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Deliveroo is giving out free holidays in Manchester takeaway orders next week

Deliveroo is giving away free holidays to Mancs to celebrate 7 years in the city

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant - 4th May 2022

If you order a takeaway with Deliveroo next week you could just be lucky enough to end up with a free holiday this summer too.

The delivery service is celebrating its seventh birthday in the city next week with a week-long ‘Deliv-air-roo giveaway’, which will see 21 different flight tickets, each worth £500, snuck into people’s takeaways at random.

Each day between 9 and 15 May, the delivery platform will celebrate one of Manchester’s most ordered global cuisines – and any customer who orders from participating restaurants in the offer will be in with a chance to win a free trip to the home country of the dish.

Image: Deliveroo

Throughout the week, Deliveroo will celebrate the cuisines of Italy, America, Greece, Thailand, Mexico, Germany, and Portugal, teaming up with some of Manchester’s favourite restaurants including Burgerism, Rudy’s and Just Natas. 

There will be 21 different prizes up for grabs from 21 different Manchester restaurants, with three different holidays randomly given away in orders each day.

These will come in the form of 21 Deliveroo branded flight tickets, which will be snuck into delivery bags by members of the Deliveroo team at random to ensure that the competition is fair.

Read more: All the new Greater Manchester restaurants added to Deliveroo this April 2022

New Deliveroo customers in Manchester that sign up to Deliveroo from today will also get £10 off their first delivery when they spend a minimum of £15, using the code ROO10OFF.

image: The Manc Eats

Which Manchester restaurants are participating?

Monday 9 May will see Italian cuisine celebrated with a strong focus on pizza, with prizes up for grabs for those ordering from Nell’s, Rudy’s and Corner Slice.

Tuesday 10 May will focus on American dishes, with Deliveroo partnering with Yard and Coop, Burgerism and Fat Hippo on the second day of its big birthday giveaway.

Wednesday 11 May will look towards Greece, with Laros, The Athenian and The Real Greek all confirmed as taking part. 

Image: Just Natas
Image: The Real Greek

Thursday 12 May’s prizes will be geared around the world of Thai food, with flight tickets hidden in orders from Rosa’s Thai Cafe, Tampopo, and My Thai.

On Friday 13 May, it’ll all be about Mexican food with Dons Tacos, Tortilla and Chilango all taking part in the big giveaway.

Saturday 14 May will see Deliveroo celebrate German food in Manchester, working alongside Donershack, Gyroland at Cargo and German Doner Kebab.

And to round off a big week of prizes, Sunday 15 May will be all about Portuguese dishes with tickets randomly hidden in orders from Just Natas, Pepe’s Piri Piri and Franguitos.

Image: Rosa’s Thai Cafe

How can winners claim their prize?

The symbolic Deliveroo flight tickets will all have instructions on the back to tell the customer how to claim their prize.

Winners will be asked to send in a selfie of themselves with the flight ticket and tell Deliveroo their unique ticket number so that the company can then verify them as a winner.

Once they have been verified, Deliveroo will send every winner a flight voucher for £500. 

Feature image – Deliveroo / Pixnio.com

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All military personnel can travel for FREE on Manchester’s public transport this weekend

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant A Metrolink tram in Manchester city centre

All military personnel will be allowed to travel for free across Greater Manchester’s public transport system this weekend.

In case you hadn’t heard, this Saturday 28 June is Armed Forces Day.

Armed Forces Day sees Brits celebrate those who are currently serving troops, their families, serving reservists, veterans, and cadets, and Manchester will also be paying tribute to the hundreds who have ‘fearlessly served’ with day of commemorations in the city centre on Saturday.

Mancunians are expected to line the streets as a parade made up of armed forces personnel, veterans, and cadets will begin a procession that will proudly march through the centre of Manchester, starting in St Peter’s Square at 11:30am. 

You can also expect an afternoon of live performances by the lively Lancashire Army Artillery Band, alongside music hosted by BBC Radio DJ, Michelle Dignan, up until 4pm. 

