Greater Manchester publishes 10-year plan to protect women
Mayor Andy Burnham declared he wanted the "streets, workplaces, schools, universities and homes of this city-region to be safe for every woman and girl."
Greater Manchester Combined Authority has published a 10-point plan to protect females – with Mayor Andy Burnham declaring he wanted the “streets, workplaces, schools, universities and homes to be safe for every woman and girl.”
The GMCA’s Gender Based Abuse Strategy has been “deliberately brought forward” following the case of Sarah Everard – whose tragic death has sparked a national ‘Reclaim These Streets’ movement to tackle misogyny and violence in Britain.
Proposals of the decade-long plan include introducing an emergency contact system for passengers on public transport (to alert the police discreetly); Public Space Protection Orders; and a public campaign on what is sometimes called ‘low level’ harm such as wolf-whistling, catcalling and stalking.
The strategy also pledges that anyone who suffers misogynistic abuse will be “offered the same protections as those afforded to all hate crime victims.”
Earlier this week the Government made a similar promise – saying it would “on an experimental basis” ask police to record crimes of violence motivated by a person’s sex or gender.
ADVERTISEMENT
🗣️ "We want to change the story on violence against women and girls.
"We have got to seek to change attitudes right across society."
Today, the Deputy Mayor announced proposals for a Gender Based Abuse Strategy for Greater Manchester.
— Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) March 17, 2021
Statistics show that one in four women in the UK will experience some form of sexual assault or domestic abuse in their lifetime.
In Greater Manchester, 36% of all violent crime reported to the police entails domestic abuse.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mayor Andy Burnham said that such cases had gone on “far too long”.
“Firstly, we need to work together with a range of agencies to improve the services we provide to victims, and secondly we need to challenge attitudes and behaviours,” he stated.
“It’s why I intend to bring forward a high-profile campaign asking men and boys to think about their behaviour and how it makes women and girls feel so we become a better and safer place to live and work.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime Bev Hughes declared that “enough is enough”.
“I hear the harrowing stories every day and the toll it takes on women physically and mentally,” she stated.
“It’s pervasive in our everyday life, from walking down a street and being called names because of how you are dressed, or being followed, or being threatened or being attacked.
“I’m proud of the Gender Based Abuse Strategy proposals we’ve published today and I want to thank the many people who have helped us already to get to this point. However, there may be other issues we should include so I’d want everyone in Greater Manchester to help us get it right.”
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
The Manc -
18th March 2021 
