A seven year old boy from Stockport has managed to raise a whopping £470 and counting for Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home ahead of the festive period.
Harley – a passionate animal lover from Marple Bridge – became an official donations collector for the local rescue shelter after beginning a two-week mission earlier this month to raise funds and treat the dogs who are sadly without homes this Christmas.
A registered charity founded in 1893, Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home carries out vital work at its Harpurhey shelter to rescue, care for, and rehome our four-legged friends, but winter is always a tricky time.
And this is why Harley wanted to lend a helping hand.
Rallying together his friends, family and the local Stockport community, Harley asked for donations of tinned dog food, treats, toys, and even old bedding and blankets.
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He also started a GoFundMe page for his mission, setting an initial target of just £20.
But with a little help from his Mum – who shared his fundraising efforts to social media and garnered hundreds of responses from members of the public – Harley managed to smash his target not once, but twice, and has now raised over £470.
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How brilliant is this?
Items and funds were donated from all across the local community, and in no time at all, Harley had managed to fill his conservatory at home with toys, food, blankets, towels, treats, leads, dog coats, dog beds and more.
Everything a pup could ever need.
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Word also made its way to higher places too, as the young fundraiser proudly received a visit, letter of encouragement, and donation of items this week from Marple Councillor and Chair of Economy & Regeneration Steve Gibbon, as well as a £10 voucher from pet supplies chain Pets at Home towards his collection.
He even earned himself a worthy shoutout on the Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home Facebook page too, with a post that went on to amass over 800 interactions and shares, as well as plenty of messages of support from far and wide praising his impressive fundraising efforts.
There’s no doubt he is making everyone proud after what has been a turbulent year, and his Mum has told us he is “so grateful to everyone who has donated items or money” over the past couple of weeks and are continuing to do so.
After hitting his target, Harley has decided that a chunk of the £450 raised will go directly to the home to help contribute to their vets bills.
And with just four weeks to go until Christmas Day, his mission still isn’t over.
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Harley’s fundraising collection for the Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home is still open until 4th December.
Whether it be donations of items or funds, anyone can get involved, so if you have few extra pounds to spare to contribute to a worthy local cause this Christmas and help out a real Mancunian superstar, you can chip in to his official GoFundMe page here.
More information on the lifesaving work by the Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home can be found via its website here.
You can get a mobile massage treatment in your office – just like us
Thomas Melia
We’d like to introduce you to the pioneering personalised service offering massage treatments on the move at practically any location including direct from your office– including to those of us here in Manchester.
In a world where you can get practically anything delivered straight to your door, it wasn’t going to be long until some genius invented a way to get a massage from the comfort of your own office.
Named ‘London’s first digital beauty concierge’, Ruuby have been pampering the nation’s capital for almost a decade before branching out to further locations.
The gorgeous set up provided by RuubyLook at that lovely branding on the towels.They did wonders with our otherwise plain downstairs office space. (Credit: The Manc Group)
In October 2024, the company expanded beyond its domestic reach in the likes of the capital, the Cotswolds and Surrey into Europe, making its first mark Switzerland: the perfect country for both luxury and essential beauty treatments with a tailored experience.
The month following saw the group moving up North and all the way to Manchester, where people can now book professional treatments best suited to them, right on their doorstep.
If you’re feeling scepticalstill, you can take it from us here at The Manc; we couldn’t tell you how relaxing and comforting these massages are.
There are a range of treatments available and we opted for two bespoke massages, a sports massage and a deep tissue massage.
Each experience is suited to your personal needs meaning each massage therapist will be able to fine-tune their relaxation abilities to what benefits you best.
After choosing the bespoke massage that I felt would work best for me, I went into this with no prior massage experience and I came out feeling taller, broader and more refreshed. Highly recommend.
Mid-day office massage? Yes, please.How relaxing. What a shame you have to go back to work after!Credit: The Manc Group
My masseuse guided me throughout the whole process and we soon discovered that I was able to tolerate much harder pressure than I thought which helped release tension I didn’t even know I had!
The same applies to how firm you’d like your session to be, as the masseuse can help with a brief overview of your time together, but the amount of pressure you like is down to personal preference.
It’s not just massages either: there’s everything from waxing, nails and hair to physio and IV drips; how about getting Marbella ready in less than an hour with a spray tan service set up wherever you are?
As Ruuby is a mobile and remote work environment, there are a number of at any time up and down the country, meaning your next beauty slot could be as little as an hour away, find out more HERE.
Farm shops are cool now – and Albion Farm Shop is the best of the best
Daisy Jackson
At some point in life, your idea of a great day out switches from drinking and clubbing to visiting a farm shop, or a garden centre, or something similarly wholesome.
And up in the hills above Manchester is surely one of the best in the UK – Albion Farm Shop.
This Saddleworth favourite is half-cafe, half-shop, with produce all either grown right outside, or sourced as locally as possible.
And while places like Hollies Farm Shop in Cheshire pull in seriously big, glamorous crowds (maybe it’s the Molly-Mae effect), there’s something much more charming and authentic about Albion Farm Shop.
Maybe it’s the tractors parked outside, the fact the produce section is in a drafty barn, the mismatched shelves and cabinets. It’s not curated like this – it just is.
The food in the cafe itself is up there with the best British grub in the North West, and I say that with my hand on my heart.
Whether it’s a full breakfast spilling over the edge of a plate, sandwiches served in a doorstop of bread, or a full menu of burgers made with British beef cap and smoked bone marrow patties, you can’t steer far wrong.
Rag pudding at Albion Farm ShopChips with a side of bone broth gravy Those huge burgers
There are chunky chips served with a full bowl of bone stock gravy on the side (hello, this is Oldham), onion rings so big you can wear them as a bangle, and big bowls of homemade soup.
And it would be remiss of me not to mention the rag pudding, a traditional dish from this neck of the woods. Famously, she’s not a pretty menu item, but this steamed suet pastry stuffed with braised beef shin is comforting and delicious.
If you want to stick northern fare but don’t fancy rag pudding, you can also grab a wedge of cheese and onion pie, lambs liver with mash, or any number of seasonal specials (for us, it was roast pork).
There are cracking views of the surrounding countryside, a resident cat who’s usually sleeping in the entranceway, and charm packed into every square foot.
Albion Farm Shop is at Oldham Road, Delph, Saddleworth OL3 5RQ.
The resident cat at Albion Farm ShopRoast pork in the cafeThe Albion Farm Shop cafeAlbion Farm ShopInside the shop itselfThe produce barn Local cheesesBakery itemsThe produce barn
Emily Sergeant -
25th November 2020 
