Hundreds gathered in St Peter’s Square last night to protest against the rise in drink spiking in Manchester and across the UK.
On what is typically the biggest day of the week for student nights out, rafts of young people chose to boycott nightclubs on Wednesday night and instead take to city centre hubs up and down the UK to stand in solidarity and demand that drink spiking and needle spiking be taken seriously by authorities amid a recent rise in incidents.
Manchester’s ‘End Spiking Now’ demo last night was called for by local groups under the initiative ‘Girls Night In‘, and the boycott was part of UK-wide protests against spiking in clubs and bars.
Opening the Manchester demonstration in front of at least 1,000 young people, according to The Guardian, 21-year-old student Lucy Nichols declared “an emergency response to an emergency situation”, explaining that there is a “spiking epidemic” sweeping the UK and adding that: “Every single women here will have a story about them or one of their friends being spiked.
“Now we can’t even do the age-old trick of covering up our drinks, because they are spiking us with needles now too.”
Striking images from last night’s demonstrations were shared on social media.
Photos shared to social media showed demonstrators holding up banners with a wide range of phrases and rallying cries, including one that said “The only injection I want is Pfizer!” and another saying “Pankhurst would be PISSED” close to the statue of the Mancunian suffragette in St Peter’s Square.
“I have never felt safe”, “Educate your sons”, and “Stop spiking us you freaks” were more examples of banners to sum up why the demonstrations are taking place.
Following the gathering and collection of speakers in St Peter’s Square, in a defiant stance, one of the organisers encouraged the crowd to walk with them through the streets of the city centre.
They began walking down Oxford Road, chanting: “Whose streets? Our streets”.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was also in attendance at the protest last night, alongside Greater Manchester’s Night Time Economy Adviser and co-founder of the Warehouse Project, Sacha Lord.
Helen Pidd – The Guardian’s North of England Editor – explained that she spoke to the mayor following the protest last night, and relayed in a tweet that he said: “This one is on us: men, lads, boys.
“That might mean calling out mates for their behaviour or it might mean changing our own behaviour.”
Sacha Lord also said on Twitter this morning: “Last night, myself and Andy Burnham attended the boycott to show support and listen. We will continue to meet and work with the organisers and I’d urge other city regions to do so too.
“The message is clear – enough is enough.”
Tonight was so powerful; to march with over a 1000 people standing up against #spiking against women, demanding concrete change, and making it clear that it is male behaviour that needs to change, not ours. #girlsnightinpic.twitter.com/1yXrMDtEGg
A number of nightclubs in Manchester city centre – including student hotspots 42nd Street and The Venue – announced ahead of the boycotts and demonstrations last night that they would be closing doors to show support.
As well as organising the boycott and last night’s demonstrations, women have launched a petition calling on the government to make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to thoroughly search guests on entry.
Protestors in Manchester have also penned an open letter to Andy Burnham and other leaders at Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) setting out demands, including that GMCA provides bars and nightclubs with anti-spiking devices, enforce more staff training, and create a toolkit for women detailing measures venues should have in place in order to be licensed.
The group would also like to see designated employees on hand to deal with problems of spiking and harassment, as well as for venues to produce their own clear procedures on how to deal with such incidents.
The key focus is for women’s safety to be made more of a priority and for this to be clear to both staff and customers who are visiting any venue in Manchester.
The bizarre explanation behind Manchester’s new mini ‘green space’ – that’s completely closed off
Danny Jones
One thing you always hear people who live in central Manchester calling out for is green space, but when a new patch of grass does arrive, you don’t exactly expect it to be completely inaccessible.
Just a quick FYI to those of you passionate about supporting what little nature there is left in our city centre: brace yourselves, as this one is rather annoying…
For anyone who’s walked down Whitworth Street West past the once lively Locks, or even got off at Deansgate–Castlefield tram stop and come down the glass stairs closest to the Albion Bridge, you may have noticed a rogue patch of grass surrounded by black fencing next to the City Road Inn pub.
It could be considered a nice little lawn were it not completely fenced off, but the question is, why has it popped up there? Well, local lad Curtis Rothwell has recently debunked the whole frustrating mess for us in a helpful video.
