From football star Marcus Rashford to Corrie queen Julie Hesmondhalgh, there were some Mancs who inspired us more than any others in 2021.
It really was a year to be proud of our home city and its people, whether they were born here or drawn here.
We wanted to honour and celebrate the individuals who make such a big impact and help to build Manchester into the best city in the world.
So we launched our Manc of the Month series back in the summer, and rounded up some seriously impressive figures.
Here are all the Mancunians we’ve celebrated in 2021.
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Marcus Rashford
Credit: BBC / Paul Cooper
What a year it’s been for Marcus Rashford – both on and off the pitch.
The Wythenshawe-born Manchester United and England star has dedicated his own time and money, tirelessly and consistently, to various causes.
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His most significant project has been his mission to #EndChildFoodPoverty, which has seen him take on MPs, partner with FareShare UK, and team up with chef Tom Kerridge for a series of affordable recipe ideas.
Towards the end of 2020, Rashford also launched his own book club, with 50,000 books donated to schools.
Julie Hesmondhalgh is a Coronation Street icon – but it’s her work away from the cobbles that really makes her such an inspiration.
Most recently, Julie was spotted volunteering at a vaccine centre in Tameside.
The actress is also a patron of charities Trans Media Watch, Maundy Relief, Marple Drama, WAST, Manchester People’s Assembly, Reuben’s Retreat, The Alex Williams Believe and Achieve Trust, and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation – seriously, a busy woman.
Her tireless work to end austerity, protect the NHS, and look after Manchester’s vital cultural scene makes her a worthy addition to our Mancs of the Year list.
The Wanted star Tom Parker received the devastating news that he had a terminal inoperable brain tumour, known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), back in October 2020.
Ever since, he’s worked to raise awareness for brain tumours, saying there are ‘massive improvements’ to be made in both treatment and research.
In an emotion post on social media earlier this year, Tom confirmed that his tumour is stable.
It’s allowed him to rejoin his bandmates for a new album – Most Wanted: Greatest Hits – and to take to the stage one more time.
Mary-Ellen is one of the most inspiring Mancs of 2021.
When s*** hit the fan back in March 2020, a lot of us locked ourselves away with Tiger King and Zoom quizzes.
But not Mary-Ellen. Faced with a restaurant full of good produce, she rallied with other business owners to get tasty, homemade meals out to the most vulnerable people in Greater Manchester.
It was a remarkable effort launched at break-neck speed, but it didn’t stop there.
Eat Well MCR is still, almost two years later, providing meals to those affected by food inequality – you can donate via their Give Support page.
Manchester just wouldn’t be Manchester without art.
Right at the forefront of our modern cultural scene is Akse-P19, an artist who creates photo-realistic murals right across the region.
They’re not just stunning works of art though – they’re symbols of hope, unity, and peace.
This inspiring Manc has created significant works including a giant portrait of Marcus Rashford, a multi-storey mural of late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis for World Mental Health Day in 2020, and a tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Bev Craig has recently taken up the mantel as leader of Manchester City Council after Sir Richard Leese stepped down after more than 25 years in the role.
She is both the first woman and the first openly-gay councillor to lead our local council, something she says is the ‘honour of her life’.
She’s dedicated to creating a fairer, cleaner, safer, greener and more supportive city.
Yungblud channels a bit of magic that’d make Ozzy proud on huge headline night in Manchester
Danny Jones
A darkened arena erupts into life as Yungblud storms the AO Arena main stage for his biggest Manchester show to date.
He flickers across the giant screens, projected against a curtain that stretches the full width of the AO Arena. Then that unmistakable Doncaster drawl cuts through the noise, urging the audience to make some noise (even more of it), and they oblige – gladly.
When the lights come up, a barrage of lights flickers, pyrotechnics explode, and chaos ensues. Manchester crowds are no strangers to Yungblud; he’s a livewire performer with seemingly endless energy, a proclivity for raw emotion, and a fiercely loyal fanbase: the self-proclaimed ‘Black Hearts Club’.
Dressed in a grungy pair of Chrome Hearts leather trousers, a leopard-print waistcoat and sunglasses so thick he could look directly at the sun with no issues, he tears straight into the opening track (Hello Heaven, Hello) with barely a second to breathe.
He then pauses – hands extended to the crowd, a cheeky grin – and bang: confetti fills the room.
If previous Manchester shows hinted at his stamina, this one confirms it. The scale may be bigger, but the intensity hasn’t dipped. The floor quickly becomes a sea of movement, with mosh pits swelling and collapsing in waves, sending bodies ricocheting across the arena.
It’s the kind of gig where you’re never quite safe from getting drenched either – water cups are less for drinking and more for launching, with sprays arcing out over the front rows like some kind of punk rock baptism of fire. So many flames.
The audience was on the ball; at one point, Yungblud’s comb was hurled into the crowd. Showgoers in the area tussled over the item for a minute before returning to the mayhem unfolding around them.
