Marcus Rashford challenges chef Tom Kerridge to create £10 Christmas menu for people in need
As part of his ongoing work with FareShare, Marcus Rashford has challenged two-Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge to create a special £10 menu for people in need this year.
Marcus Rashford has not been shy in the past when it comes to speaking up about his childhood in Wythenshawe, which often saw him and his mum relying on the local food bank even at Christmas time – and now it’s prompted him to create a £10 Christmas menu.
The Manchester United player, who received an MBE for his work battling food poverty in England, said that his family “relied on the local food bank for our Christmas dinner” and is making it his mission this year to ensure even those using food vouchers will be able to enjoy something special.
Enter two-Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge, who has created a special £10 menu for people in need this year – devising two healthy festive recipes that can feed six people across two days, on a sum that is relatively affordable for impoverished families.
In response, Tom has come up with two dishes: a tasty turkey roll with stuffing and traybake veggies, and a Boxing Day potato and carrot hash with fried eggs to use up any leftovers.
Tom Kerridge’s tasty turkey roll with stuffing and traybake veggies recipe can feed six people for under £10 / Image: Full Time Meals
According to FareShare, 2.3 million children went to bed hungry in the UK in November 2021 – a heartbreaking statistic that has inspired Rashford and Kerridge to ‘step up’ their Full Time Meals campaign over the Christmas period.
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“Christmas has a great ability to bring family together and I want as many children as possible to wake up on Christmas morning happy and without the stress of wondering where their next meal is coming from,” said Rashford to the BBC.
“I want families in communities like mine to look forward to creating something special in the kitchen together and making memories.”
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The chef has also created a Boxing Day potato and carrot hash with fried eggs to help use up any leftovers. Both meals can be made for a total of £10 / Image: Full Time Meals
Tom Kerridge added that Christmas ‘can be such a hard time for many families’, saying both he and Rashford wanted ‘to create something that might help bring a little bit of cheer to those who are finding it difficult’- for just £10.
“I want to see people cooking together over Christmas,” he added.
A spokesperson for FareShare told the BBC that parents in the UK were ‘being forced to choose between keeping their children warm or putting food on the table’ this year.
“Christmas is meant to be a time of warmth, good food, and laughter, [but] for families facing food poverty this winter, the reality couldn’t be more different”.
Rashford and Kerridge have been working together since April 2021 on the Full Time Meals campaign and have so far created 52 delicious family recipes as part of its 12-month long programme.
All simple and easy to follow, with an emphasis on limited equipment and inclusion of store cupboard goods with a longer shelf life, each recipe features a QR code linking through to the Full Time Instagram page where users can access short-form tutorial videos hosted by Tom, Marcus and a selection of celebrity guests and families.
Feature image – Full Time Meals
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
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More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
Georgina Pellant -
13th December 2021 
