Struggling Manchester bar launches Crowdfunder to save it from closure
The bar is giving away a £3,000 bar tab, a weekend stay at the Kings Arms in Kirkby Lonsdale and a meal at the top-rated restaurant in the area, Number Nine Bar & Kitchen.
Times are tough for the hospitality sector right now, but one Manchester bar has come up with a novel way to raise the cash it needs to help keep its business afloat.
Northern Quarter bar Alvarium has had a tough couple of years. This summer owners released a heartfelt plea for more outside seating, warning that “the consequences could be detrimental” if their request wasn’t granted by Manchester City Council.
At the time, the bar said it was “still struggling” and that having extra space last year meant they could “absorb some of the economic shock” from the fallout of the pandemic. In spite of this, its request for more outside seating throughout the summer wasn’t granted.
Seven months on, owners have now launched a Crowdfunder in a bid to keep their business going throughout the winter months.
Turning to their customers for help, owners are offering a £3,000 bar tab and a luxury stay on the border of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales in the hopes that a big prize will entice much-needed donations.
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Looking to raise a total of £50,000, on its Crowdfunder page Alvarium says the money will be used to “make a dent” in the “crippling debt” taken on in order to remain in business throughout Covid, as well as to cover “essential repairs” to its electrics and plumbing.
The bar explained: “We love Alvarium and we hope you do too, therefore we’re asking for your help.
“Our prize draw is offering one lucky winner a £3000 bar tab to be redeemed in Alvarium, but not only this we are also offering a luxury stay right on the border of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.
|Our very kind friends at the Kings Arms in Kirkby Lonsdale have offered up a weekend stay in one of their picturesque cottages along with a meal at the top-rated restaurant in the area, Number Nine Bar & Kitchen. Single Entries are £3 with two entries costing £5. If you wish to enter for free, postal entries are also available.”
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Owners also expanded on the difficulties the bar has faced over the past few years, pointing to a number of factors.
These include: being denied a permit to extend its outside seating this summer, its insurers not paying out for business disruption because staff were retained using the furlough scheme, and issues with the owners of the building, who they claim are “trying to close any possible avenue open to us to generate extra revenue.”
Image: Alvarium
Image; Alvari
They said: “It’s been a tough 2 years for us here at Alvarium. After Manchester City Council swept the rug out from under our feet by taking away our road closure, making summer exceptionally difficult for us.
“This alongside our insurers refusing to pay out for business disruption suffered during Covid, despite the Ombudsman instructing them to do so, on the grounds that we retained our staff by using the furlough scheme.
“So, if we would have let all of our staff go and not claimed furlough, they would have honoured our claim – an option which has always been out of the question for us. During this time, we have had to make some very difficult decisions to try and survive.
“However, the owners of the building are trying to close any possible avenue open to us to generate extra revenue to get Alvarium flourishing again, leaving us feeling very lost.”
As part of the Crowdfunder, the bar is giving away a £3,000 bar tab, as well as a luxury weekend stay at one of the Kings Arms in Kirkby Lonsdale’s picturesque cottages, and a meal at Number Nine Bar & Kitchen, the top-rated restaurant in the area.
With single entries priced at £3 each, whilst you can buy two for £5 or five for £10. There is no limit on the number of times anyone can enter, with the prizes being drawn in 30 days time.
New endometriosis pill helping hundreds of women with ‘debilitating’ condition to be made available on NHS
Emily Sergeant
A groundbreaking new pill to help women with a ‘debilitating’ condition is set to be made available on the NHS.
The new daily pill for endometriosis – which has been approved for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – is called linzagolix, and will be available for those who have had previous treatment for endometriosis, working to manage any symptoms they may be experiencing.
Around 1.5 million women in the UK are thought to be currently living with endometriosis.
Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, and extreme tiredness when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body.
A new daily pill for endometriosis has been approved for use on the NHS, and could help over a thousand women in England every year manage the symptoms of the debilitating condition.
As mentioned, linzagolix will be available specifically for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, and will be given alongside ‘add-back’ hormone therapy – which involves using low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent menopause-like symptoms and bone loss.
This is the second take-at-home treatment to be approved to treat endometriosis on the NHS, and it’s thought that more than 1,000 women will benefit.
In clinical trials, linzagolix was shown to be successful in reducing painful periods and non-menstrual pelvic pain, compared with placebo, hence why it has been approved on the NHS by NICE.
“This is welcome news for women with endometriosis who haven’t found relief from previous therapies or surgery,” commented Dr Sue Mann, who is the National Clinical Director in Women’s Health for NHS England.
“It’s another treatment option which will help women take control of their health and better manage the symptoms of this often painful and debilitating condition.
“This is a testament to our ongoing commitment to improving treatment, care and quality of life for women.”
Featured Image – Heute
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Wigan woman jailed after hitting pedestrian in Fiat 500 while driving high on nitrous oxide ‘balloons’
Emily Sergeant
A young woman from Wigan has been handed jail time after hitting a pedestrian while driving high on nitrous oxide.
Louisa Tunstall was driving a white Fiat 500 towards the East Lancashire Road in Wigan at around 7pm on Friday 24 May 2024 – a time when traffic conditions were said to be ‘quiet’ – but Tunstall was under the influence of a now-banned drug, nitrous oxide, at the time of the incident, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.
While driving under the influence, 19-year-old Tunstall veered to the left onto the pavement and collided with a 51-year-old woman pedestrian.
After striking the woman, the car then overturned and, in the process, caused serious life-changing injuries.
When questioned by police, Tunstall stated that she ‘took her eyes off the road’ to retrieve something in the footwell before knowing the car had flipped, but she also confirmed that she had just been out to purchase nitrous oxide to use that evening.
After obtaining witness accounts, investigating officers were able to track down nearby CCTV footable which showed Tunstall inhaling nitrous oxide through a balloon whilst driving, seconds before the collision occurred.
#JAILED | It's not a laughing matter when you get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs.
Now Louisa Tunstall has to spend over a year behind bars after inhaling nitrous oxide and causing serious injury in #Wigan last year.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 14, 2025
Further investigation by GMP’s Forensic Vehicle Examination Unit examined the Fiat 500 and confirmed that no defects were found on the car to contribute towards the collision.
Still to this day, the victim says she is trying to recover from the injuries sustained to her leg that will prevent her from continuing life as she did before.
“The incident is still very raw when I think about it,” the victim explained in her impact statement released by GMP. “I become upset when I think at everything which has been taken away from me and the ongoing affect it has had and continues to have on my daily life.”
GMP says it’s seeing the use of nitrous oxide being a factor in incidents they attend increasing year on year.
Nitrous oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’, is reported to produce euphoria, relaxation, dizziness, giggling or laughing fits, impaired judgement, and occasionally dissociation and hallucinations – which GMP says affects reaction time and and is ‘likely lead to impairment’ in driving performance, particularly when faced with an unexpected or hazardous situation.
Tunstall appeared at Bolton Crown Court this week, and has been sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment for having possession of a Class C drug, driving under the influence of drugs, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Alongside being jailed, she was also disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and has been ordered to take an extended test when she is released.
Georgina Pellant -
16th November 2022 