Part conductor, part chaos agent, part mic-wielding cowboy, he commands the room with ease. The mic stand, placed in front of him between each song by the production team, is repeatedly cast to the back of the stage, and he flails the mic above his head on more than one occasion – always catching it again before it can strike anyone else. It’s reckless, but never careless.
Because beneath the sweat and noise, there’s something more deliberate at play. His speeches on identity, equality, belonging and mental health feel less like interludes and more like the backbone of the entire night.
This isn’t just performance: it’s a space he’s actively shaping, one where thousands feel seen. Towards the back end of the set, he invites the whole crowd to look left and right and tell each other how much they f***ing love one another.
Tracks like ‘Loner’, ‘Lowlife’ and ‘Zombie’ land with particular weight, their messages amplified by a crowd that knows every word. At one point, the lights swing out over the audience, and for a moment the focus shifts – not just to the performer, but to the community he’s built.
With a touching tribute to the late, great Ozzy Osbourne, Yungblud is visibly emotional, with tears in his eyes for his dearly departed friend. And if the ringing in my ears is anything to go by, I’m pretty sure Ozzy heard it and was looking down with pride.
If you haven’t guessed by now, Yungblud knows how to command a room, but things definitely took a turn when he invited a member of the crowd on stage.
Holding a poster that read something along the lines of “I can play guitar”, she was brought up and proceeded to absolutely bring the house down, performing alongside him for a song. Daisy, hats off – you absolutely SMASHED it.
Congratulations are in order as well to the happy couple who got engaged at the gig. We really hope your first dance is to a Yungblud track.
Even in a venue of this size, he moves like he’s trying to outpace it; sprinting, leaping, barely standing still long enough to catch a breath. It’s hard not to feel like this is still just a stepping stone. Because if he can command a room like this with such force, it’s not a stretch to imagine Yungblud scaling even bigger stages before long.
Loud, relentless and emotionally charged, this wasn’t just a gig, it was a statement – a place to escape the struggles of day-to-day life and bolster an ever-growing community built on all the right things: acceptance, harmony, and just a little bit of chaos. In short, he’s welcome back anytime.
The adorable open farm in Bolton where you can hold baby lambs, bunnies, and chicks this spring
Emily Sergeant
Just outside of Manchester, nestled within 70-acres of rolling countryside, you’ll find Smithills Open Farm – the perfect place for a spring day out.
Smithills Open Farm – tucked away in the picturesque Bolton countryside, beside the historic Smithills Hall and former Coaching House – is, to this day, still owned and operated by the Grimshaw family who have farmed in the area for more than 100 years, and is, by its own admission, a family-run business where children ‘have the time of their lives’ and ‘nothing sits still’.
Anthony Grimshaw moved to Smithills in 1986 with his own young family to start a dairy farm, and ever since then, was encouraged by Bolton Council open a visitor attraction.
The farm went from solely being a working farm to officially ‘opening’ to the public all the way back in 2001, and it’s fair to say it’s gone from strength to strength ever since.
From a huge expansion in 2015, to installing its own dairy and pasteurising plant in 2018, weathering a COVID lockdown where Bolton was one of the worst-hit areas nationally, and going viral on social media, Smithills is showing no signs of slowing down.
At Smithills Open Farm, you’ll find dozens of animals all cohabiting peacefully.
We’re talking everything from the ‘typical’ animals you’d expect to see on a farm like cows, pigs, sheep, goats, donkeys, ducks, rabbits, and horses, to the more exotic kind of residents like alpacas, llamas, emus, and wallabies, as well as meerkats, porcupines, snakes, tortoises and turtles, and so many more.
And thanks to the popular ‘Pets Corner’ and regular tractor rides taking place throughout the day, visitors are able to see, feed, and even hold the animals for themselves.
Smithills Open Farm in Bolton is the perfect spring day out / Credit: The Manc Group
Animal care and education is truly at the heart of everything they do at Smithills Open Farm.
Owners and staff alike pride themselves on giving the animals the ‘best life possible’, while allowing the public to enjoy them too and learn about all the incredible species along the way.
Not only does the farm hold a number of hugely important licenses to operate in the way it does – including a registered Zoo Licence – but it’s also doing a lot to help with the conservation of some rare breeds of animals too, by both allowing customers to see and learn about them, and even overseeing its own breeding to increase numbers.
The animals may be the stars of the show, but it’s only one half of what makes Smithills so special, as it’s remained a working dairy farm all along and supplies milk and a wide range of other products to thousands of households across Bolton.
The farm is also known and loved for its ice creamery and dairy products / Credit: The Manc Group
On site, you’ll also find a shop selling all the products the farm produces, as well as goods from other local sellers, and adorable gifts to take home with you too.
And, of course, how could we forget to give a shoutout to the ice creamery?
People travel from far and wide just to get their fix of these adventurous flavours – and it’s honestly not hard to see why.
Smithills Open Farm is open from 10am-5pm all year round, but as you’d expect, it’s at its cutest (and busiest) around the spring time and school holidays. Whether you want to visit as a family, or organise a school trip, the farm aims to cater for your every need.
Daisy Jackson -
31st December 2021 
