Greater Manchester has been praised after a recent study found the region’s street homelessness figures have reduced by over 50%.
After Greater Manchester set what was deemed to be “the most ambitious target” out of the 13 initial ‘Vanguard Cities’ that committed to tackling street homelessness by December 2020, new research from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh found that there was an “impressive” 52% reduction against baseline figures across the region.
The region overall had the largest reduction in absolute numbers on the streets, from 241 in November 2018, to 115 that month in 2020, according to the research.
However, it did not meet its overall target of completely ending all rough sleeping.
The report by Heriot-Watt University comes after the Institute of Global Homelessness’ (IGH) A Place to Call Home initiative launched in 2017 as the first concerted effort to support cities around the world to eradicate street homelessness and rough sleeping, ITV Granada reports.
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Among the initial 13 ‘Vanguard Cities’ committed to tackling the issue by December 2020 as well as Greater Manchester included Glasgow, Brussels, Chicago, and Adelaide.
Rijeka, Little Rock, Edmonton, Montevideo, Santiago, Tshwane, and Bengaluru were the others.
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There was an “impressive” 52% reduction against baseline street homelessness figures across Greater Manchester / Credit: Gary Knight (via Wikimedia Commons)
Researchers into the initiative since its inception found that one of the reasons for Greater Manchester’s reduction in figures can be put down to dedicated initiatives brought in because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which were said to have helped to accelerate success and “demonstrate what can be achieved with sufficient political will”.
A lead co-ordinating agency, and co-ordinated entry to services, as well as investment in “specialised and evidence-based interventions” were among the keys to progress in tackling homelessness, the report found.
On the flip side, the report found that reliance on “undignified and sometimes unsafe communal shelters” were barriers, and more “structural and system change” was needed to progress.
Speaking on the findings of the recent research, Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick – director of the Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-Sphere) at Heriot-Watt University – said: “While there are clear country-specific challenges that need to be overcome, this first global initiative on tackling street homelessness has highlighted the need to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach, towards more specialised interventions that target specific subgroups.”
She highlighted appropriate services for women, children, older people, and other vulnerable groups as being “essential”.
Featured Image – Flickr
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
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
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.”
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.
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.
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…
Emily Sergeant -
4th April 2022 
