A huge vegan festival will welcome independent chefs and plant-based food companies from across the north to Manchester in a huge celebration of the vegan lifestyle.
Bringing over 100 vegan exhibitors together, the Northern Vegan Festival will return to the city this summer – landing at Bowler’s Exhibition Centre on Sunday, 14 May 2022.
All for charity, it will unite hot street food sellers and market stalls under one roof for a day-long vegan festival, with all proceeds from ticket sales going to support animal welfare charities thanks to the event being staffed entirely by volunteers.
If you’ve made a change in your diet this year, or you’re a long-standing vegan eager to explore the newest ethical and sustainable products available to you, this market sounds like an absolute must.
Showcasing everything from cooked and raw food products to pies, cakes, chocolates, sandwiches and salads, cheeses, healthy treats, sweet treats and more, the Manchester vegan festival will be a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to bolster their vegan-friendly stockpiles.
But that’s not all. After all, being vegan isn’t just about what you eat, it’s a lifestyle and, to that end, there’ll also be stalls selling vegan-friendly jewellery, various crafts, items of clothing, beauty and skincare products, homeware, candles, charity merchandise and more.
As for vegan drinks, expect sellers with everything you can think of. – ranging from juices and smoothies to coffee and bottles of something a little bit stronger too.
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There’ll be a huge selection of world caterers on hand too – so you can enjoy some quality vegan street food as you shop, and free samples at many stalls so you can try before you buy.
Think stalls selling nibbles like stuffed vine leaves, olives, Turkish delight, sundried tomatoes, chilli peanutes and sea salt cashews and pickled garlic; raw chocolate, vegan carribean food, vish and chips, pizzas and more.
Starting from 10.30am and running until 4.30pm at Bowlers, Trafford, tickets cost just £5 each whilst under 16s can visit for free. VIP tickets are also available, with added fast track entry and a goody bag full of products, samples, discounts and special offers included in the price.
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Parking at Bowlers is free. The festival has also arranged morning and afternoon visiting slots to prevent long queues or any overcrowding at the venue.
To find out more and purchase tickets, visit the event website here.
NHS to begin offering new one-minute jab to women with ‘aggressive’ form of cancer
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is set to begin offering new immunotherapy for hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer across the country.
Pembrolizumab – which experts have described as being able to ‘take the handbrake off’ the body’s immune system to target cancer – will now be presented as a new treatment option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer, which means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer ‘at bay’ for longer, and improved survival rates overall.
Two years after starting the treatment, nearly seven in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone, according to NHS figures.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
Hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer are to be offered a new immunotherapy treatment.
It marks one of the biggest improvements in treatment for the disease in years, and could help more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long term.
The drug is either given every three or siz weeks via an infusion, or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, alongside chemoradiotherapy.
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment – which has been approved this week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – over the next two years.
Patients will now receive fast-tracked access, funded by NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer, and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
“We’re delighted it will be available for patients on the NHS as it could help hundreds more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.”
Featured Image – NappyStudio (via Unsplash)
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Andy Burnham wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has set out his vision for the country if he is to become Prime Minister.
In case you need brining up to speed first, after it was announced earlier this month that Andy Burnham had clinched the victory in the crucial Makerfield by-election, winning 24,927 votes (54.8% vote share) and a majority of 9,231, he then went onto announce his intention to run for Labour Party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, after Keir Starmer confirmed he would be stepping down.
And this week, Mr Burnham has now delivered his first speech as part of his ongoing campaign, addressing how he plans to give the country a ‘new direction’.
Burnham says that he wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster.
A lot has been discussed and reported on when it comes to Burnham’s intentions to create a so-called Number 10 North here in Manchester, but what exactly does it mean to take the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to the capital?
“The Greater Manchester way is based on strong partnership between all sectors: public, private, community, voluntary, academic, faith, and our trade unions,” Burnham said in his speech.
He continued: “When I started as Mayor in 2017, we set about building a new approach, a new politics based on the exact opposite of the Westminster approach.
“Place-first, not party-first. Problem-solving, not point-scoring. Long-term, not short-term.
“A decade on, it’s incredible how much we’ve been able to achieve by working together instead of fighting against one another.”
Burnham said he feels the truth is that the country spends ‘too much time arguing and not enough time doing’ and that for Britain to get back where it ‘should be’, his Government would ask everyone to ‘face the same way’ and then ‘pull in that same direction together’.
He declared that No 10 North will be the ‘nerve centre’ for a rewired Britain.
“It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK,” he concluded. “It will coordinate all parts of Government, at national and local level, to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”
Georgina Pellant -
17th February 2022 
