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.
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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.
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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
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Six teenage boys arrested following stabbing of 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre
Emily Sergeant
Six teenage boys have been arrested following the stabbing of a 13-year-old in Rochdale town centre over the weekend.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called out to reports of a ‘serious assault’ near the Riverside Shopping Centre in central Rochdale on Saturday (29 August), and when they arrived on the scene, they found that a 13-year-old boy had been stabbed.
The young boy currently remains in hospital receiving treatment, while a police investigation into the incident is open and ongoing.
Two teenage boys were first arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article on the same day the incident occurred (29 August), but have since been released on bail.
Officers then made four further arrests yesterday (31 August), again all teenage boys who were arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with enquires ongoing.
A Section 60 and 60AA ‘stop and search’ authority was introduced in Rochdale town centre following the recent incidents in area and following reports of youths carrying weapons in the locality, and this has now been extended to 3pm today (Tuesday 1 September).
“This was a serious and sustained attack that could have had far more tragic consequences,” explained Detective Superintendent, Richard Hunt .”Our team of experienced detectives is working around the clock to understand exactly what happened, identify all those involved, and secure the strongest possible evidence.
“We will relentlessly pursue every lead available to us and will leave no stone unturned in bringing all those responsible before the courts.
“Community safety remains our absolute priority, and we are committed to ensuring those who seek to bring violence onto our streets are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Can you help? Anyone who witnessed the incident, was in the town centre at the time, or has any mobile phone, CCTV, or dashcam footage, is urged to come forward and speak to police on 101, quoting log 2750 of 29/08/2026, or using the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
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High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Emily Sergeant -
11th October 2021 
