A local Manchester brewery is giving away free lager and pizza this week to celebrate the launch of its newest beer.
Created in collaboration with local clothing brand Hikerdelic, the new limited edition beer is called GORP, or Good Old Raisins & Peanuts, and is the latest release from the city’s only craft lager brewery.
The newest drop from Manchester Union Lager, if you time it right you can grab a can (and a slice of Nell’s pizza) for free at Common on Edge Street this Wednesday.
All you need to do to get your hands on a freebie is to sign up for a free ticket with Skiddle here, then make sure you’re one of the first fifty people in the queue at 6pm.
There’ll also be a host of merch available, created by Hikerdelic – a relatively young clothing company born out of the ‘sartorial seeds of Proper Magazine’.
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Hikerdelic has already had great success in limited edition collaborations with the likes of Barbour, Novesta, Holubar and Yogi, after transitioning from writing about clothes to making their own.
The new GORP can has been designed by local illustrator Daren Newman. / Image: Supplied
Image: Hikerdelic
Now, they’re teaming up a bit closer to home, combining a love for the outdoors lifestyle with high-quality, well-designed clothing made to last.
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Their motto is where the peak meets the precinct, unifying the two worlds of rambling and raving, and let’s be honest there’s not much that does that better than a beer.
Promising to be the ‘perfect refreshment after a post-trail hike’, in spite of the name the Pilsner-style beer is actually completely free of peanuts.
The can label has been illustrated by Daren Newman, a celebrated locally-based illustrator who also created all of the typography for Hikerdelic’s branding.
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Speaking on the new beer launch, Manchester Union’s Jamie Scahill said: ‘We floated the idea of a beer with Hikerdelic a few years ago when they hosted a party at the brewery so we’re delighted for the world to try it.
“This is the perfect partnership with one of my favourite clothing brands and Manchester’s only craft lager brewery.”
Mark Smith from Hikerdelic added: “After the last couple of years, the importance of real life things has definitely grown.
“With social media we can interact with our followers but a real product enjoyed in real life can’t really be beaten.
“Working with Jamie and Will has been great and we’re looking forward to getting something a little different to our clothing out there.”
Head down to the Hikerdelic and Manchester Union Brewery present GORP Lager Launch Party this Wednesday, 7 September, at Common in Manchester’s Northern Quarter from 6pm – 10pm.
Johnny Marr announces huge hometown show at Castlefield Bowl
Danny Jones
Johnny Marr is the latest act announced for next year’s Sounds of the City (SOTC), with the Manchester music legend set for a massive hometown show at Castlefield Bowl.
Not that we’re getting carried away or anything, but the SOTC 2026 lineup is already shaping up to be arguably one of the best ever.
With The K’s confirmed as the first band playing the annual outdoor festival in the city’s stunning amphitheatre, and other names now starting to fly in, the iconic Manc musician becomes number three on the roster.
Detailing his huge homecoming gig on Monday, 13 October, the legendary guitarist and songwriter is coming to Castlefield Bowl next summer.
I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be performing a hometown show at Castlefield Bowl on Thursday, 9 July 2026.
Presale begins Wednesday, 15 October at 10am BST, with general on sale from Friday, 17 October at 10am BST.
While he might be best known for his time with The Smiths, Johnny Marr has remained a noteworthy session player and featured artist alongside various artists ever since.
More importantly, he’s been releasing solo material for well over a decade now, with his recent Look Out Live! compilation record – made up of recordings from his London best of show – having only just dropped this past September.
Better still, he’s bringing fellow native indie and alternative band, Everything Everything, along for an all-Mancunian evening under what we hope will be sunny skies.
As big fans of both here at The Manc, we cannot wait for this one.
In case you missed the previous reveal, number two on the multi-date Sounds of the City lineup is another genre-defining name, as The Streets are set to play Castlefield Bowl once again, having last played the bucket list venue back in 2021.
As for ‘Misery Moz’s mate, the 61-year-old will be coming to the 10-day live event on 9 July, in between The K’s and Mike Skinner’s entourage.
Fans can land early access by signing up for presale via the official Johnny Marr mailing list from 10am this Wednesday, 15 October BST, while general admission tickets will be available from the same time on the following Friday (17 Oct).
Manchester given extra £3m funding to help ‘prevent’ homelessness and rough sleeping
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been handed a £3 million funding boost to help ‘prevent’ homelessness and rough sleeping across the city.
The ‘substantial’ extra funding, which was announced by the Government last week on World Homelessness Day (10 October), will be a top-up to Manchester City Council’s existing homelessness funding up until 2027 in recognition of the continuing pressures that Manchester and other UK areas are currently under.
The Council says it’s already begun to set out plans for how the extra money will be spent to make sure it has the ‘maximum impact’.
At this time, it’s expected that around £550,000 of the funding will be awarded by the Council as grants to organisations in the city’s Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector – which are supporting people who are homeless, or are at risk of homelessness.
Manchester has been given an extra £3m funding to help ‘prevent’ homelessness and rough sleeping / Credit: Gary Knight (via Flickr)
Other funding will be used to ‘bolster support’ to help people in temporary accommodation move on to settled homes.
The funding will also be used to adapt temporary accommodation for people with physical disabilities and other needs, which will meet the demand for such housing, while 180 ‘care leavers’ who would otherwise be at risk of homelessness will also be housed in shared rented homes.
Finally, part of the funding will be used to help ensure social housing in the city is available to those who need it most – including a major crackdown on tenancy fraud, back efforts to bring empty homes back into use, and help people whose existing social housing is too large for their needs to ‘right size’, freeing up larger homes for families.
Today is World Homelessness Day.
Support is available from Citizens Advice for those who've experienced or are at risk of homelessness, hear from Councillor Joanna Midgley and Jess about this help.
“Tackling the homelessness crisis is one of Manchester’s biggest priorities and, working with our community partners across the city, we are turning the tide,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“In Manchester, we are working tirelessly to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place through early help, and to ensure anyone who does become homeless gets the support they need to build new lives in settled homes.
“We welcome today’s extra funding boost from Government which, nationally, adds an extra £84 million to the billion that was committed earlier in the year.”
Georgina Pellant -
6th September 2022 
