We all know how important community is, whether it’s sharing a BBQ with your neighbours or calling on each other for help.
But how many of us are so proud of our communities that we’d dedicate our lives – and all of our free time – to protecting it?
One man in Droylsden does exactly that, spending 365 nights a week patrolling the streets, keeping an eye out for disturbances and burglaries.
This is Andy (and his dog Shadow) from Crimewatchers, a project he set up in 2020 to help tackle crime across Droylsden and Audenshaw.
Andy and Shadow from Crimewatchers. Credit: The Manc Group
The work of Crimewatchers has evolved since then, and is now a valuable scheme supporting people from all walks of life.
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Andy will never turn away a vulnerable person in need, or from his neighbourhood, from helping out with litter picking to arranging Easter egg hunts for local children.
They can arrange to have free locks fitted for vulnerable people, help elderly neighbours who have had a fall, and hand out selection boxes at Christmas.
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From 11pm every night of the year, Andy and his beloved German Shepherd Shadow are out helping others, no questions asked.
Andy and Shadow from Crimewatchers. Credit: The Manc Group
Andy said: “Every single night. Bank holidays. We’ve just worked all Jubilee Weekend. We’ll work Christmas, we’ll work New Year, we’ll work it all.
“We help anybody who needs it. Sometimes we find people who need help when we’re out patrolling, other times people get in touch with us – and if we can help them, we will.
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“We’ve not got enough people to patrol outside Droylsden and Audenshaw but that doesn’t mean we’d turn down a request for help from outside that area.
“The community have got us to where we’ve got to, their response has been amazing.
“As you can imagine at first, the police were quite concerned about who we were and what we were up to at night, but the community 100% had our backs. Everything we’ve done, the community have supported us.
“It’s going from strength to strength and that’s because of the residents.”
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As much as Andy helps others, he receives plenty of love in return, which was never more apparent than when his old dog Sabre died.
He said: “Everybody loved Sabre. He was the boss, the leader of the group. Without Sabre, I wouldn’t have got Crimewatchers off the ground. People really took to him and his nature. We came as a duo. When he passed away, it was really sudden and instant.
Andy and Shadow from Crimewatchers. Credit: The Manc Group
“But the community really rallied around me, in an instant they set up a GoFundMe and raised over £2000 for me, so I could get a new companion.
“Shadow is a community dog. He lives with me but I see him as part of the community. Everybody loves him, just as they did with Sabre.
“Somebody attempted to stab me a few nights ago and when I posted that on Facebook it got a lot of engagement – but then a video of Shadow will get two million views. People love him.
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“He’s not a working dog. He patrols with us but as a pet.
Andy and Shadow from Crimewatchers. Credit: The Manc Group
“When I get called to a job, especially if someone’s being aggressive or there’s a situation, I’d never get him out of the car. He’s not a deterrent, he’ll never bite anybody, he’s not an attack dog.
“Shadow will just sit there, not barking, just watching – he would never do anything, he’s a pet and a mascot and a friend. I’d never put him in danger.”
One of Andy’s fondest memories from his work with Crimewatchers is when he was called out to help an elderly man who had had a fall and couldn’t get up, but was unharmed.
He said: “His Mrs rang us and said it’s not an emergency but she really needed help and didn’t want to call for an ambulance.
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Andy and Shadow from Crimewatchers. Credit: The Manc Group
“He was at his most vulnerable but they trusted us to come into their home and help, and that is massive for us.
“It was no effort really, we were already out and about, but for him, on the floor and not knowing when he’d be able to get up, it was huge.
“That kind of support – the fact that people can call someone when they can’t get hold of family in the middle of the night and they don’t want to call 999, they know they can ring us. That’s amazing.”
You can find out more about Andy and Crimewatchers with our latest instalment of Local Heroes.
You can also donate to them through their Facebook page.
Featured image: The Manc Group
Tameside
The brilliant Tameside restaurant helping turn Stalybridge into a new foodie neighbourhood
Daisy Jackson
One of Greater Manchester’s coolest new restaurants has quietly opened in recent months, and if you’re looking in the direction of Ancoats, turn around – we’re off to Stalybridge.
This often-overlooked town in Tameside has welcomed Cafe Continental, a charming little neighbourhood restaurant that feels like it’s been plucked from a pretty Parisian back street.
With its cafe curtains, red leather furniture and wood-panelled walls, it feels like the sort of local hangout that’s been here for decades.
But Cafe Continental is barely eight weeks old, and already firmly finding its feet as one of the region’s most exciting newcomers.
As with all good neighbourhood restaurants, the menu spans breakfast all the way through lunch and dinner and into cocktails, stopping off for an epic Sunday roast too.
It’s also got one of the internet’s most viral sweet treats, a proper Paris hot chocolate, where you dollop thick cream into dainty cups of molten hot chocolate.
Inside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc GroupThe Paris hot chocolate. Credit: The Manc GroupInside Cafe Continental in Stalybridge. Credit: The Manc Group
This place might have caught the attention of the social media food crowd, but it’s far from gimmicky.
On its menu you’ll find classics that will stand the test of time, like giant tiger prawns with garlic butter, ribeye beef, flame-roasted chicken, croquettes and hand-dived scallops.
There’s a lunch menu that will stop you in your tracks – think seasonal soups with wedges of bouncy focaccia, spicy twice-fried chicken buns, and a steak sandwich with fries.
There’s also an excellent cacio e pepe pasta, served with an egg yolk on top that you can pop and twirl into the pasta.
It’s co-owned and created by Ryan Robinson, who’s quick to point out that Cafe Continental isn’t the first restaurant worth travelling for in Stalybridge, which already has a deep-rooted independent food scene.
The fried chicken bun. Credit: The Manc GroupCacio e pepe pasta. Credit: The Manc Group
“We’ve already got some really good food establishments in the area,” he said, “With Gladstone and SK15 and Guiseppes, so the skeleton’s there with Stalybridge, you just need to have some meat on the bones, really.
“And obviously, like we’ve jumped in and hopefully that adds value to the area and then hopefully we see a few more drinking and dining establishments.
“There’s loads of space for development in Stalybridge, and it’s just gonna get better and better.”
Ryan says his inspiration comes from his travels to cities around Europe, and the sort of off-the-beaten-track, full-of-locals restaurants that are so often the most memorable part of a holiday.
“No matter where you are, whether it’s France or Italy or Spain, there’s always that one restaurant you seem to find that’s set in the back streets, and it’s busy and it’s noisy and the food’s amazing, and you end up having such a good time on the off chance, that you just want to tell everyone about it.
Soup and focaccia at Cafe Continental. Credit: The Manc GroupCod bites and a chicken bun. Credit: The Manc Group
“You want to stay there all night, and that was kind of the inspiration for Cafe Continental.
“We just wanted to make a really buzzy local place.”
Ryan, who previously worked as a DJ and across the hospitality industry, has always had a big passion for food.
He’s teamed up with a good friend who is his head chef, and a couple of other friends as business partners, who just ‘believed in the idea and trusted it’.
It seems to be paying off, with Cafe Continental already luring people out of the city centre to visit, and drawing in a decent returning local crowd.
Ryan finished by saying: “Support locally this Christmas – there’s a lot of great restaurants in Stalybridge and the surrounding areas that are working hard to bring people the best Christmas possible.
“So if everyone can support local, that would be amazing.”
Cafe Continental is open now at 5 Melbourne St, Stalybridge, SK15 2JE.
Tameside ambulance worker jailed after trying to murder her boss in a ‘frenzied hammer attack’
Emily Sergeant
An ambulance worker has been jailed after attempting to murder her boss in an ‘unprovoked and frenzied hammer attack’.
After what had been described as a “prolonged row” over work shift patterns, Stacey Smith, from the Tameside area of Greater Manchester, turned up outside her boss’s house in Dukinfield at 5:30am on 11 November 2023 when she knew the victim would be getting ready to leave for work, and repeatedly hit the her boss over the head with a hammer causing serious head injuries and leaving her with a broken wrist in defence.
The 46-year-old screamed at the victim during the attack that she was going to kill her.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) called Smith’s attempted murder of her boss – whom she had worked with since 2017 – an “unprovoked and frenzied hammer attack filled with rage”.
A number of neighbours came out to help the victim following the attack, giving her first aid and ensuring that the hammer that Smith left behind was covered in a plastic bag ready to be forensically examined by Crime Scene Investigators.
Smith later sent text messages to a friend after the attack saying: “I’ve done it. I’ve smashed her head in. Oppsie xx!”.
While initially telling her friend that she would “go on the run” to Liverpool, Smith instead handed herself into Ashton Police Station, and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
Following police interviews, Smith pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but denied attempting to kill her boss.
Following a hearing at Manchester Crown Court this week, Smith was charged with two counts of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and attempted murder, and sentenced to a total of 25 years – including 20 years in prison – as well as receiving a whole-life restraining order banning her from contacting the victim.
Detective Constable Stephen McNee, GMP’s Tameside Criminal Investigation Department, described this as “a particularly violent attack”.
Speaking after the sentencing this week, DC McNee said: “We are pleased with today’s result, which has seen a violent woman taken off the streets, and we hope that this goes some way to helping the victim to come to terms with what has happened to her and allows her to heal.”
Daisy Jackson -
8th July 2022 
