The Alan, one of Manchester’s newest hotels, is giving away hundreds of rooms for just £1.
The hospitality newcomer has transformed the old Princess Street Hotel into a design-led space that blends the building’s existing industrial details with luxury touches like marble and velvet.
The striking six-storey hotel has a bar and restaurant on the ground floor, with an open kitchen and pop-up event space.
There are 137 rooms at The Alan, ranging in size from ‘the standard’ to the Alan Suites. Each one features high ceilings, warm textures and shades of blush pink, sage green and taupe.
The Alan is giving away rooms for £1. Credit: Supplied
Every room comes with an Emperor-sized bed, 200 thread Egyptian cotton bedding, 50″ Samsung Smart TVs with Google Chromecast, fast WiFi and Audio Pro Bluetooth speakers.
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And now, to give Mancs a chance to experience the building’s makeover, The Alan will be giving away overnight stays for just £1.
There’ll be 365 rooms up for grabs for a quid – to enter, all you need to do is sign up to The Alan’s newsletter to be entered into the raffle.
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The Alan in Manchester. Credit: Supplied
The winners of the raffle will be chosen on Friday 15 April, and sent details of how to book their £1 room.
The Alan opened back in February, showing off a beautiful new interior, including a huge patchwork floor in the lobby made up of different slabs of marble.
Interior design agency Red Deer, which worked on the project, said it wants to ‘counter-act the wastefulness of the construction industry, creating intriguing touchpoints that celebrate the inherent value found in old materials that may be classed by some as ‘defective’ or ‘broken’’.
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Bathrooms in The Alan suites. Credit: Supplied
The Alan is championing local businesses in both its rooms and its communal spaces, with Ancoats Coffee Co and Bohea Teas stocked in the rooms and Pomona Island and Cloudwater beers behind the bar.
Its new restaurant and bar space serves an all-day seasonal menu, headed up by Iain Thomas, formerly of the Edinburgh Castle.
Iain has worked in kitchens since he was 16 and will use some ingredients from his own allotment in his menu, which features dishes like Cheshire beef tartare with confit egg yolk, salt-baked celeriac, and lamb fat cabbage.
The Butcher’s Quarter provides the meat for the larger plates, from grass-fed sirloin steaks to free-range pork and Gatehouse Farm lamb chops.
You can ‘run and rave’ as part of this new charity-driven social in Manchester city centre
Danny Jones
If you’re looking for a fun new way to spend a night out or thinking about getting into running but maybe haven’t quite found the right way in for you just yet, this new Manchester run socialthat starts and ends with a good old-fashioned party might be right up your street.
Run The Streets MCR is a community-led and charity-driven fitness and social event that recently launched in Manchester and has already developed a bit of a cult following in the space of only a couple of months.
The concept is simple: it’s a running social where you can meet new people whilst getting your yards in, just not quite as you know it. Instead of people turning up for a 5k and then heading home, the fun carries on at a host venue where people can keep chatting and mingling whilst having a boogie.
And the best part is that not only is it more of a causally paced, low-pressure jog and crucially social-first, but it’s all for a good cause too.
Started out by East Manchester locals and lifelong mates, Liam Parker-Worsley and Sarah Edwards, (‘Sezzle’ to those who know her among the Manc running circles), Run The Streets started out as a running social concept at its very core but has now become truly bigger than the sum of its parts.
While the ‘run and rave’ idea has been done before, this particular event is the first of its kind in Greater Manchester and after facing some serious obstacles to get it off the ground and plenty of adversity at the very first hurdle – for lack of a less punny phrase – they’ve managed to turn it into a force for good.
After pivoting the model at the start of 2024 to be completely non-profit, the monthly event is now helping bring people together for a good time, from the tarmac to the tiles, all whilst raising money for the likes of The Running Charity (TRC).
Not only do all the proceeds from the super affordable tickets – we’re talking the same price you’d pay for a decent pint in town these days – go straight back into running the next social, but they also help fund the chosen charity for that month.
Be it national causes like TRC, which recently received huge support from the incredible ‘Hardest Geezer‘s run across Africa, or charities strictly local to Manchester, everyone involved is striding towards a goal – quite literally.
Meet the team behind the new non-profit run social in Manchester.
Offering a different kind of night out
Speaking to The Manc, co-creator Sezzle says the mission statement is simple: “Everyone’s welcome and you can meet new people whilst running but at the same time we’re giving back to the community.
“We’re supporting local charities, artists and DJs, as well as local running clubs who want to get involved. Essentially, it’s just about bringing people together, which is what run clubs do, but we’re also in a big city and not everyone wants to go out and just drink at a bar all night.
“You want to keep fit, it’s good for your mental health, but you also still want to be social and enjoy yourself. Run The Streets is that Mancunian through and through but everyone’s invited.”
Sober for five months now, she acknowledged that outlets like this are crucial, insisting: “I don’t want to stop going out and having a good time or meeting new people, so this is a way that you can still go out on a Friday night and enjoy a party atmosphere with no pressure to drink”.
This is what the start of a night in trainers, hi-vis and glow sticks looks like. (Credit: Supplied)
The ‘by Manchester for Manchester’ ethos
Her partner in crime Liam echoed that party-run description, reiterating that whilst people can still get a bit boozy if they like, it’s all about “providing an alternative for anyone who doesn’t want to drink and want to be included but might have felt a little alienated otherwise”.
A fellow Tameside native, he explained how Run The Streets has already partnered with zero-alcohol brands like Clean Break for their inaugural event back in March and now alcohol-free favourite Lucky Saint for their sophomore social this month.
