A Manchester cafe is giving away massive prizes in a Willy Wonka-style giveaway, with golden tickets hidden in its cakes.
Loaf MCR, which has sites on Oxford Street, Affinity Living, and in Selfridges Trafford Centre, will be hiding the golden tickets beneath its mini loaf cakes.
Anyone lucky enough to find one will win prizes including two tickets to see Jason Manford with a chance to meet him, a meal for four at Bundobust, and a Birthday Party Cake Package worth £200 from Loaf.
The golden tickets are going to be hiding underneath Loaf’s Willy Wonka-inspired special loaf, a super-chocolatey chocolate sponge with a smooth ganache centre and a white chocolate-infused buttercream.
The cake is then topped with colourful sweets inspired by Roald Dahl’s classic tale, like a swirly lollipop, fizzy sweets, popping candy and pink mushroom foams.
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A golden ticket sticker will be hidden in five of the £4.50 loaf cakes between Monday 27 November and Sunday 10 December.
Loaf MCR wants to spread a little festive cheer as Christmas approaches and is offering Mancs five chances to win big.
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As well as the three massive prizes already announced, there are still two top-secret rewards to be revealed.
Inside Loaf’s all-pink cafe on Oxford Street. Credit: The Manc GroupLoaf’s doing a huge golden ticket giveaway to spread Christmas cheer. Credit: Loaf MCR
Aiden Ryan, founder of Loaf MCR, said: “We love to play with nostalgia and Willy Wonka gives just that! We love that we can infuse Christmas with a little bit of magic.
“At Loaf, we believe in giving people great experiences, and what better way than to start the Festive season with a treasure hunt?
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“We’ve partnered with some great Manchester businesses to make this happen!”
There’ll be a limited number of the special-edition Willy Wonka loaf cakes available.
Once all five golden tickets have been found, there’ll be one last chance to win ‘The Golden Key’, which will get you free coffee and cake from Loaf MCR for a year.
But you won’t be able to find the golden key through cake – this prize will be given to someone nominated by the community of Manchester, and will reward someone who deserves something special this Christmas.
Prizes including in the Loaf MCR Willy Wonka giveaway
A Birthday Party Cake Package worth £200 from Loaf MCR, including 50 mini loaf cakes and a birthday cake.
Ultimate Christmas Dinner for four at Bundobust, Indian street food and craft beer specialists, to taste their festive menu. (Yes, your first drink on the house too!)
Two tickets to see Manchester’s favourite comedian Jason Manford live at the AO Arena and a meet and greet.
Two more prizes to be revealed this week…
The Loaf MCR x Willy Wonka giveaway will run from Monday 27 November until Sunday 10 December.
Inside Manchester’s new padel club with a Pot Kettle Black cafe and courtside cocktail bar
Daisy Jackson
Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the world, and it’s really picking up speed in Manchester now too with another city centre club opening this month.
The Pollen Club is a little different to the others, in that it’s fully undercover and protected from Manchester’s less-than-favourable weather.
And another thing that makes it a must-visit is the cafe attached to it – a third site for the beloved Pot Kettle Black.
The Pollen Club and Pot Kettle Black have both taken over a prominent city centre spot just off Deansgate, at the foot of the recently-opened Treehouse Hotel.
There are two state-of-the-art padel courts inside, with a mezzanine terrace for enjoy Pot Kettle Black’s offerings.
In summer, there are plans to launch a bar downstairs too, where you can sip spritzes courtside from loungers and swing seats.
The exciting new Manchester padel club will host pop up events, DJ takeovers and an extended evening food offering.
Pot Kettle Black are part of the new padel clubInside Manchester’s new padel club, The Pollen ClubPot Kettle Black are part of the new padel club
And even if you’re not heading inside The Pollen Club, Pot Kettle Black has a grab-and-go hatch facing onto Blackfriars Street, making their delicious coffees, sandwiches and pastries (from their own bakery Half Dozen Other) even more accessible.
Commenting on the opening of the new site, Pot Kettle Black co-owner, Mark Flanagan said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have opened our third Pot Kettle Black site at The Padel Club. This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team.
“After ten years in the city we’ve been enjoying seeing some familiar faces stopping by for a coffee and we can’t wait to get started on our programme of summer events!”
Insomnia Cookies is giving away FREE cookies to anyone with these two names
Emily Sergeant
Manchester’s late-night sweet treat spot Insomnia Cookies is dishing out freebies this week… but there’s a catch.
You have to be called one of two specific names to get one.
With the long bank holiday weekend upon us, those in-the-know will also have noticed that this Sunday isn’t just Easter Sunday, it also happens to be 4/20… and that means Insomnia Cookies is back with its ‘blazing’ £4.20 deal, giving you the chance to bag a box of four warm cookies while saving nearly £7 at the same time.
But even better still, if you happen to have either the first or middle name ‘Mary’ or ‘Jane’, then you can also get yourself a warm tasty cookie for free.
To mark both 4/20, and celebrate the launch of its newest strain of mouthwatering cookie, the Mary Jane, anyone called Mary or Jane can pop into either of Insomnia Cookies’ two Manchester city centre sites – Cross Street and University Green – show their valid ID with their name on, and walk alway with a cookie free of charge.
If you want to try the new Mary Jane cookie, then this limited-edition special is made up of a cookies n cream dough base, packed with rainbow sprinkles.
The freebie deal has been running all week, and you have up until 3am on Monday 21 April to take advantage of it.
Customers will be limited to one free cookie per day.
Insomnia Cookies is giving away free cookies to anyone with these two names / Credit: Insomnia Cookies UK
If you aren’t lucky enough to be called one of those two names though, then thankfully you can still make some great savings on a classic four-pack of cookies over the spring bank holiday weekend, and for every four-pack sold, £1 will be donated to Groundwork – a charity helping make Manchester greener for nature and for local people.
“We’re calling for Marys and Janes to join us to live the high life with free cookies all week,” commented Millie Ralston, Head of Marketing at Insomnia Cookies.
Daisy Jackson -
28th November 2023 
