The people of Greater Manchester have been heaping praise on a local mum after her “random acts of crochet kindness” help to brighten their day.
Sarah Sharples – a 38-year-old mum of two – has been perfecting her crochet skills for the past six years, after teaching herself the tricky craft by simply watching tutorials on YouTube.
And earlier this week, the Salford-native decided to set aside some spare time from her full-time job at NatWest and her recently-acquired side gig as her sons’ homeschool teacher to put her keen crochet hobby to good use and help lift the spirits of her hometown’s residents by hand-crafting over 200 crochet creations and leaving them at several popular places around the city for passers-by to discover.
From MediaCity, all the way to Lightoaks Park, members of the public have been thrilled to find Sarah’s work.
It’s all part of her contribution to the UK-wide Random Acts of Crochet Kindness project and with it, she wants to convey the message of “sending love in tough times”.
“I’ve been crocheting for about six years now,” Sarah told us.
“I first bought some wool to donate to a group who crochet items for stillborn babies in hospital and thought I’d love to have a go and at least make one blanket myself maybe [so] I’m totally self-taught from YouTube videos”.
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She continued: “I decided that leaving an items at MediaCity and Lightoaks Park would just be a lovely act for kids to find while they are out and about in a time where they have struggled [with] home schooling and not seeing friends and family.
“I have made over 200 items now [including] ducks, whales, ladybirds, flowers, birds and elephants [and] my kids love to come with me and hide them either at night or early morning to be found later on”.
Sarah Sharples / Random Acts of Crochet Kindness
This isn’t the first time Sarah has using her crochet creations for the greater good though.
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Even before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic first flipped life as we once knew it on its head and temporarily locked down the world last March, Sarah would often make items to donate to various hospitals, neonatal units and maternity wards in the area, as well as creating little catnip mice for the cats at the RSPCA in Salford.
Then, when the pandemic hit, she made hundreds of ear savers – “to take pressure off ears” – for Salford Royal Hospital, local nursing homes, doctors, hairdressers and other local businesses in need.
“I also made 100 crochet hearts durning the first lockdown,” Sarah added.
“I donated [them] to the Salford Palliative Care team who planned to use them in nursing homes to give to family members who couldn’t visit and then one to the nursing home resident.”
“I also made a crochet heart for every house on my street [which is around 100], with a message of sending love in tough times… and when I saw people had put them up in their windows and that they loved them, I made every house a crochet robin for Christmas too”.
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Sarah Sharples / Random Acts of Crochet Kindness
Sarah Sharples / Random Acts of Crochet Kindness
Although the act of crocheting is known to be pretty skilled and often time-consuming work, it’s something Sarah finds great enjoyment in.
Even more so when all the effort goes towards putting a smile on the faces of Salford’s citizens, and after one of her ladybird creations was spotted in MediaCity and a photo of the find was shared to The Manc’s over 700,000-strong community of loyal Mancunians on Facebook, the praise came pouring in.
The photo amassed over 8K interactions, 475 shares and counting, and hundreds of positive comments from members of the public who were touched by Sarah’s kindness and generosity towards the fellow residents of her local community.
Sarah admitted that reading all of comments “made every second of making them so worth it”, and now, she has some big plans for the future.
“I still want to carry on leaving items at MediaCity and Lightoaks Park for as long as I can,” she revealed.
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“[But] I am also supporting #AHEART4MCR this year, where I am hoping to have 200 crochet hearts to leave around my local area as a random act of kindness to remember the [victims of the 2017 Manchester Arena Bombing]”.
Keep an eye out, Manchester.
Feature
Inside Manchester’s pro-am padel tournament where the sport shone bigger than the celebs
Harry Quick
We jumped on the court with Olympians, Footballers and TV celebrities to play the racquet sport that is sweeping the globe: let’s take a look inside the first pro-am padel tournament to ever take place in Manchester.
A host of famous faces gathered at Manchester’s newest state-of-the-art padel club, Pure Padel Manchester, for the fourth and final leg of the Pro-Am Padel Tour.
Whether it’s on social media, your mates in the office or your dad finding something as a substitute for the golf course, it seems like everywhere you look someone is telling you about the game of padel they have just had.
Countless sports personalities are getting involved which only highlights its ever-growing popularity and let me tell you, it’s clear to see why.
Household names from the world of sport and entertainment, including Olympic gold medal swimmer Adam Peaty and ex-footballers Phil Jones and Jill Scott were partnered up with top-level professionals to compete in a round-robin style tournament.
It’s fair to say even multiple gold medalists and Premier League winners had their competitive streak unleashed with this one and I’m going to say it… Peaty is definitely better in the water!
From the world of sport, we also saw former England and Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott, Olympic swimmer Matt Richards and Man United great Katie Zelem – who achieved MVP on the day despite having only played once or twice before. Well in Katie!
Taking to the court from the screen we had Coronation Street star Adam Thomas, actor and I’m a Celeb runner-up Owen Warner and Sky Sports presenter Kyle Walker.
If you are not familiar with the sport or you have been living under a rock for the past 12 months, Padel is essentially a combination of tennis and squash – but a lot easier to pick up for a first-timer.
Brushing shoulders – and racquets – with some stars at the first-ever pro-am padel event in Manchester. (Credit: The Manc Group)
It is widely considered the world’s fastest-growing sport with 30 million players enjoying the technical and social game from more than 100 countries, and is on a fast upward trajectory in the UK.
Although originating in Acapulco, Mexico in the late 60’s, it swiftly made its way over the Atlantic when Prince Alfonso of Spain built two padel courts in Marbella and the Spaniards took to it like a fish to water.
With over 4 million players from Spain, the Iberian Peninsula is considered the home of the sport but with facilities like this popping up in town, Great Britain is becoming a padel force to be reckoned with.
Pure Padel‘s indoor arena protected us from the wintery Manchester conditions for a full afternoon of non-stop action alongside a DJ throughout and some quality street food to help refuel.
One main takeaway from the day is that this is a sport that can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of age or ability. Yes, there is no denying that the professionals are different gravy and I’m sure I saw some of them give the celebs the runaround with one hand in their pocket.
Pure Padel Manchester is a great facility, by the way – no wonder the Pro-Am Tour chose it. (Credit: The Manc Group)
A few were trying the game for the very first time, so a few misplaced drop shots, nervy second serves and ‘name in the headlines’ smashes were always to be expected. As the day progressed, you could see the development in each one of the celebrities thanks to their professional partners.
Jill Scott said “It was an honour to take to the court with the pros but it’s made me realise I need a lot more practice. If you practice, you will see a big improvement quickly. It’s easy to get the bug for it.”
Whilst three-time gold medalist Adam Peaty added, “I enjoy how Padel brings out my frustration. It’s a very technical sport but it’s always fun. I’m still learning but really enjoying it.”
Although practice makes perfect, I’m not sure he’ll be swapping the goggles for a racquet any time soon. To sum it all up, the biggest takeaway from the entire experience was that it wasn’t the collective celeb presence that shone: it was was the sport itself and how big a boom it is truly enjoying.
If you fancy giving it a go for yourselves, Pure Padel Manchester over on Cheetham Hill is open to the public right now – you can find out how to book yourself HERE.
Ravyn Lenae at Gorilla Manchester – Our ‘One Wish’ was granted
Thomas Melia
This was Ravyn Lenae’s first rodeo at Gorilla and it’s safe to say she had the Manchester crowd hooked on her live set like ‘Candy’ (sorry).
Only two lines in and three puns deep but Ravyn’s performance was nothing to joke about, especially with her to-die-for vocals and killer live accompaniment.
Her most recent album and tour are both branded, Birds Eye, and while Gorilla may not be the most panoramic place in our beautiful city to overlook the Manchester skyline, the bubbly and engaging crowd sure painted a pretty well-rounded picture of the Mancunian hospitality.
The introduction to ‘Bad Idea’ feels like a spaceship descending to earth and it couldn’t be more fitting because let’s face it, an artist this good simply can’t be living on the same planet as us she’s simply out-of-this-world.
Similarly, the follow-up ‘1 of 1’ has an identical space-tech vibe with a static-filled opening and instrumental making it a perfect predecessor. These two tunes have impressive soundscapes with the live drums even more so helping to excite a sold-out venue.
Ravyn Lenae wasn’t shy on stage, commanding the Gorilla stage.Lenae appreciating the roars of the Manchester crowd.Credit: Audio North/The Manc Group
Seven tracks into the setlist, Lenae knows how to keep Gorilla at her fingertips performing hits ‘M.I.A’, ‘The Night Song’ and ‘Candy’ back-to-back-to-back – easily the holy trinity of track runs on this tour.
Taken from her debut outing Hypnos, the afrobeats and lo-fi inspired ‘M.I.A’ doubles as a dancefloor filler and an instant crowd pleaser, ironically we were lost in the music.
The middle of this three-track-run ‘The Night Song’ keeps spirits high and boosts our confidence as the 25-year-old has us singing, “Hair down, feeling alright/ Got my edges on tight, It’s a party tonight”.
Her sweet-named album track ‘Candy’ jet sets us to a tropical paradise with its reggae-fused rhythms, and after a full ten minutes of side-stepping and attempting to dance, the cold temperature outside didn’t even cross the crowd’s mind.
Besides being some of her best numbers, these three upbeat tunes take us through a small piece of her past three projects with each of the singles featuring on a different respective release from 2018 all the way up to present day.
Nothing but love from Ravyn Lenae and her crew for the Mancs.Lost in music, Lenae and band at Gorilla, Manchester.Credit: The Manc Group
Steve Lacy produced ‘Sticky’ was another standout, her rocker chic-esque vocal style flaunts all over the live band’s arrangement as she flaunts, ‘What did you do?/ Got me confused’.
‘One Wish’ was ethereal; I may have an unfair bias with this single being my personal favourite in the American star’s discography, but the vocal delivery and Lenae’s characterisation elevated this to new heights – even better than its original studio recording, maybe.
Manchester never misses the chance for an encore, especially not when it’s the plucky guitar bop ‘Love Me Not’. Up there with one of her best.
The crowd erupted as Lenae asked, “You want one more?”, before whistling, “See right now I need you, I’ll meet you somewhere now”, it was obvious concertgoers wanted this show wasn’t done.
The Manchester date marks the final show of the whole tour and Lenae was feeling very reflective during song breaks, telling the buzzy crowd, “I’m so grateful that I still get to tour this part of the world and I appreciate you all braving the cold for me”.
When you’re getting to witness someone as remarkable as Chicago-born singer Ravyn Lenae, a little bit of nippy Manchester weather is nothing!
Emily Sergeant -
4th March 2021 
