A six-year-old from Lancashire has already raised nearly £30,000 for charity by setting himself the incredible challenge of climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest.
Didn’t realise heroes came this young.
Oscar Burrow from Lancaster loves climbing, hiking and walking of all kinds — not to mention a bit of “danger” from time to time, according to his dad Matt — so back in October 2022, the incredible little lad set himself the challenge of climbing the equivalent of Everest for a good cause.
As explained in the description of his fundraising page, after learning about the first men to climb Everest (Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay) Oscar decided he wanted to become the youngest person ever to summit the world’s highest point himself, but knew he needed some practice. Cue awesomeness.
With that in mind, the youngster set himself the challenge of climbing the next best thing: a dozen of the UK’s tallest mountains the total elevation of which would match Everest’s 8,849 metres — all in aid of the Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley. What a little legend.
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Starting with Inglebrough in the Yorkshire Dales, Oscar has now summited 10 out of the 12 peaks on his list and raised nearly £30k for the local Lancashire charity.
Completing the likes of Scafell Pike, Snowdon, The Old Man of Coniston and more, many of which were done in treacherous conditions, this primary school kid has done what many grown adults are too hesitant to take on.
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Citing the likes of Cairn Gorm and Glyder Fawr as some of his hardest simply due to the deep snow and low visibility, Oscar now has two peaks left to go before he reaches the magnificent milestone, having covered countless kilometres and raised enough to send 29 different families on holiday. Incredible.
He did summit amazing! 🚨
Fresh off the back of his chilly trek to the top of Cairngorm, we're very excited to announce that 6 y/o Oscar has reached his £2️⃣9️⃣,0️⃣3️⃣0️⃣ target after an interview with @AmandaHolden & @JamieTheakston on @thisisheart tipped his total over the edge 🙌 pic.twitter.com/F8n4GrKgtE
— Derian House Children's Hospice (@DerianHouse) April 17, 2023
Oscar said that aside from challenging himself, he has kept motivated by the goal of “raising money to help support children and their families when they are facing much harder challenges in their lives.”
Derian House cares for more than 400 babies, children and young people with life-threatening illnesses, along with their families, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We couldn’t think of a better cause than that.
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As his dad told ITV, everyone is “speechless and couldn’t be prouder”, with the hospice themselves adding, “How many six-year-olds could say that they have climbed the height of Mount Everest? Oscar is an incredible little boy”.
Oscar and his dad are set to complete their remarkable journey on 29 May when they scale the might Ben Nevis on the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest. You can donate to Oscar’s Everest Walk challenge for Derian House fundraiser HERE.
Featured Image — Oscar’s Everest Walk for Derian House Children’s Hospice (via Facebook)
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Manchester City ‘strongly condemn’ racist abuse towards first-team players at Everton
Danny Jones
Manchester City Football Club have released a statement following yet more troubling racist abuse in the Premier League this May bank holiday.
Pep Guardiola’s side faced Everton in a fixture that ended in a 3-3 draw, which could prove pivotal in their pursuit of leaders Arsenal.
Sadly, however, one of the main stories to be taken from the game once again revolves around abuse and discrimination.
Match officials were quickly made aware of racial remarks directed at winger Antoine Semenyo on the day, and, unfortunately, defender Marc Guehi has also been the subject of hateful messaging online in the aftermath of the result.
Sharing a short, but simple and emphatic statement, the club wrote: “Manchester City strongly condemns the racist abuse directed towards Antoine Semenyo at yesterday’s match.
“We welcome the swift action taken by Everton and the police to identify the individual responsible.
“We are also incredibly disappointed to hear that Marc Guéhi was subject to a series of vile racist social media posts last night.”
They go on to add that they will “continue to offer our full support to both Antoine and Marc and never accept discrimination of any kind in our game.”
Everton themselves have since confirmed that local authorities swiftly identified at least one individual alleged to be responsible for the unacceptable behaviour.
As mentioned in their own post, the culprit is said to have been a 71-year-old man who was quickly flagged by fans and stewards inside the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
While this may be the first incident reported at the Toffees’ new home ground, regrettably, it’s just the latest in a long line of similar cases raised not just in English football but the top flight, specifically.
It goes without saying that we’re sorry to hear that stuff like this is still happening, and we send our strength to all those who continue to be affected by this despicable treatment.
As ever, ‘the beautiful game’ is for everyone and racism has no place in society, let alone football – kick it out once and for all. In other news surrounding Man City, there’s also been some controversy surrounding their upcoming FA Youth Cup final.
Manchester ‘institution’ Topkapi Palace quietly closes Deansgate restaurant after 47 years
Danny Jones
After the best part of half a century, local institution Topkapi Palace looks to have quietly closed the doors to its Manchester restaurant.
Founded way back in 1969, Topkapi has been a mainstay of the Deansgate strip longer than most other venues in the area, but many have noticed that it hasn’t been open for a little while now.
After plenty of speculation online, it now appears to have shut down for the foreseeable future.
It remains to be seen whether or not this is a permanent culinary casualty, but judging by the paper signs now displayed in the windows, things don’t look promising for the Turkish grill.
As posted in the shopfront of the restaurant, an update from Wilson and Doe High Court Enforcement says: “Under the terms of the demised lease, we, as authorised agents on behalf of the landlord, have to this day re-entered the premises known as Topkapi Palace…”
It also warns that any attempts to enter the building will result in criminal or civil proceedings.
The statement goes on to read: “Acting as agents for the Involuntary Bailee, we give notice to any third party who asserts ownership of the Goods to which this notice relates:
The goods identified at Topkapi Palace (Part Ground Floor and Basement), 205, 206 and 209 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3NW are being held at the Property.
The Goods are ready for collection immediately, and this is a notice of your obligation to take delivery of the Goods at a mutually convenient time to be agreed and arranged with the Involuntary Bailee’s agents
Unless the Goods are collected on or before 17:00 on 10 April 2026, the Involuntary Bailee or its agents will remove and dispose of the Goods. The period between now and the Deadline is sufficient to provide you with a reasonable opportunity to take delivery of the Goods.
If the Goods are disposed of, the Involuntary Bailee intends to retain its disposal costs from any sale proceeds.”
As you can see, multiple units are listed in the forfeiture notice, including the address assigned to their takeaway sister site located just around the corner on Bootle Street, although it’s still unclear whether or not this way will stay open.
Somewhat of an institution in its own right, plenty of Mancs will have visited the late-night street food spot even if they have never sat down for a meal in the Topkapi Palace itself.
Posting on the Manchester subreddit last week, one user wrote: “I noticed that Topkapi Palace on Deansgate had shut down, I was gutted!”; another went on to add: “Oh dear – I hadn’t realised this.
“I always enjoyed the food, but it was often quiet during the week more recently, and that end of Deansgate is now prime territory for expensive bars. I doubt the unit will stay empty very long.”
Topkapi’s apparent closure is just one of several in and around the city centre already this year, with several hospitality names having to cease trading due to rising energy bills, business rates, rent and various other reasons. Here’s hoping the sector regains a bit of stability sometime soon.
Danny Jones -
18th April 2023 