Yes, as explained by the Pre-Construction Manager who works for local utilities contractor Zenit Infrastructure Solutions Limited, the somewhat laughable but disheartening gated green space on Whitworth Street is essentially a feeble attempt at adhering to permission laws.
As detailed by Rothwell, the plot bought for a sizeable sum last year (only the original developers didn’t have the funding to actually pull off their initial plans) is now set to become student accommodation.
Currently, real estate firm Tri7 – which has now been fully folded into the parent group known as Fusion, as previous part-owners already – still has a hold on the land for now.
However, after being ordered by Manchester City Council to tidy up the area in the meantime, as they await planning permission to be fully approved, they decided to lay these new rolls of turf there.
Ok, so while the notion of the Council ordering a property company to make urban spaces look pretty and the idea of introducing more grassy zones into the city sound good on paper, as you can see, the real-life result doesn’t quite match up.
Not only does this feel like a bare minimum effort to appease the local authorities ahead of erecting yet another skyscraper, but more importantly, it feels like sheer nonchalant neglect and/or plain dismissal of those Manc residents crying out for more grass, nature and a break from the concrete jungle.
The fact that the rare green space is totally blocked by tall, almost authoritarian-feeling fences and sealed off by a big, black gate comes across like a casual two fingers to both the Council and those living in the city centre.
Speaking to The Manc, Curt commented: “It’s positive the council can take charge of how our empty spaces look after demolitions. In this case, maybe the demolition was carried out too early, which happens, but when it does, greenery is the best look they can give to local people.”
You can see the latest update on the planning permission HERE, and for now, if you’re looking for green spaces in Manchester, you’ll find them more frequently beyond the outskirts and heading into the boroughs; this one is strictly off limits. Find a whole bunch of ones that aren’t down below:
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Curtis Rothwell (via LinkedIn)
City Centre
A huge Hot Wheels monster truck event is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
A massive Hot Wheels-themed monster truck event is coming to Manchester city centre as part of a brand new UK tour.
You can file this under one for the kids and for the big kids.
Following the success of the brand’s award-winning ‘Glow-N-Fire’ event earlier this year, Hot Wheels is hitting the road once again and bringing the explosive show to yet more domestic audiences.
Whether you’re a monster truck enthusiast, part of the wider motorhead masses, or simply looking for something fun to do with the little ones, you should be all over this.
Credit: Pres shots (supplied)
What is Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow-N-Fire?
Produced by Family Entertainment Live, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live™ sees versions of the genuine collectable toys brought to life on the biggest scale possible.
Remember that old miniature car you had that looked like a shark? Yep, they’ve even got that.
But there’s much more than just colossally large vehicles; as well as the debut of an all-new truck called the ‘Rhinomite’ – the dynamite Rhino-themed truck which charges horn-first into challenges and looks to destroy the competition – the new and improved experience will feature never-before-seen stunts.
Performed not only by the Hot Wheels Monster Trucks drivers, but also by a talented roster of FMX (freestyle motocross), you can expect the likes of no-handed front flips and much more by these impressive professionals.
Returning not only to the capital but now Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leeds too, more and more Brits are going to be able to see the action for themselves.
Credit: Supplied
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live – UK tour dates
Saturday to Sunday, 3-4 January 2026: AO Arena, Manchester
Sat-Sun, 10-11 January: The O2 Arena, London
Sat-Sun, 28-29 March: First Direct Bank Arena, Leeds
Sat-Sun, 4-5 April: M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Sat-Sun, 11-12 April: Utilita Arena, Birmingham
With special children’s pricing, VIP packages and even the chance to participate in the official pre-show party, held two and a half hours prior to every performance, there really is so much value-for-money to be soaked up from this high-octane piece of live entertainment at the AO Arena.
The pre-show party, specifically, gives fans a unique opportunity to access the arena floor where they can get up close and personal with the outrageous Hot Wheels designs and the truly epic size of a minster struck, as well as grab autographs and selfies with their favourites.
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks – Manchester tickets
Glow-N-Fire won the most recent Pollstar ‘Family Show of the Year’ award and has sold thousands of tickets this year alone, so it goes without saying that you have every reason to give this one a go.
Tickets for next year’s Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live show at the AO Arena in Manchester go on sale this Friday, 5 September at 10am.
Emily Sergeant -
28th October 2021 
