News
Daniel Craig has donated £10k to three Northern dads who are walking 300-miles for charity
The trio are raising funds for youth suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS.
James Bond actor Daniel Craig has donated £10,000 to three Northern dads who began a 300-mile trek in the name of charity this past weekend.
Andy Airey, Mike Palmer, and Tim Owen – known as ‘3 Dads Walking’ – set off on their 15-day trek on Saturday 9 October and began to walk a total of 300-miles between their homes in Greater Manchester, Cumbria, and Norfolk.
The trio are raising funds for youth suicide prevention charity PAPYRUS.
After each of their teenage daughters took their own lives, the dads – including Mike Palmer from Sale in Trafford, began talking about what they could do to prevent other families from going through the same heartbreak that they suffered, and so they set on the idea of walking from each of their homes in a bid to raise awareness.
They set up a JustGiving page in aid of PAPYRUS – which provides support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide, and anyone worried about a young person – and decided upon a fundraising target of just £30,000.
But after just two days since the trek began, they have already smashed that target by a whopping 788%.
They have raised a total of £236,671 – and the figure is still climbing by the minute.
The impressive fundraising sum has not only been assisted by coverage on a number of local and national news and media coverage, but was also given a helping hand when Chester-born actor Daniel Craig – of course, most known for the role of James Bond – donated £10,000 to the worthy cause.
“Daniel Craig has clearly been very moved by the indescribable pain which the three dads and their families continue to suffer following the tragic loss of their daughters to suicide,” a spokesperson for PAPYRUS said of Craig’s donation.
“His generosity and the kind donations from many others will help Andy, Mike and Tim to bring something positive out of the utter devastation of losing a child to suicide and enable PAPYRUS to continue giving hope to young people who are struggling with life.”
Mr Palmer – from Sale, whose daughter Beth died in 2020 – said that being part of the challenge was “not a club I want to belong to, but [it gives us] an opportunity to fight back and maybe make a difference.
“We hope that by linking our three homes and telling our three daughters’ very different stories, we will put a spotlight on young mental health.”
You can donate to Andy, Mike, and Tim’s trek via the JustGiving page here, and find more information about their journey on the 3 Dads Walking website.
Updates from their journey are also shared on Twitter and Instagram.
Featured Image – 3 Dads Walking
News
Jackass star Bam Margera cancels Manchester shows due to ‘injury’ after street fight video emerges
Danny Jones
Former Jackass star Bam Margera has had to cancel both of his Manchester shows just hours before the first event was supposed to take place due to injury.
The skater, TV personality, filmmaker and former stunt performer is currently in the UK for his Q&A tour and live interview series with DJ and presenter Matt Stocks, having recently played in Glasgow and a pair of shows in the Republic of Ireland.
However, the 44-year-old has unexpectedly had to cancel both of his intimate conversation dates at Gorilla in the city centre, with the venue citing “unforeseen complications emerging from a recent injury”.
He was set to play this evening and again next week on Tuesday, 30 April, with the shows billed as somewhat of a meet and greet with Margera and him “talking from the heart”.
The news comes less than 24 hours after Margera shared a clip of him on the phone complaining to police in the US after a video of him fighting on a street in LA surfaced online.
While details surrounding how the scrap arose and the identity of the other man in the video still remain scarce, Margera has officially claimed self-defence. He can be heard shouting several expletives in the man’s direction throughout the altercation.
Responding to what he called a ‘bum fight’ on his other Instagram page, he tells 911: “Get a police officer here. Los Angeles Police Department is fucking worthless…
“You should be ashamed of yourselves… It’s been two hours of us trying to sleep and, fucking, this dude’s throwing shit everywhere and nobody showed up.”
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Speaking to TMZ, a representative from his team reiterated that the unidentified male was the aggressor and eventually exited the situation with both parties leaving without injury at the time.
That being said, is still unclear as to whether the incident and the cancellation of his Gorilla shows in Manchester are linked.
Offering a separate statement directly, he added: “I’m not going to be threatened or attacked without defending myself and my friends or people trying to just walk by this idiot, I aimed only to neutralize the threat and ensure the safety of my crew.”
Bam’s rep told the outlet that the altercation ended with no injuries and the aggressor eventually departed and he is still yet to issue a response after calling off the remainder of his dates.
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Featured Images — Bam Margera (via Instagram)
News
FA Cup final confirmed for 3pm kick-off time as Metropolitan Police stress safety for fans
Danny Jones
The start time for the 2023/24 FA Cup final has officially been confirmed with holders Manchester City and challengers Manchester United set to kick off at 3pm on Saturday, 25 May.
It’s a Manc final for the second year running and yet another Manchester Derby this year as City beat Chelsea on penalties to try and defend one of their trophies from last season and Man United did just about enough to scrape through against Coventry City this past weekend.
Logistics and travel arrangements for the conclusion of last year’s FA Cup proved problematic, with the Metropolitan Police stressing that they needed the schedule brought forward to try and help curb crowd trouble – the first time the final had been reverted back to a traditional 3pm start since 2011.
Kick-off times for the knockout tournament have varied for the last three finals, having taken place at 4:45 and 5:15pm in the two years prior to 2023’s first-ever all-Manchester final, but it looks as though the same rationale has been put in place once again.
As per an official statement by the FA, the final has now been officially confirmed as 3pm BST which has been agreed with local authorities, members of the Safety Advisory Group and broadcasters, as well as with the clubs who must take the time needed for fans to travel to and from Wembley into consideration.
While pockets of fighting broke out before and after the game last year, it was deemed that this time would still be the best kick-off time for all parties involved and there will, of course, be an increased police presence in London for the game next month.
Although prioritising safety comes as welcome news, it’ll no doubt prove to be a blow to broadcasters who prefer later kick-offs when eyeing up peak audience numbers; the game is also set to clash with ITV’s coverage of the rugby as the Investec Champions Cup final is also due to start at 2:45pm.
With last season’s historic FA Cup final being the first time the two sides had met in the final in the entire history of the oldest competition in all of football, it rounded off a massive year of viewing figures for the tournament which has continued to hit record numbers in 2024.
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The game will once again be shown live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and ITV1; ITVX, UTV, as well as STV, and there will no doubt be huge screenings of the game all over Greater Manchester, where an increased police presence is also expected.
With Man City having dropped out of the Champions League, this year’s FA Cup final could see them defend the first of their treble for last season. As for their fierce and historic rivals, this is the second year in a row that both United’s men’s and women’s teams have made it to their respective FA Cup finals.
Is it going to be back-to-back FA Cups for the Blues or are the Reds going to make it two trophies in Erik ten Hag’s first two seasons?
Featured Images — @brentflanders (via Flickr)/FA Cup (via X)