A free same day delivery service for the morning after pill has been launched in Manchester for the very first time.
Available from now until Friday 30 September, it gives people the option to order emergency contraceptives to their home rather than going to a pharmacy, GUM clinic or GP surgery.
Delivering between 6-9pm in the week, packages will come straight to your door via discreet bike courier service.
Orders must be placed online before 5pm to qualify, then your free same day delivery will be confirmed separately via WhatsApp.
Rider Lucy will deliver your package between 6-9pm. / Image: The Lowdown
Free delivery will be available to postcodes M1, M2, M3, M4, M12, M13, M14, M15, M16, M21 and M20 during the week only.
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The service has been introduced by The Lowdown, a contraception review, advice and prescriptions platform trying to make women’s health “less of a minefield”.
According to Founder Alice Pelton, one third of women in the UK don’t currently have easy or convenient access to contraception.
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Inspired by her own experiences of struggling to find the right one, she launched The Lowdown in 2019 and has spent the last five years talking to thousands about the problem.
The Lowdown is a one-stop shop for people to choose, access and use the right contraception and reproductive healthcare for them, but it is not free at the point of use.
However, it offers the full range of brands of pill whereas on the NHS choice is more limited.
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On the website, a Levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive is priced at £9.50 and an EllaOne pill is £27. In total there are a choice of four morning after pills – Levonorgestrel, EllaOne, Ezinelle and Levonelle OneStep – whilst on the NHS you can get both Levonelle and ellaOne free of charge
Speaking on the Manchester trial, Alice Pelton, Founder of The Lowdown, said: “The Lowdown is all about making contraception less complicated, and this pilot is part of our bold plans to put control into the hands of women and people with vaginas.
“There’s so much unnecessary stigma around emergency contraception, and it’s too difficult for many women and their partners to access it quickly and conveniently. These medications are incredibly safe and effective, and getting hold of them should not need to involve travelling long distances or having an awkward public conversation with a pharmacist.”
Dr Melanie Davis-Hall, GP and Medical Director at The Lowdown, added: “Despite living in the 21st century there are still significant barriers to accessing contraception. And young people embarking on their university career may have even more difficulty accessing emergency contraception in an unfamiliar city at a vulnerable time of their life where many start having more sex!
The Lowdown hopes to destigmatise the issue of emergency contraception by making it more widely available to people who need it.
Its website is visited by 70,000 people a month, with all orders reviewed and approved by The Lowdown’s pharmacy team before dispatch.
Whilst you don’t need to speak to a medical professional before placing an order, you will be required to fill out a short questionnaire online to help the team identify which contraceptive will best suit your needs.
Sharing the news of the morning after pill same day delivery on its Instagram page, The Lowdon described the move as “Just Eat but for contraception”.
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It wrote: “BIG NEWS
“We’ve just launched a same day delivery of the morning after pill if you live in Manchester for the rest of September!
“Just make sure you order before 5pm on weekdays and double check your postcode is eligible (central Manchester postcodes please!).
“We will deliver your morning after pill straight to your door the very same day from 6-9pm.”
Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
Georgina Pellant -
22nd September 2022 
