A fundraiser set up in memory of Luke Howe, a local teen from Trafford whose body was tragically found dead in a nearby river over the weekend, has already raised well over £40,000 for his school.
Luke, 14, went missing after school on Thursday, 18 January, with Greater Manchester Police issuing a massive appeal to help find him. However, his body was sadly recovered from the River Bollin in Hale the following day and despite the best efforts of the emergency services, he was deceased at the scene.
There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death and GMP issued their deepest condolences to “Luke’s loved ones, his friends and family in what is a truly awful time”, stressing the importance they be given privacy at this time.
A Luke Howe memorial fundraiser was set up in the immediate aftermath by his aunt, Jessica Howe, with the family agreeing that all donations would go directly to his school, Brentwood Community College in Sale, known for its excellent standard of special education.
Writing in the description of the fundraiser, Jessica said: “As I’m sure so many of you are aware now, our beloved nephew/son/brother/grandson/friend Luke Howe was tragically found dead today.
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“Speaking with his sister, Lydia, we want to focus now on doing something positive in Luke’s name and we have decided we would love to fundraise for his school, Brentwood College…
“Brentwood is an outstanding school for SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] pupils with additional needs and we are hoping to fundraise for new soft play for the school for anyone who would like to contribute as, in his sister’s words, there was nothing he loved more.
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“If there is anything you can spare to help this school that did so much for Luke, we’d be forever grateful”. Since the GoFundMe went live over the weekend, more than £40k in donations has been raised for the school, with the funds going towards a new soft play area which he loved so much and deeply missed during lockdown.
The teen was described as the ‘biggest character’.Luke and his sister Lydia growing up.Credit: Family handouts
Posting an update and a link to the page following the overwhelming reaction of love, support and people paying their respects, Jessica wrote on Facebook, “Lydia and I had a moment last night when we looked at each other and couldn’t believe what you have all helped us achieve in 24 hours.
“Words will never express it. Please, please, please keep the efforts going… In the meantime though, I’m off to go focus on the family. Only love xxxxx”
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Speaking to the BBC, she went on to describe him as an “incredible young man” and “the greatest people person” who simply “loved happiness and joy”, adding that the response to the fundraiser has been “amazing” and that “people can be incredible in the darkest times”.
She signed off by stating, “If there’s something good that can come out of this for an incredible school that does so many amazing things for other children with similar challenges to our Luke, that will be something that will sustain us through.”
Our thoughts are with everyone near and dear to Luke and if you would like to donate to the Luke Howe fundraiser, you can do so HERE. Rest in peace.
The UK looks set for a ’30°C heatwave’ this summer, according to weather expert
Danny Jones
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down spring but the warm weather is finally starting to arrive here in Manchester, with temperatures reaching up to 21°C this week and the summery vibes only set to increase over the next month or so as meteorologists are predicting a 30°C heatwave soon enough.
March onwards has been a pure mix of blustery winds, grey skies and flashes of rainfall, with just a few glimpses of sun peeking through and the thermometer has still been struggling to get into double digits – until now anyway.
As we leave April behind, the forecast across the UK is looking a lot brighter and according to the likes of the Met Office, those numbers are going to keep creeping as we head deeper into the month.
In fact, some experts are predicting that Britain could be set for a heatwave with temperatures of 30°C and over in just over a month’s time. It better bloody hurry up, put it that way.
According to Jim Dale, Senior Meteorologist at British Weather Services, while much of May will be a bit of a mixed bag, “towards the latter stage and into June and July… we will see climbing temperatures well into the 30s in the prone areas.”
As reported by Birmingham Live, while Dale didn’t detail the kind of heat Manchester can expect, specifically, the indication is that the region is beginning to dry and the country as a whole is now heading “in the right direction”.
Although it likely won’t be until the very tail end of May that we start to see the summer as we know rolling in, the trends around the continent are suggesting positive signs, adding that “a lot of Europe is getting the scorching hot temperatures” of late.
The Met Office’s Tom Morgan also warned The Guardian that we get anything close to a heatwave this month, so we’ll have to be patient and wait for the turn come June time, especially up North.
Temperatures are on the rise this week, but not everywhere will see the warmth all the time 🌡️
Oban in the west of Scotland sees a steady increase towards the weekend 📈
Where as Newcastle will see its highest temperature today before dropping off later in the week 📉 pic.twitter.com/gUOXDjm8YF
While we did enjoy a heatwave in September of last year, hitting a top end of 33.5°C, the chances of the country challenging the most recent temperature record sat back in 2022 (40.3°C in July 2023) are still looking slim.
April has been described as a “month of two halves” overall and let’s just say we’re looking forward to a strong showing this May.
Where in Greater Manchester are you most looking forward to heading when summer finally arrives?
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Dunk (via Flickr)
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Co-op Live assures fans arena WILL open this week in time for Olivia Rodrigo and other gigs
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s huge new arena the Co-op Live has assured fans that it will definitely, actually, for sure open this week.
The staggering new music venue beside the Etihad Stadium has been hit by a couple of high-profile delays in the last fortnight.
Although a test event with Rick Astley went ahead on 21 April, giving a small audience a glimpse inside the state-of-the-art arena, the brakes were slammed on soon afterwards.
Co-op Live pushed its opening date back while it ironed out some kinks, namely ‘power supply issues’, and underwent rigorous testing to ‘run all shows safely’.
That meant Peter Kay was rescheduled to 29 and 30 April… but then got postponed again, along with The Black Keys, who were meant to perform last weekend.
All the delays have left fans panicking that their shows will also be delayed, with some huge shows like Olivia Rodrigo, Take That, and Liam Gallagher lined up in the coming weeks and months.
But Co-op Live has now issued a statement reassuring gig-goers that they are full steam ahead and ready to open as planned this week.
The first act to perform here officially will now be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on 1 May (not quite as local a name as they were gunning for, but we move).
He’ll be followed by Olivia Rodrigo and her Guts Tour, who will perform two sold-out gigs on 3 and 4 May.
Olivia Rodrigo has announced a Manchester gig at Co-op Live. Credit: Nick WalkerKeane – Photography by ALEX LAKE insta @twoshortdays WWW.TWOSHORTDAYS.COMOlivia Rodrigo and Keane will both play Co-op Live in Manchester this week when it finally opens
Then Keane will play the Co-op Live on 5 May to mark 20 years since the release of Hopes and Fears.
Co-op Live posted: “Let’s do this! Less than 48 hours until we kick off our full opening season.
“Our scheduled shows with @aboogievsartist, @oliviarodrigo and @keaneofficial are going ahead.
“Ticket holders can expect an email with everything they need to know about this week’s events to land in your inboxes tomorrow!”
Fans have breathed a sigh of relief at the news, with one person writing: “YAY THANK GOD OMG THIS IS AMAZING WAS LITERALLY HAVJNG A MENTAL BREAKDOWN BOUT OLIVIA BEING CANCELLED.”
Another commented: “THANK GOD!!! 4th mayyyy.”
Someone else posted: “IM SO HAPPY AHHHHHH I’VE BEEN NERVOUS ALL WEEK BUT NOW I KNOW ITS GONNA BE FINE AHHH.”
Olivia Rodrigo fans are BIG believers in an all-caps comment, clearly.
Co-op Live will open in Manchester on Wednesday 1 May.
It’s going to be worth the wait, we’re pretty sure…
Danny Jones -
22nd January 2024 
