News

Plans approved for new ‘first of its kind’ majority LGBTQ+ housing scheme for over 55s in Manchester

A groundbreaking development.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 30th September 2024

Plans have been approved for the UK’s ‘first of its kind’ purpose-built majority LGBTQ+ social rent housing scheme for over 55s in Manchester.

Great Places Housing Group’s proposals for the site of the former Spire Hospital on Russell Road in Whalley Range – a brownfield site which has been vacant since the hospital was demolished in September 2019 – were approved at Manchester City Council’s planning meeting last week (26 September).

The plans for the majority LGBTQ+ ‘Extra Care’ housing scheme have been co-produced in partnership with the Russell Road Community Steering Group, Manchester City Council, and LGBT Foundation.

According to developers and the Council, this newly-approved development will be made up of 80 one and two-bedroom apartments for older people within a “high-quality sustainable building offering a safe and welcoming feel and inviting presence”.

Designed to “respect the surrounding conservation area”, the low-carbon scheme will also include several shared communal facilities too – including lounges, treatment rooms, and landscaped gardens.

ADVERTISEMENT

The site will also include a neighbouring development of 40 shared ownership homes.

Plans have been approved for a new ‘first of its kind’ majority LGBTQ+ housing scheme in Manchester / Credit: John Walding (via Great Places Housing Group)

Greater Manchester‘s Extra Care housing schemes are all about increasing the opportunities for older people to move into high-quality accommodation across our region – with all the residents at Russell Road therefore being aged 55 or over.

ADVERTISEMENT

The majority of residents at the development will also be members of the LGBTQ+ community from Manchester, and they will live alongside allies in what developers and the Council are aiming to be an “open and inclusive place of psychological safety”.

Cllr Gavin White, who is Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said the approval of the plans is “a real celebratory moment” and a “landmark development in every sense”.

He continued: “[This development] has been in the works for some years and is designed to meet a clear need for quality, social rent housing for LGBTQ+ older people to live in safety, dignity, and as part of a welcoming and supportive community.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We have helped build hundreds of Extra Care homes across Manchester in recent years to meet demand for older people to live in their later lives, many with care needs provided on site, but this is the first purpose-built LGBTQ+ majority Extra Care community in the UK”.

Read more:

Work on the new development – which will be funded by Great Places, complimented by grant funding from Homes England, and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Brownfield Housing Fund – will begin later this year, the Council has confirmed.

Featured Image – Manchester City Council

News

Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group

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
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.”

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

News

‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data

Danny Jones Danny Jones the average price of a pint in the UK by region

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.

@the.manc Just trying to walk home and the Northern Quarter keeps tempting me in for a pint. 🙈 #themanc #manchester #mcr #northernquarter #spring ♬ original sound – The Manc

The average price of a pint per region in the UK

  1. Wales – £4.21
  2. North East – £4.28
  3. Northern Ireland – £4.42
  4. Scotland – £4.42
  5. Yorkshire and the Humber – £4.42
  6. North West – £4.42
  7. West Midlands – £4.42
  8. East Midlands – £4.42
  9. East England – £4.56
  10. South West – £4.93
  11. South East – £4.94
  12. London – £5.44

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.

Happy hour Manchester – The best drinks deals in the city centre
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…

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group

More News

Low reservoir

Boroughs

Environment Agency officially declares a drought in north west England

Michael Haynes

Crime

Trafford gymnastics coach jailed for 18 years after raping and sexually assaulting young girls

Tesco VAR self checkout video

Food & Drink

Tesco are introducing ‘VAR-style’ self-checkouts in the UK

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches