The late Dianne Oxberry, who tragically died in 2019 just 10 days after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, is to be honoured with a new award at the This Is Manchester Awards.
The fifth annual awards, which celebrates local businesses and individuals from across Greater Manchester, will take place this November, with The Manc as proud media partners.
And this year, a new award has been created in honour of the broadcaster and weather presenter, with the full support of Dianne’s family.
The This is Manchester Awards (TIMA) announced the Dianne Oxberry Special Impact Award this week, which will recognise an individual who has faced adversity and won and, by doing so, has left a lasting legacy across the region.
Dianne’s widower Ian Hindle attended a special event to announce the new award, alongside TIMA hosts Jenny Powell and Scott Thomas.
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One of her last-ever presenting jobs was at the inaugural TIMA awards in November 2018, prompting the event’s organisers to reach out to her family and ask to create a long-term legacy in honour of her memory.
Jenny Powell and Scott Thomas. Credit: Supplied
The new award announcement coincides with the first anniversary of the launch of Dianne Oxberry Trust’s ‘Spread the W.O.R.D’ campaign, which aims to raise awareness of some of the main symptoms of ovarian cancer.
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Dianne’s husband Ian Hindle commented on behalf of the Trust: “Our goal is to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of this disease, to help improve speed of diagnosis, and hopefully lead to improved outcomes so more families have more time together than we had with Dianne.
“Our community is the key to this. We are normal people, members of the North West community, reaching out to others in the area. We can only shout loudly with the support of people in the North West – local people helping local people.
“The community in this region is amazing at pulling together and doing just that…and we can’t thank our supporters enough for helping us spread the word, and – most importantly – save lives.
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A new award has been created to honour the late Dianne Oxberry. Credit: BBC
“Our values align perfectly with that of the This is Manchester Awards and we were touched that they wanted to honour Dianne in this way.”
TIMA founder Ziara Siddique said: “We were incredibly fortunate to have Dianne Oxberry present the very first awards alongside Roger Johnson back in 2018.
“Her passion for the city and, for the spirit of the awards was undeniable – now in our fifth year and established as an annual legacy event, the time feels right to recognise that early support and we’ve been incredibly humbled by the reaction we’ve received from her family and close friends in helping us shape this award.”
Nominations across the 15 highly-contested categories are set to open next week.
The This is Manchester Awards will take place on 9 November at Lancashire Cricket Club – a new location chosen to accommodate the greater number of guests.
Featured image: Supplied
Manchester
Parklife has quietly added a major DJ set from Happy Mondays’ Bez
Daisy Jackson
Parklife has quietly added a DJ set from Bez this afternoon, joining an already stacked festival line-up.
Eagle-eyed users of the Parklife app (aka, us) have spotted that as the big weekend nears, a few new stages have popped up on the plans.
And that’s included a new Beatbox Stage, which on Saturday will host a mega set from the icon that is Bez, from Happy Mondays.
Bez isn’t the only nostalgic name who’s been added to the line-up for Saturday – the Beatbox Stage will also host a set from Artful Dodger.
The 2000s garage icons will be taking to the stage at 3pm for a set that will hopefully include their massive hits like Moving Too Fast, Re-Rewind (with Craig David), and Woman Trouble.
On Sunday, the newly-added Beatbox Stage will be hosting DJ Fat Tony, who you might know for getting stuck into the middle of the Beckham family feud – but he’s also one of the most in-demand A-list DJs, having spun for icons like Madonna, Prince, and Elton John.
Parklife has also quietly added a few secret sets to the bill, which we’ll be keeping a close eye on.
They join existing Parklife headliners including Calvin Harris, Zara Larsson, Chris Stussy, Sammy Virji, Skepta, and East End Dubs.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June, thousands of music-lovers will be flocking to the fields of Heaton Park ready for this year’s instalment of Parklife.
Council calls on Manchester public to help bring hundreds of empty homes back into use
Emily Sergeant
Residents across Manchester are being called on to help bring hundreds of empty homes across the region back into use.
Since the beginning of this year, a major review has been underway around the city’s draft strategy for bringing empty homes back into use to help meet demand for affordable homes across the city, while also improving communities by tackling empty homes that can blight an area… but now, Manchester City Council needs your help.
Following a major public consultation, the Council is now acting on feedback to accelerate plans to bring as many long-term empty homes back into active use as possible.
Although the number of long-term empty homes in Manchester is near a historic low, with the Council having managed to reduce the number by more than half since 2013, there is still more work to be done.
“Every void property is a missed opportunity to provide a family a place to live, reduce homelessness, and lessen the burden on temporary accommodation,” the Council said in a statement.
The Council is calling on the Manchester public to help bring hundreds of empty homes back into use / Credit: Benjamin Elliott (via Unsplash)
So, how can residents help then? What do you need to do if you spot an empty home on a street nearby?
Well, the easiest way to report an empty home is to report the issue online here, or by emailing [email protected]. And then once that’s done, a team of dedicated empty homes officers will take up the case to find out who owns the property and work with the owner on a plan to bring the home back into use.
The vast number of empty homes are privately owned with complex histories, and there are some cases where an owner may have passed away.
While working collaboratively with housing providers, voluntary organisations and public services are also a key element of detecting potentially empty or ‘problematic’ homes to repurpose them.
Officers can also support, where required, if a communication or language poses a barrier to resolving an empty home issue.
Tailored approaches to different communities – where empty homes impact neighbourhoods in different ways – are also being considered, according to the Council.
“To think, if we could bring all empty homes back into use, then we could provide more homes for those on the housing register and take pressure off the whole housing system,” explained Cllr Gavin White, who is Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development.
“The potential of making empty homes a thing of the past is huge for Manchester families looking for a place to call home – and a significant part of tackling the housing crisis.”
Daisy Jackson -
4th May 2023 
