Five-star hotel The Lowry Hotel is offering local families the chance to get a free night’s stay this summer.
Appealing to children with a passion for art and photography, bosses have launched a competition that’s sure to capture the imagination of creatively-minded little ones (and keep them happily distracted so you can relax).
Inspired by the Manchester worker bee, a long-standing symbol of unity and pride, the hotel is encouraging its young guests to capture their own bee-related picture – with plans to exhibit the best three entries in the autumn.
The competition follows on from the recent reveal of its new mascot, the ‘LowBee’ created by Thomas Wolski.
Image: Supplied
Pictures can be of anything from a bee-related illustration to a live specimen snapped out in its natural habitat, and there are a host of brilliant prizes up for grabs for the lucky winners.
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The winner will be invited to return to The Lowry Hotel to enjoy a complimentary overnight on a date of their choosing, whilst the runner-up will win a meal for four to enjoy at the hotel’s swanky River Restaurant.
Third place, meanwhile, will be treated to afternoon tea for four to enjoy with friends or family at a time of their choosing.
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Children who stay at The Lowry Hotel during the school holiday period will receive a ‘Kids Newsletter’ in their room which explains the competition, as well as receiving ‘Lowry Loot’ Monopoly money which can be handed to any server in the hotel to redeem a free milkshake, mocktail, ice cream or cookie.
Image The Lowry Hotel
Image The Lowry Hotel
Submissions will be judged by the designer of the LowBee mascot, Thomas Wolski, a contemporary artist who uses both traditional and modern techniques in illustration, photography, and painting.
Adrian Ellis, General Manager at The Lowry Hotel, said: “The worker bee is synonymous with our great city. That’s why we wanted to integrate it within a brand-new mascot for The Lowry Hotel.
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“We want to see what artistic creations our young guests can come up with, by launching an exciting competition asking children to snap their favourite bee-related pictures across the city and share with us on social media.
“We can’t wait to see what people create and with a range of brilliant prizes up for grabs, we expect the standards to be up to Thomas Wolski’s high expectations. Good luck!”
The competition is open to all children staying overnight at the Lowry Hotel from Thursday 28 July to Sunday 4 September.
The entrant account must be following the hotel on Instagram (@thelowryhotel) and the winner will be announced no later than Saturday, 10 September on the hotel’s Instagram channel.
More information on The Lowry Hotel’s Busy Bee Summer Holiday Photo Competition can be found on its website here.
Feature image – The Lowry Hotel
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‘Danger to life’ amber wind warning issued for Greater Manchester as Storm Éowyn arrives
Emily Sergeant
Storm Éowyn is expected to bring very strong winds and widespread disruption to Greater Manchester later this week.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Met Office named Storm Éowyn yesterday, and confirmed that it will begin to influence the UK’s weather from early on Friday – with strengthening winds initially expected in the south west first, accompanying heavy rainfall, before it quickly spreads to the north and the rest of the UK as the morning progresses.
An amber warning for wind has been issued for large parts of the UK, including the majority of Greater Manchester, for most of the day on Friday.
#StormÉowyn has been named and is forecast to bring strong winds to much of the UK on Friday and into Saturday.
Coming into effect from 6am this Friday (24 January), the weather warning his means that power cuts are likely to occur, transport services will be affected with delays and cancellations, and there is a chance that buildings could be damaged.
Worse than that though, there’s even a ‘danger to life’ too, with potential injuries occurring from flying debris.
Speaking ahead of Storm Éowyn’s arrival in a couple of days time, Mike Silverstone, who is the Deputy Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Storm Éowyn will bring a period of very unsettled, potentially disruptive, weather to the UK through Friday and into Saturday.
Warnings for strong winds, heavy rain and snow are in place across many parts of the UK during Thursday, Friday and into the weekend ⚠️
“The strongest gusts are likely to be felt across parts of Northern Ireland, northern England, northwestern Wales and western Scotland, where exposed sites could get gusts in excess of 80mph, which has the potential to cause impacts for those in these areas.
“There will also be some heavy rain, bringing some unpleasant conditions to end the week.”
The initial warning for Storm Éowyn has been issued several days in advance, so it’s important to stay up to date with the forecast on the Met Office website here in the coming days.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
News
The 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season has been delayed
Danny Jones
The next Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season has been officially delayed by nearly three weeks.
Announced on Tuesday, 21 January, the decision has been taken in an effort to help promote the Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC), the proximity of which is rather close to the national union championship competition.
With sporting bodies also trying to nurture a growing interest in female rugby, the start of the next PWR season will be pushed back not only to give players more time to rest but in an effort to drive a larger audience to the WRWC as well, the final of which is being played here in England.
The hope is that it will also better the Red Roses’ chances of winning the international tournament in turn – fingers firmly crossed.
Get excited 🤩
The PWR 2025-26 Season will officially kick off on Saturday 25th October PLUS the PWR Cup will return 🙌
The conclusion of the international tournament is taking place at Twickenham Stadium in London on 27 September, just days before the 2025/26 Premiership season was due to start.
Local side Sale Sharks are sadly at the bottom of the table this current campaign, which kicked off on 5 October 2024 and ends this March, but with eyes already on the WRWC the focus for lots of players in the division will no doubt already be shifting.
Not only is the domestic women’s rugby season being delayed by nearly three whole weeks – meaning the first games won’t happen until 25 October – but this comes after the current schedule of fixtures was also reduced with player recovery in mind ahead of the World Cup.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the PWR’s operations manager, Amy Walmsley, said: “The Rugby World Cup is a generational moment for women’s rugby and will create a huge opportunity for both PWR and our clubs to grow and celebrate with their fans.
“The optimum time between the Rugby World Cup Final and our first league match will ensure we capitalise on what we already know will be the biggest and best World Cup ever, while also ensuring player welfare with adequate rest across the season.”
The stats back it up too as 2024 saw numerous milestones for the women’s game; in addition to record crowds at the Olympics, last year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations was the most viewed on record with 8.1 million fans tuning in, not to mention an increased interest among 18-24-year-olds.
You can find the run-down of the Sale Sharks Women fixtures below:
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗜𝗻
All of our fixtures for the 24/25 season are locked in. Let's bring that Northern roar to every game #SharksFamily 🦈
As for the final of the Premiership Women’s Rugby, the date has been reverted to its usual window in June, which should also fit within what congestion remains.
Nevertheless, with the Women’s Six Nations in late April and England – who have won all but one of their last 51 games – set to begin their World Cup on 22 August, the margins are still going to be somewhat fine if they are to head into the tournament in the best shape possible.
With the tickets selling extremely well, the expectation is that the Rugby World Cup final break is set to break the world record for the best-attended women’s rugby fixture in history.
In the meantime, Greater Manchester is gearing up for the men’s action as the Six Nations gets underway at the end of this month and the city is boasting the perfect place to watch it.
The Manc -
5th August 2022 
