Bez is hosting a bottomless bingo brunch in Manchester – try saying that ten times fast after a few bevs, we dare you.
Yes, that’s right, the maraca-shaking Happy Mondays hype man is hosting a boozy bingo extravaganza at former railway station-turned-food hall Escape To Freight Island, and it sounds like it will be one hell of a party.
Hosted by the wild man of pop, the man who once shook the maraca so hard whilst ‘tripping [his] nut off’ that he left a wound on his hand, we think it’s fair to say that this event is already teed up to trump most bottomless brunches in the city – and that’s before we even get into the food, the drinks, and of course, the bingo.
Image: Escape To Freight Island
Joined by a host of comedians, dancers, singers and DJs, Manchester’s best-loved party hero will lead the day’s festivities, kicking things off from 11am and running through until 2pm that afternoon.
Tickets are priced at £45 per head and include an hour of bottomless drinks alongside a street food dish of your choice from any of Escape’s traders.
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Taking place on Saturday, 7 May, you’ll be able to get stuck into some of the food hall’s brand new offerings including new arrivals Gooey, Batard, Carnival and Lucky Foot – all of whom are set to be moved in by the beginning of May.
Think chargrilled meats from Hawksmoor co-founder, chef and food critic Richard Turner, fried chicken from the team behind popular Liverpool concepts Madre and Belzan, plus sweet pies with icecream and hot cookie dough from the likes of Manchester bakers Batard and Gooey.
Elsewhere, you’ll find kebabs and salt and pepper smiley faces from Michelin star chef Brad Carter at the One Star Doner Bar, healthy Vietnamese dishes from Mi and Pho, 22″ New York pizzas from Voodoo Rays, tacos from Madre and classic Italian dishes from Belzan.
As for drinks, you’ll be treated to endless glasses of ‘Bez’s Boozy Vimto Punch’ with multiple alcohols, Vimto syrup, juice and citrus (we think the ‘multiple alcohols’ says it all here).
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Image: Escape To Freight Island
Image: Escape To Freight Island
As for drinks, whilst the full list of bevs included in the bottomless offer has not yet been released, there’s sure to be a wide ranging choice given that Escape To Freight Island boasts a number of different bars selling everything from cocktails and fine wines to craft beers, classic lagers, ciders and softa.
Your ticket covers your entry, drinks and food, but you’ll also be asked to pay an extra £1 stake on arrival if you want to take part in the bingo game.
To find out more and purchase tickets for the bottomless bingo brunch with Bez, visit Escape To Freight Island’s website here.
Feature image – Escape To Freight Island / Wikimedia Commons
News
Women can now get the ‘morning after pill’ free on the NHS at high street pharmacies
Emily Sergeant
Women can now get the ‘morning after pill’ free of charge on the NHS in high street pharmacies across England.
As part of a major expansion of pharmacy services announced by the NHS in what is said to be the biggest change to sexual health services since the 1960s, the oral emergency contraception pill is now available for free to women from almost 10,000 pharmacies across the country without needing to see their GP or get an appointment at a sexual health clinic.
The initiative is part of a wider package of support for community pharmacies, helping people to get the care they need in ‘convenient’ and ‘familiar’ settings.
Dr Sue Mann, who is an NHS National Clinical Director in Women’s Health called this move a ‘game-changer’ in making reproductive healthcare more easily accessible for women.
“Instead of trying to search for women’s services or explain their needs, from today women can just pop into their local pharmacy and get the oral emergency contraceptive pill free of charge without needing to make an appointment,” she added.
From today, women in England can get the emergency contraceptive pill for free from pharmacies, without needing a GP appointment.
This is part of ongoing work to expand NHS services through community pharmacies.
Free morning after pills aren’t the only change to pharmacies’ services this week, as people who have been newly prescribed antidepressants will also be able to seek additional advice and support about their medication and healthy lifestyle changes from their local pharmacist too.
As well as over-the-counter support and treatment for minor health concerns, community pharmacy services can also supply medicines to treat common conditions.
All of these changes follow a record funding boost by the Government to pharmacies of £617 million over two years, which is supported by Community Pharmacy England.
“This is a major step forward that removes barriers of access to reproductive care that have let women down for too long,” commented Minister for Care, Stephen Kinnock.
“Pharmacies play a central role in communities, trusted by local people and easy to access [and] that’s why it’s vital there are a wide range of services and medications available.
“These changes will make it easier for people to get the advice and medications they need, while also reducing unnecessary pressure on GPs.”
Featured Image – Rawpixel
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Salford Red Devils granted another adjournment over unpaid debts
Danny Jones
Salford Red Devils have been given one more adjournment and yet another stay of execution, being given another two weeks to find the money to cover their unpaid debts.
The local rugby league side, which has been wrapped in all manner of struggles both on and off-pitch over the past year or so, reportedly needs to pay around £700,000 to HMRC alone and still owes roughly £5 million in total to various creditors.
To no surprise, regular matchgoers, neutrals and even rivals alike have expressed their continued disappointment with the club, mainly at the lack of transparency and clarity from the organisation throughout this long, drawn-out process.
This is coming from a wire fan but no club deserves to be left in the dark even longer than they already have done it’s nothing but a disgrace to the sport of rugby those owners and the court should be ashamed of themselves.
Updating fans on social media, this is all the information they have communicated at this time: “Salford Red Devils can confirm that HMRC have granted the club a two-week adjournment, providing additional time in which to secure the necessary funds.
“We would like to reassure supporters that we are working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure a positive resolution. Further updates will be shared as soon as possible.”
It’s worth noting that the current owners have reiterated that they inheited around £3m in existing debt before they took over the club, but assurances over their own investments have still come to nothing; meanwhile, with many still waiting on wages, players and staff alike have now left.
Having been propped up by loan players and emergency loans, the team is now closer to a skeleton crew than it is an outfit capable of competing in the premier division.
Either way, the outrage remains and is only growing stronger. One user wrote on X: “A good approach by them if they was legit would be to engage and bring in The 1873 to bridge the communication black hole (they created).
“The problem with that is if they did it would expose them for what they are… Extortionists using the club as a vehicle.”
More alarm bells were raised recently when assistant coach and Krisnan Inu – who was also director of the company set up to take over the business – withdrew himself from a key position behind the scenes.
Speaking of The 1873, the outspoken supporters trust took no time at all in issuing a response of their own, adding: “The judge presiding over today’s case has adjourned by 14 days. This adjournment has dragged the uncertainty on even longer.
“Every delay makes planning for 2026 harder and keeps the club stuck in limbo when it desperately needs clarity and direction.
“The fans, the players and the future all deserve better — The 1873.”
You can see the rest of their statement in full down below, but for now, what do you make of this seemingly neverending saga, Salfordians?
Georgina Pellant -
7th April 2022 
