traffic collision in the northwest of the country.

As per national authorities, the fatal crash occurred on Thursday, 3 Jul, after a tyre burst and the car slid off the road.

Guardia Civil has now confirmed the following: “A road accident occurred at 12:30am this morning at kilometre 65 of the A-52 motorway, in the municipality of Cernadilla, Zamora. A vehicle left the road, and everything indicates a tyre burst while overtaking.”

The statement goes on to detail: “As a result of the accident, the car caught fire and both people were killed.”Pending the completion of forensic tests, one of the deceased has been identified as Diogo Jota, a Liverpool FC player, and his brother, Andre Felipe [Silva].”

Respects are also being paid to Jota’s younger brother, a 25-year-old who played for Penafiel in the Portuguese second division.

The Portuguese Football Federation (PFF) have also now blacked out their social media following this morning’s tragic news, with other clubs and sporting organisations offering their condolences.

Sharing a lengthy tribute online, the national team wrote: “The PFF and all of Portuguese football are completely devastated by the deaths of Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, this morning, in Spain.

“Much more than an outstanding player, with nearly 50 caps for the National A Team, Diogo Jota was an extraordinary person, respected by all colleagues and opponents, someone with a contagious joy and a reference in his own community.

“The Portuguese Football Federation expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Diogo and André Silva, as well as to Liverpool FC and FC Penafiel, the clubs where the players respectively played.

“The Portuguese Football Federation has already requested UEFA to hold a minute of silence, this Thursday, before our National Team’s match against Spain in the Women’s European Championship. We have lost two champions. The passing of Diogo and André Silva represents irreparable losses for Portuguese Football, and we will do everything to honour their legacy daily.”

Jota – who only married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, last month – leaves behind a wife and three young children.

LFC had this to say on their website: “The club have been informed the 28-year-old has passed away following a road traffic accident in Spain along with his brother, Andre.

“Liverpool FC will be making no further comment at this time and requests the privacy of Diogo and Andre’s family, friends, teammates and club staff is respected as they try to come to terms with an unimaginable loss. We will continue to provide them with our full support.”

Former family team, Porto FC, as well as Primeira Liga champions, Sporting Club de Portugal; Manchester City and United, among countless others from the football world and beyond, are continuing to offer messages of great sadness and support.

Our thoughts go out to their family, friends, compatriots and our neighbours down the Mersey over on the red half of Liverpool. Rest in peace.

This is a breaking news story. More info to follow…

Read more:

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

Featured Images — Portuguese Football Federation/Sporting CP (via X)

News

Same-sex penguin couple to raise rare baby chick together at Chester Zoo

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

10 rare baby penguin chicks have hatched at Chester Zoo, and one of them has some rather unique parents.

The rare new arrivals are highly-threatened Humboldt penguins, which is one of the most at-risk out of the world’s 17 species of penguin, and began hatching from their eggs throughout April, but since then, they have spent their first few weeks of life tucked away in their nest burrows.

Humboldt penguins – which are ound on the rocky coastal shores of Peru and Chile – are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as they face a number of threats in the wild, including climate change, overfishing, and rising ocean temperatures.

Commonly with penguins, both mum and dad share feeding and parenting duties.

Keepers at Chester Zoo support the parents by providing plenty of extra fish, which the adult penguins swallow, blend into a protein-rich soup, and then regurgitate to feed the chicks.

But in what is a heartwarming development, one of the chicks is being raised by a same-sex penguin couple, Scampi and Flounder, as the devoted duo were seen to step in to help raise one of two eggs laid by another penguin pair, Wotsit and Peach.

The zoo’s bird experts carefully shared the eggs between the two nests to help give both chicks the best possible start and help improve chances of successful fledging, and now keepers say the chicks are just ‘days away’ from taking the plunge into their very first swimming lessons at the zoo’s Penguin Island habitat.

10 rare Humboldt penguins have hatched at Chester Zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo

As part of a long-standing zoo tradition, conservationists pick a different naming theme for the chicks each year, and this year’s cohort have been named after stars and celestial wonders – with some of the chicks being Ursa, Alcyone, Orion, Dorado, and Cassiopeia.

“10 chicks hatching in one season marks a bumper year for the penguins here,” commented Zoe Sweetman, who is the Team Manager of Penguins at Chester Zoo.

“It’s fantastic news for the species and a brilliant success for the international conservation breeding programme. The fluffy new arrivals are all being looked after brilliantly by their parents, having nearly quadrupled in size since they first emerged.

Read more:

“They’re now days away from a really exciting milestone – their very first swimming lessons, which is always a thrill to witness as they dive into the pool for the very first time.”

Featured Image – Chester Zoo

More News

Manchester music festival drops Bob Vylan after Glastonbury chants

Audio

Bob Vylan dropped from Manchester music festival following Glastonbury controversy

new food hall opening in Ryland building old Debenhams department store Manchester

Eats

The first new tenant of the old Debenhams department store on Market Street has been confirmed

Live music crowd

Audio

Manchester crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches