News

Plans to get Stockport on the Metrolink being ‘actively studied’, government confirms

Confirmation of the plans come after nearly £14 million has been secured for Stockport from the government’s Towns Fund.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 14th July 2022

The government has confirmed that plans to connect Stockport onto the Metrolink are being “actively studied”.

The Greater Manchester borough is one of a few areas that is not currently connected up to the region’s expansive tram network, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed during PMQs in the House of Commons yesterday that the Department for Transport (DfT) is “actively studying” ways to get services running through the town soon enough.

The PM made the comment after Cheadle’s MP said that she now wanted the town on the tram network after the green light had been given for plans to build a new central railway station.

The single-platform railway station is due to open in 2025, and will connect Cheadle to Stockport town centre and beyond.

However during PMQs yesterday, Cheadle MP Mary Robinson said that she now wanted to see the mid-Cheshire line made into a double line with an extension of the Metrolink into the town, as she feels that improving connectivity is “key to economic growth” and the future of the government’s Levelling Up agenda.

ADVERTISEMENT

Read more: Stockport named one of the best ‘up and coming’ areas to invest in 2022

The PM’s confirmation comments also come after it was announced this week that nearly £14 million has been secured for Stockport from the government’s Towns Fund – which will go towards the construction of the new train station.

ADVERTISEMENT
The government has confirmed that plans to connect Stockport onto the Metrolink are being “actively studied” / Credit: TfGM & SMDC

Money from the funding will also go towards two other projects.

One project being a north-south cycling and walking route – which will link the new station to the town centre – and the other being the building of a new Eco Business Park on Bird Hall Lane.

MP Mary Robinson said in her question to the Prime Minister: “After securing almost £14m in my town’s fund bid for Cheadle, I was delighted last week to get the green light for our new Cheadle rail station, and £4m for our state-of-the-art eco business park.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I have had tremendous support from the Cheadle Towns Board and local community who understand how important it is to have connected towns and villages bringing investment and hi-tech jobs to our area.

Read more: A Manc’s Guide to Stockport – where ancient history meets up-and-coming cool

“I’m ambitious for Cheadle, and I now want to secure the re-doubling of the mid-Cheshire line and the extension of Metrolink through my constituency.”

It comes after nearly £14 million has been secured for Stockport from the government’s Towns Fund / Credit: TfGM

Mr Johnson said in response: “It’s thanks to the massive exertions of this government in levelling up with the £650 billion investment in infrastructure that we’re having a new railway station in Cheadle, for instance Mr Speaker.

“I know that the bids that my honourable friend just mentioned are now being actively studied by the Department for Transport and she should feed in more to them.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The extension of the tram network through to Stockport is something that has been discussed as far back as 2004, and in 2020, Andy Burnham announced plans to bring Metrolink to the borough within the next 10 years.

Stockport’s new transport interchange, which is currently under construction on the site of the town’s old bus station, has also been designed to to leave space for the addition of any future Metrolink or Tram-Train extensions.

Featured Image – TfGM

News

Murder investigation launched after two fatal stabbings in Moss Side

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

A murder investigation has now been launched following two fatal stabbings in Moss Side this past weekend.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that officers were called to reports that two people that had suffered stab wounds on Great Southern Street, in the Moss Side area of Manchester, at around 5am yesterday morning (17 November), and when they arrived at the scene, two men were treated for their injuries.

Despite the best efforts of all emergency services involved, the two men were sadly both pronounced dead at the scene.

Since the shocking incident, a man who was arrested on suspicion of murder at the scene earlier yesterday has now been detained under the Mental Health Act after being assessed by medical professionals, GMP has confirmed.

Initial inquires are currently ongoing, and police say they believe that the suspect and one of the victims were known to each other.

GMP say they are treating this as an isolated incident with “no threat to the wider public”.

“We have launched a murder investigation, and detectives from our Major Incident Team continue to work diligently conducting CCTV trawls and speaking to witnesses to find out what has happened to the victims,” explained Chief Superintendent David Meeney, who is the District Commander for the City of Manchester division.

“We swiftly made an arrest and we are not looking for anyone else in relation to this.

“We understand the shockwaves that this devastating news will have caused in the local community and further afield across Greater Manchester.

“We have placed a number of local neighbourhood officers in the area to conduct visible patrols to reassure the community. If you have any concerns, please speak to them, they are there to lend a listening ear.

“I’d like to thank the local community who have all really pulled together and cooperated with our enquiries.”

Read more:

Chief Superintendent Meeney asked that anyone who has information that may be able to assist enquiries to get in touch police, adding: “Please don’t assume that we know already, any small piece of information may be vital for our Major Incident Team detectives to find out what happened.”

Anyone with any information should contact GMP on 101 quoting 553 of 17/11/24.

Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons

News

Manchester’s 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness raises a whopping £50k for ‘A Bed Every Night’

Danny Jones Danny Jones The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness fundraising tally

This city can stand up and pat itself firmly on the back after this year’s 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness raised a whopping £50,000 for the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity.

Manchester, you truly are incredible.

Returning for the sixth time last week, the 2024 edition of Manchester’s annual fundraising 24-hour relay event was a bumper year and then some, as not only did they cruise past their initial target of £25k but there were records all over the place for distances covered and attendance.

With well over 1,000 runners from all over the region descending upon host venue Freight Island and the city centre route at various different points during the 24 hours, we can well and truly say us Mancs ran our absolute socks off for a crucial cause.

Starting from 12pm on Wednesday, 13 November and running until noon the next day, those involved completed a total of 40 consecutive laps with some of those taking part barely stopping for even a moment’s rest in between each one, no matter how dark, cold or painful it got.

Translating to the equivalent of 1,666 beds for those in the Greater Manchester homeless community and counting, the team – comprised of 86 volunteers, hugely supportive overnight security staff and countless runners – managed to generate nearly double the amount of donations raked in last year.

If you want more context, prior to the 2024 event, The 24 Hour MCR Run had raised approximately £52,807.99 over the course of its entire first five years, meaning they’ve basically just matched that overall tally in just one day – albeit a very long one.

The frankly ridiculous tally couldn’t have been reached without help from donation-boosting sponsors AutoTrader and Together Co. (as well as help from Accenture and Mistral), but even without those additions, it was still by far and away the most successful year in the event’s history.

Countless runners booked time off or got laps done on their lunch hours, with many even coming after work on the Wednesday to then return and put in even more graft the following morning before their shift. Simply inspirational stuff.

Volunteers and run leaders like Marv Lucas, Shomak Chakrabarti, Jay Orris, Molly Glenister-Doyle and many others each smashed 100km or more; even The Manc managed to rack up 110k between us.

The 24 Run Against Homelessness
The Manc doing their bit
manchester 24 hour homeless run
Runners doing their 5k laps of Manchester city centre
running event freight island
Still hundreds there come nightfall
andy burnham speaks at charity running event in manchester
Burnham gave a rousing and emotional speech
(Credit: The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness)

One Chorlton Runner, 55-year-old Ian Sharpe, set the men’s record with a simply staggering 150k, while Natasha Barclay smashed the women’s record with an unbelievable 117k just 10 days after running almost the same distance at The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness‘ debut event in Birmingham.

Joining for the busy 7pm, when hundreds of people from Greater Manchester-based run clubs, local businesses and more lined the steps of Freight Island, Mayor Andy Burnham was in attendance and admitted that the immense turnout brought “a tear to the eye.”

Labelling the ever-growing initiative a prime example of “Greater Manchester in action” and community engagement at its finest, it was visible to see how taken aback he was not only by the sheer number of runners but by how much the event has grown since its inception.

Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity (GMMC) CEO, Dr Fran Darlington-Pollock – who also put in some laps herself along with members of her team – was equally blown away by the 2024 event.

Talking to The Manc, she said: “The 24 Hour Run raises vital funds to support our flagship scheme, ‘A Bed Every Night’ (ABEN), providing far more than just a bed for the night but vital wrap-around support to help get people back on their feet.

“No one should have to spend a night on the streets, particularly as we head into the colder, harsher months. Raising funds for ABEN helps to get us closer to a point when we can say we have truly eradicated the need for rough sleeping.” Safe to say a big dint was put in the problem this month.

Read more:

Speaking on an overwhelmingly successful 24 hours, co-founder Tom Lewis said: “I’m genuinely overwhelmed with the support we received for this year’s event and the Manchester running community and local companies coming together to help make a real impact in the region.

“As for the future, we plan to come back bigger than ever each year. We’ve set an ambitious precedent by doubling our fundraising total for the last few years, which could mean we’re looking at £100,000 next year. At the moment that seems like a dream, but I said the same about £50,000 and here we are.

“Also, expansion into London would be amazing and after launching The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness in Birmingham earlier this month, the goal is for it to reach Manchester levels too.”

It goes without saying that raising this much money for such a vitally important problem in the space of 24 hours is phenomenal and we couldn’t possibly be any prouder of all those who took part.

ADVERTISEMENT

The supplementary JustGiving page is actually still active for 2024, so you can still donate if you want to add to that already huge sum but, for now, well done to everyone and we’ll see you next year.

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

Featured Images — The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness

More News

Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre

Manchester

Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre

Boroughs

Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas

Crime

Former Manchester police officer jailed after sexually assaulting a child while on duty

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches