A plumber in Burnely who helps vulnerable and elderly people in his community for free has received a huge donation from actor Hugh Grant.
The actor has made a donation of £10,000 to plumber James Anderson leaving him in “shock”, reports The Lancashire Telegraph.
Mr Anderson is the founder of a charity that provides free plumbing and heating work to local elderly and vulnerable residents.
Called Depher, the charity was first set up in 2017 to serve his local community of Burnley, which is ranked the 11th most deprived area in the UK according to the 2019 index of multiple deprivation.
Depher has completed 43,679 free emergency jobs and helped 18,297 disabled or terminally ill families who could not otherwise afford the cost. / Credit: Depher via GoFundMe
Depher has completed 43,679 free emergency jobs and helped 18,297 disabled or terminally ill families who could not otherwise afford the cost.
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It was founded after Mr Anderson witnessed a Plumbing and Heating company trying to overcharge and scam an elderly and disabled gentleman out of a total of £5500.00,
The donation from Mr Grant came through GoFundMe as part of the charity’s winter appeal, which has raised more than £80,000 at the time of writing.
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Mr Anderson made headlines in 2019 after a bill of his for a 91-year-old woman showing a total cost of £0 went viral.
The charity was founded after Mr Anderson witnessed a plumbing and heating company trying to overcharge and scam an elderly and disabled gentleman out of a total of £5500.00. / Credit: Depher via GoFundMe
The publicity meant that a lot of celebrities, and members of the public started to donate to his charity by way of showing their support.
Still, he said he had to “look twice” when he saw the donation come in from Mr Grant – especially after in July of this year the charity nearly had to shut down due to a lack of funding.
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He told The Lancashire Telegraph: “I didn’t believe it was him. It’s a shock but it’s wonderful.”
“That’s 10 boilers for people with cancer. Ten boilers for people who are dying.”
The charity has since recovered, and for Mr Anderson such a big donation from someone like Hugh isn’t just about the money – but also the awareness it brings to his cause, which is more needed than ever as household costs continue to rise across the UK.
Celebrities and members of the public started to donate to his charity by way of showing their support / Image: Depher via GoFundMe
Describing the problem faced by many in his area as well as those further afield, Mr Anderson said: “Too many elderly and disabled people are forgotten about and left to face the daily struggles with life saving repairs, without a second thought of what they face.
“Since March 2017, we have seen more than there should be and it is growing out of control, with no help available it can only get worse unless we help and show community spirit.
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“The government system has not been set up to deal with the issues that they face and i feel they never will, that is why Depher has been launched.
“With 16.5 million elderly and disabled people living within this United Kingdom, it can mean the difference between life and death, especially in the winter time.”
If you would like to donate to Mr Anderson’s GoFundMe, you can do so here.
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…
Georgina Pellant -
27th October 2021 
