A special charity fund that has been set up to help Ukrainian refugees arriving in Manchester has awarded its first grant.
Set up by Manchester City Council in partnership with one of the city’s most iconic organisations, We Love MCR Charity (WLMC), all with the aim of supporting individuals and families fleeing the devastating conflict and arriving here in Manchester, the new MCR Ukraine Welcome Fund funds charities and voluntary sector groups who are providing assistance – such as essential items, advice, and more.
The charity fund was officially set up back in March, and every penny raised and donated by it will go towards supporting Ukrainian evacuees in the city.
The Council kicked-off the fund, with a donation of £50,000.
And now, less than two months after it was launched, it has been confirmed that Ardwick-based charity Europia has been awarded £30,000 from the fund – with £25,000 going towards dedicated support workers who will help co-ordinate and provide advice and support around immigration, work, and welfare issues, and translations.
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The remaining £5,000 will be used as part of a new hardship fund for Ukrainians arriving in Manchester, which the support worker will help to administer.
Our MCR Ukraine Welcome Fund, administered in partnership with @ManCityCouncil, has released its first grant:
🌍 £30,000 released to Ardwick charity @EuropiaMcr ❤️ will create a dedicated support worker role + hardship fund 🤝 donations still neededhttps://t.co/wXUUqazWRt
Speaking on the awarding of the first grant, Bev Craig – Leader of Manchester City Council – commented: “Manchester is a welcoming city and we recognise that we need to do all we can to support Ukrainians relocating here in the most traumatic of circumstances.
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“The MCR Ukraine Welcome Fund is part of that collective effort [and] I’m glad that the generosity of Mancunians, including an initial donation from the Council, is translating so quickly into practical help.”
“The fund has raised over £60,000 so far,” Joanne Roney OBE – Chief Executive at Manchester City Council added.
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“We’d like to thank everyone who has donated, but people are arriving with next to nothing and we would welcome further donations from anyone who wants to show our Ukrainian guests a warm Mancunian welcome.”
Thanks to your generosity, a charity fund set up to help Ukrainians arriving in Manchester to escape the war in their homeland has made its first grants.
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) May 26, 2022
Thanking the Council and WLMC for the grant from the fund, Kush Chottera – Chief Executive at Europia – added: “We’re delighted this money will be used to employ an experienced worker to give practical support to help Manchester’s Ukrainian arrivals settle in safely.
“Thank you Mancunians for your donations.”
You can donate to the MCR Ukraine Welcome Fund here, or by texting WELCOME 10 to 70490 to give £10, with texts costing the donation amount plus one standard network rate message.
Make sure you keep an eye on We Love MCR Charity’s website and Twitter for updates too.
Featured Image – WLMC
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Teen sentenced after deliberately driving into a female police officer in Stockport
Emily Sergeant
A teen who deliberately drove into a female police officer at a retail park Stockport earlier this year has been sentenced.
Harvey Bell was at a retail park on Wilmslow Road in Cheadle back on 25 January 2025 when he seriously injured a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer during a shocking incident – which left the officer requiring hospital treatment.
At the time, the 19-year-old from Knutsford was present while police were investigating reports of class C drug use in a car park.
Police parked in front of an Audi and the officer signalled for Bell to remain stationary and turn the engine off, but instead he reversed, and as the officer approached the front windscreen, Bell drove at the officer, knocking her to the ground.
He then proceeded to drive over her legs with both sets of wheels, before heading out of the car park at speed.
#JAILED | A man who deliberately drove into a police officer in Stockport has been jailed.
Harvey Bell (12/08/2005) has been sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute and was disqualified from driving for two years.
— Stockport Police (GMP) (@GMPStockport) June 4, 2025
Bell was subsequently arrested the following day and made no comment in his police interview, but then went on to plead guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, as well as possession of cannabis on 27 March 2025.
The teen appeared at Manchester Crown Court this week where he was sentenced to 31 months in a Young Offenders Institute, and was also disqualified from driving for two years – which will take effect when he is released.
“What [Bell] did to me is permanently in the back of my mind, every call I go to, I feel the apprehension, the fear that any incident, no matter how innocuous it appears, can end with being assaulted or hurt,” the officer explained in a powerful victim impact statement read in court.
“This is an unseen result of Bell’s assault on me.”
She continued: “I know that Bell’s abhorrent behaviour is an exception, and the majority of the public we serve do not wish us harm, but assaults on police need to stop. An attack on a police officer is an attack on us all.
“Bell is a danger to society and had total disregard for my life.”
Featured Image – GMP
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IKEA announces decision to close popular Greater Manchester site
Emily Sergeant
It’s the end of the road for one of IKEA’s popular Greater Manchester sites.
The Swedish furniture giant has announced its decision to close its ‘Plan and Order Point’ over in Stockport in a couple of weeks time.
The store – which is located in Stockport town centre’s Merseyway Shopping Centre – launched to huge success back in March 2023, and at the time, was the second of this ‘test and trial’ format to open in the UK, becoming a smaller space dedicated to kitchen and home planning, as well as ordering items.
IKEA says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ which plan to take this conceptual format in a direction to ‘better suit the needs of UK customers’.
IKEA is closing its close popular Stockport site this month / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
Since the opening of the Stockport Plan and Order Point, IKEA claims it has seen an increased demand for Click and Collect services, a desire by customers to shop a smaller selection of home furnishing accessories, as well as the ability to return goods to physical IKEA units, and this is all something which the current location is unable to offer.
Learning from this change in consumer habits, the company says its future Plan and Order Point openings – including in those in other northern cities like Hull and York – will offer these services.
IKEA says it also remains ‘committed’ to trialling new formats, such as its upcoming small stores, one of which will open in nearby Chester later this year.
Luckily for IKEA fans, the retailer has confirmed that its major Greater Manchester store in Ashton-under-Lyne, as well as the neighbouring store in Warrington, will remain open as normal, offering all the services available at Stockport and more.
The Swedish furniture says the closure comes as a result of ‘valuable learnings’ about customer needs / Credit: Jon Super (via IKEA)
In addition to the upcoming opening of a smaller store in Chester, IKEA has revealed that the North West continues to be an area of interest for future expansion.
“After careful evaluation, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the IKEA Plan and Order Point at Merseyway Shopping Centre,” explained Salma Azad, who is one of IKEA’s Area Managers.
“In the two years since opening, we’ve taken valuable learnings, including how our customers prefer to meet IKEA, and we’ll take these insights into future openings, to serve shoppers in a more impactful way.”
Thanks to last year’s Click and Collect expansion, Stockport residents can now pick up purchases from Tesco Extra Stockport and Tesco Extra Stretford, as well as the Manchester store and the upcoming small store in Chester.
Stockport Plan and Order Point’s final day of trading will be on 16 June.
Emily Sergeant -
27th May 2022 