“It’s not about the financial aspect for us”, says Liam, “we only charge for tickets to sustain the event and pay for the talent, hiring spaces and so on… It might be different venues, different charities etc., but as long as we focus on core issues to Manchester with a cultural element that’s important to us, we’re happy with that”.
Sez couldn’t agree more, adding: “At the end of the day, we’re Mancs, we’ve watched the city grow into what it is today. When it comes down to it everyone knows about the Manchester spirit, it’s a hard-working area and there’s such a community to this place – we want to make sure everyone feels welcome.
“We look out for each other. That’s how it’s always been.”
Their recent running event with Matchroom ahead of the Gill vs Barrett fight at AO Arena. (Credit: Run The Streets MCR)
Roots in the running and wider Greater Manchester community
Chatting with Tom Lewis, founder of Manchester’s annual 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness and Chairman for the Run The Street’s official host club, Manchester Road Runners, he said that they became interested because they “really liked the idea of sponsoring different charities every month”.
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Confessing that it felt like “a natural crossover” given MRR’s size and ethos, as well as their own non-profit work with the British Heart Foundation and Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, he said the “overall response from the first event was incredible – everyone just loved it”.
“There were people dancing on the streets as they saw us come past and there were so many videos on social media. That sort of stuff can really help get people into running who wouldn’t necessarily consider it in the first place.”
“I think it’s going to grow really quickly; the first event sold out and I think the next ones will too, definitely. It’s great to see what just a random group of friends can accomplish when we come together.”
Manchester Road Runners is helping bring huge numbers to the event already.
Liam himself couldn’t speak highly enough of the Castlefield-based group, insisting that “me and Sez find a lot of happiness and solace” at MRR.
While they are affiliated with others like KOKO (Keep On Keeping On’s Manchester arm) and Stretford Run Club that they want to help promote, the hope is that events like this might help people who run but don’t attend a club might give them a try in the future.
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Regular ambassador and volunteer at both organisations, Natasha Barclay – who herself is over a year into her own sobriety journey – described the flagship event as “such good fun, really welcoming” and filled with plenty of people who had never even run before.
Nat also urged people not to be scared if they’re first-timers to run socials or running full stop, reassuring that “no one gets left behind; even if you can’t really run, you’ll always make it back, have a good time and meet others in the same boat”.
She went on to add: “Run The Streets MCR is all about giving back to the running community which I think can often get overshadowed by social media and certain brands. The spirit can sometimes get taken out of it but this run social puts its straight back in whilst helping Manchester business and DJs.”
When we asked the guys to sum this whole experience up in three words or less that weren’t ‘rave and run’, they came up with some pretty telling answers too. “Community, soul and fun”, “alternative Friday fun” and our personal favourite: “Simply for Manchester”.
It’s also worth reiterating that these guys have done it completely off their own backs and are doing so on an entirely voluntary basis on top of their full-time jobs, sometimes juggling two or three different roles. It’s been built over countless late nights and dinner hours, all for the love of running and the city.
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The second ever Run The Streets MCR running social and party kicks off this Friday, 26 April from 7pm at Joshua Brooks, with a light 5k around our lovely city centre starting at 7:30pm before heading back to the venue for more tunes, dancing, glowsticks and general good vibes from 8pm onwards.
You can grab the last few remaining tickets HERE and we hope to see a few of you there on the night.
Come rain or shine, there’s always tunes to keep you going.The turnout at the last Run The Streets Manchester social at The Deaf Institute.Credit: Supplied/The Manc Group
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Run The Streets MCR
City Centre
Jackass star Bam Margera cancels Manchester shows due to ‘injury’ after street fight video emerges
Danny Jones
Former Jackass star Bam Margera has had to cancel both of his Manchester shows just hours before the first event was supposed to take place due to injury.
The skater, TV personality, filmmaker and former stunt performer is currently in the UK for his Q&A tour and live interview series with DJ and presenter Matt Stocks, having recently played in Glasgow and a pair of shows in the Republic of Ireland.
However, the 44-year-old has unexpectedly had to cancel both of his intimate conversation dates at Gorilla in the city centre, with the venue citing “unforeseen complications emerging from a recent injury”.
He was set to play this evening and again next week on Tuesday, 30 April, with the shows billed as somewhat of a meet and greet with Margera and him “talking from the heart”.
INFO REGARDING BAM MARGERA SHOWS ON 23RD/30TH APRIL
"Due to unforeseen complications emerging from a recent injury, it is with regret that this tour is now cancelled. We are sorry to those excited to meet Bam on this tour. Refunds will be available from point of purchase" pic.twitter.com/4OGQ6hUZVq
While details surrounding how the scrap arose and the identity of the other man in the video still remain scarce, Margera has officially claimed self-defence. He can be heard shouting several expletives in the man’s direction throughout the altercation.
Responding to what he called a ‘bum fight’ on his other Instagram page, he tells 911: “Get a police officer here. Los Angeles Police Department is fucking worthless…
“You should be ashamed of yourselves… It’s been two hours of us trying to sleep and, fucking, this dude’s throwing shit everywhere and nobody showed up.”
Speaking to TMZ, a representative from his team reiterated that the unidentified male was the aggressor and eventually exited the situation with both parties leaving without injury at the time.
That being said, is still unclear as to whether the incident and the cancellation of his Gorilla shows in Manchester are linked.
Offering a separate statement directly, he added: “I’m not going to be threatened or attacked without defending myself and my friends or people trying to just walk by this idiot, I aimed only to neutralize the threat and ensure the safety of my crew.”
Bam’s rep told the outlet that the altercation ended with no injuries and the aggressor eventually departed and he is still yet to issue a response after calling off the remainder of his dates.
Daisy Jackson -
12th April 2022 
