In celebration of their ‘new look’, beloved Leeds-based brewery Northern Monk are giving away free pints of their iconic pale ale across various locations tomorrow, including right here in Greater Manchester.
So much for ‘it’s grim up North’ — don’t think so, mate.
The legendary independent brewery, based in the Yorkshire town of Holbeck, has been serving up its iconic beers across the North since 2013 and you don’t have to go far to find some of their creations on tap around here either.
Their most famous pale ale ‘Faith’ is now arguably the best core pale ale in the country and is the cornerstone of their lineup that helped make them a household name that we all know and love. Better still, you can get your hands on a few free ones this Wednesday (20 February).
Their new look.The classic Northern Monk pint being given away for free.Credit: Northern Monk/The Hoot Leeds
As per The Hoot, the brewery has recently been developing a ‘new look’, changing their logo and re-branding ahead of the ‘the next chapter for Northern Monk’.
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Whilst still undoubtedly recognisable, they’ve had a bit of a refresh — much like their pints (wahey!) — and we’ve got to say they’re looking very smart indeed.
So, in celebration of this, they’re feeling rather generous and are giving away a total of 1200 free pints of Faith across 12 different venues in the UK tomorrow.
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Available from 5pm onwards and for one day only, we know where we’ll be heading after work.
Some sage advice for people looking to enjoy the freebies there, as well.
Yes, it’s as simple as that: head to any of the venues from 5pm on Wednesday, 21 February and there’ll be a whopping 100 pints of Northern Monk in each ready to be handed over to you lovely lot.
It’s strictly one per customer but you’ll hear no complaints from us — a free pint is a free pint.
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The Manchester venues areas follows:
Northern Monk Refectory, Tariff Street – Northern Quarter
Trof, Thomas St – Also NQ
Folk, Burton Road – West Didsbury
Announcing the news to social media, Northern Monk said: “Times they are a-changin’… As we enter our 11th year, we’re embarking on the next chapter of Northern Monk. You’ll see some changes unfold in the coming months; join us as we begin to turn the pages.” We’ll cheers to that.
“We’re planning a few parties to officially ‘launch’ the new look. Across 12 different venues on Wednesday 21 February. There’s a free pint of Faith in it for you…”
They’ll also be giving away pints at venues in Bradford, Leeds, Sunderland, Glasgow and London.
So whatever you’ve got planned for 5pm tomorrow, cancel it and head to any of these cracking spots and cheers to Northern Monk’s new look.
Manchester’s iconic inflatable monsters are set to invade the city centre again this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
Dozens of huge inflatable monsters are set to invade Manchester next month, as Halloween returns to the city for 2024.
Yes, it’s that time of year yet again… the monsters are back.
After several years of looming over Manchester‘s most-notable rooftops and lurking around famous city centre sites, it’s been revealed that the iconic MCR Monsters will be returning for another year of spooky celebrations next month, along with loads of other terrifying tricks and treats – with something for the whole family to get involved with.
Organisers CityCo and Manchester BID are gearing up to “roll out the blood-red carpet” for its legendary and monstrous guests in a couple of weeks time.
This year’s annual Halloween in the City celebrations will kick off with a week-long colourful invasion of the MCR Monsters, before being followed by a two-day family festival across the city’s popular shopping destinations.
Halloween is returning to the city for loads of spooky celebrations next month / Credit: CityCo (via Supplied)
Crawling their way back into the city from Friday 25 October through to Halloween itself on Thursday 31 October, the epic MCR Monsters inflatable art trail – which is created by artists Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas – will be taking over leading locations like Manchester Arndale, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Corn Exchange, and New Century, with many more sites set to be announced soon.
A brand-new monster called ‘The Leech’ will be heading to town to join to celebrations this year, alongside some other spookily-similar faces from years’ past.
Buildings across the city will also be turning a ghoulish green once the night falls, while you can also expect to see thousands of little pumpkin lanterns adorning the city’s streets once again.
There’ll be something for all the family to / Credit: CityCo (via Supplied)
Some of the other fan-favourite events on the jam-packed Halloween in the City lineup confirmed to be returning this year are the ‘Monsters Rock! Music Festival’, with spooky live bands and DJs, as well as gruesome games and competitions, the popular ‘Team Trick v Team Treat’ fancy dress challenge, and the hair-raising monster procession ‘Rock! Party Procession’ – which will feature giant puppet monsters, stilt walkers, and a live band marching their way through Manchester Arndale and on Market Street.
Thousands of families are expected to come into the city centre dressed in their scariest costumes over Halloween weekend on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October.
Jane Sharrocks, who is the Chair of Manchester BID, said Manchester is set to transform into the “ultimate Halloween playground” this year, and that organisers are planning 2024 to be the “most thrilling year yet”.
“As the first UK city to host these incredible creatures, Manchester has become the ultimate Halloween destination,” Jane added.
Halloween in the City officially returns to Manchester on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October, with the monsters descending from Friday 25 October and the pumpkins potentially even earlier, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.
Featured Image – CityCo (via Supplied)
News
‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of homeless people in Manchester have now been helped “get back on their feet” thanks to a successful pilot housing scheme.
Greater Manchester’s ‘Housing First’ pilot scheme was rolled out in 2019.
The scheme is all about recognising that “a good home has to be the first step to a good life”, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and since it was first introduced, it has primarily been helping people with chronic and long-standing experiences of homelessness into homes of their own, without preconditions.
Ongoing personalised wraparound support to manage issues, ranging from mental health problems to substance misuse, is also a key part of what the scheme’s all about.
Since 2019, the scheme then has helped a total of 413 people find “good, safe homes”, GMCA has revealed.
Around 75% of those housed have also sustained their tenancies too, with some even going on to form part of Housing First’s co-production panel – sharing their experiences, and making sure that the service continues to meet people’s needs.
Giving everyone a good, safe home is one of the best investments this country can make.
That’s why we want to take the lessons of our @GMHousingFirst pilot & follow @FinlandInUK by adopting it as our philosophy in Greater Manchester.
Because of the clear success of the pilot in our region, Greater Manchester and Mayor Andy Burnham are now calling on the Government to take the lessons learned from the scheme and embed them into a new approach to tackle the housing crisis nationwide.
Andy Burnham says he believes that giving everyone a good, safe home would be “one of the best investments the country could make”, as it would “take pressure off” other public services and public finances, and declared that our region is ready to follow in Finland’s footsteps by becoming the first UK city-region to adopt the ‘Housing First’ philosophy permenantly.
“The evidence is clear that it works, and when a pilot scheme gets results it shouldn’t end there – it should become the new normal,” Mr Burnham said.
A ‘life-changing’ scheme has helped house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people / Credit: Manchester City Council
“Housing First has shown that if you give people an unconditional right to safe and secure housing, backed up with personalised support, you set them up to succeed, so instead of winding it down, we should be scaling it up and turning it into a national mission.
“We’re starting that here in Greater Manchester.
“We’re bringing in new protections for renters, tackling bad landlords, and with the right powers and funding, we can deliver 75,000 new homes in this parliament.
“Our new Housing First Unit will drive this work forward, bringing together partners across our city-region with a clear goal – a healthy home for everyone in Greater Manchester by 2038.”
Danny Jones -
20th February 2024 