Historic military displays, and stalls from organisations including the NHS, Royal British Legion, and Manchester City Council’s own Armed Forces Covenant, will also be in attendance, as well giving visitors the chance to explore an engaging display of military vehicles, uniforms, artefacts, and personal stories that span the rich legacy of the British armed forces inside a pop-up Military Museum tent.

This year’s Armed Forces Day is also particularly-special because it marks the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE Day) which happened on 8 May, and the upcoming Victory over Japan (VJ Day) on 15 August.

All military personnel can travel for free on Manchester’s public transport this weekend / Credit: GMP | Bee Network

And so, in order to honour what an important weekend it is for hundreds in our region, the Bee Network has announced that all military personnel will be allowed to travel for free.

Free travel will be permitted on all Bee Network bus and tram services on both Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June for any members of the Regular and Reserve Services carrying their MOD90 card, veterans who carry their Veterans’ badge or Veterans’ rail card, and cadets travelling in uniform.

“The Armed Forces community makes an invaluable contribution to our society, and we’re showing our appreciation with free travel on Bee Network buses and trams across Greater Manchester this weekend,” commented Danny Vaughan, who is the Chief Network Officer at Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

The free travel is part of TfGM’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant – a promise from the nation that those who serve or have served, and their families, are treated fairly.

Read more:

“It’s a special weekend and one we’re proud to get behind,” Danny concluded.

Featured Image – Janus Boye

News

Stockport paedophile jailed after ‘grooming, exploiting, and coercing’ teenage girls in early 2000s

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Christopher Oates

A prolific paedophile has been sentenced after admitting to ‘grooming, exploiting, and coercing’ teenage girls in the early 2000s.

Christopher Oates, from Stockport, has been brought to justice this week after he subjected vulnerable girls to what Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has referred to as a ‘campaign’ of violence and sexual abuse 20 years ago.

The court heard how the 45-year-old groomed one of the survivors from when she was just 14 years old, by providing her with a false sense of security, paying her compliments, and pretending to be her boyfriend, all before he proceeded to ply her with drugs, gifts, and affection, and using the trust and control he gained to persuade her to start sex work on the streets of Manchester.

When the teenage victim began to doubt his intentions and asked to go home, Oates dragged her down an alleyway, violently attacked her, and threatened her with a gun, stating: ‘You do as I say, you’re mine now,’ commanding her to go to her ‘spot’.

It was this incident that prompted the teenager to confide in her mother and support services, and from here, found the strength to move forward with her life, while still courageously supporting the police investigation.

From this investigation, detectives were then able to identify a second teenage victim, a 17-year-old, who Oates also coerced into sex work.

The two victims recall Oates taking them to a designated spot in central Manchester at least once a week to carry out sex acts in cars for money.

Oates would supply both victims with cocaine and alcohol, and even pressured them to take crack cocaine and heroin, aiming to build an addiction and increase their dependency on him.

In April 2024, Oates pleaded guilty to two counts of making indecent images of children, taking indecent images of children, and attempting to engage a child in sexual communication, as well as pleading to the production of cannabis and two counts of possessing an identity document with improper intent.

After being remanded into custody, on 5 September 2024, Oates was postal charged with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, three counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13-15 years old, and two counts causing / inciting a child aged 13-17 years to prostitution.

A paedophile from Stockport has been jailed after ‘grooming, exploiting, and coercing’ teenage girls in the early 2000s / Credit: GMP

In March earlier this year on the fourth day of his trial, Oates admitted to the offences, and this week (25 June 2025), he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for all his crimes.

“I would like to commend the two women at the centre of this case for the strength they demonstrated throughout our investigation and subsequent legal proceedings,” commented Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Eleanor Humphreys, from GMP’s CSE Major Investigations Team, as Oates was sentenced this week.

“It has been an arduous process for them to relieve the horrific abuse, and I am so grateful they placed their trust and confidence in our team to pursue justice.

“Their resilience and determination were the driving force behind reaching today’s outcome, where a dangerous man begins serving a lengthy sentence behind bars, far away from causing any more harm or misery.

Read more:

“Despite Oates’s cowardly attempts to evade facing justice, the evidence we uncovered was overwhelming, and his crimes finally caught up with him.

“I hope this brings these survivors a sense of closure after all these years.”

Featured Image – GMP

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