If you yourself are a teacher or happen to know one, you’ll know that the world of education isn’t always packed with perks: you often take your work home with you, weekends become made for marking and working with kids can be simply knackering – surely some discounts are the least they deserve.
Well, what if we told you that a little-known hack for teachers to get tonnes of pretty decent discounts is sitting right underneath the noses of countless British teachers?
And when we say ‘decent’, we’re talking as much as half-price off when purchasing from certain companies here in the UK.
We’re sure most if not all of you will have heard of a ‘Blue Light’ card, the membership that allows NHS, emergency services, armed forces, those in social care and other vital service professions to access savings on more than 15,000 brands, but it seems that this now includes teachers.
This is not a drill 🚨 I’ve just discovered that teachers and school staff can access a blue light card giving them access to thousands of different discounts! pic.twitter.com/HoNisQ4cZo
As revealed in a viral video by Manchester-based primary school teacher, author and online content creator ‘Mr P’ – real name Lee Parkinson – it turns out that many of those working in education also now qualify for a Blue Light card.
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Explaining the simple but somewhat secret process in his now-viral video, teachers throughout the education system and, indeed, teaching assistants can apply for a Blue Light card online and find their professions at the bottom of a lengthy drop-down list.
Many companies offered their own discount services to teachers during Covid and post-pandemic after they were rightly recognised as crucial key workers – as if we even needed a pandemic to make that abundantly clear – and now Blue Light is set to cover those in education moving forward too.
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As a result of this massive revelation, floods of people almost crashed the website, creating a lengthy online queue that gave us an expected waiting time of over three hours at its highest point.
There’s still a massive digital waiting room as we speak. Writing in a statement following the influx of interest, a spokesperson for Blue Light Card said: “What an incredible response we’ve had to welcoming teachers into our community!
“Teachers are not just educators, but also mentors, guides and inspirations that provide essential services to society – often going above and beyond the call of duty, as we saw during the pandemic. The excitement and appetite to join our community today only goes to show how deserving of recognition and reward our teachers are.
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This was as of approximately 2:30pm on Thursday, 8 August, after hours of people stumbling onto the shopping life hack.Blue Light cards are available in physical and digital form.Credit: Screenshot (via bluelightcard.co.uk)/The Manc Group
“Such is the demand we’ve seen today, we’re experiencing some issues with our website and app and our team is working hard to fix it as quickly as possible. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this is causing our members and we’ll provide an update as soon as we can. In the interim, you can register your interest at https://teachers.bluelightcard.co.uk.”
After creating a number of helpful videos like this and hosting the popular Two Mr Ps in a Pod(Cast), ‘Mr P ICT’, to use his go-to moniker on social media, the multi-talented teacher has grown a huge following over the past few years and we dare say even more so since disclosing these discounts.
Now in his mid-30s and based in Urmston, Trafford, Parkinson currently works part-time at Davyhulme Primary School and has more than 15 years of experience in the education sector.
Having specialised in ICT (as the name would suggest) and integrating tech into modern teaching, as well as holding an Academic Development and Enhancement qualification, the guy knows what he’s talking about and boasts hundreds of thousands of followers.
We’re sure all teachers would join us in thanking Mr P for spreading such helpful information and hopefully saving people lots of money moving forward. That being said, if you are an educator, don’t waste any more time reading this – go get yourself some well-earned discounts!
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Featured Images — Emma Farrer (via Wikimedia Commons)/The Manc Group
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All Greater Manchester boroughs to have 24-7 night buses from next month as new services launch
Emily Sergeant
Extra night buses, new routes, and more frequent bus services are being rolled out across the Bee Network at the end of this month.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy, and now plans to introduce these from September onwards have been confirmed by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford will all get a 24-hour bus service by next month, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that once the new services have launched, it will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
Some of the other changes set to be introduced from next month include a selection of brand-new bus services, and more frequent buses during the day and at the weekends.
All Greater Manchester boroughs will have 24-7 night buses from next month / Credit: TfGM
There will also be better connections overall to key employment and leisure destinations like Manchester Airport, Trafford Centre, MediaCity, Middlebrook Retail Park in Bolton, Kingsway Business Park, and Logistics North.
“The Bee Network belongs to the people of Greater Manchester and it needs to work for every community,” explained Mayor Bev Craig.
“As we build it, we’re listening and responding to what residents want with the biggest set of improvements we’ve ever made in one go.
🚌 More improvements are on the way across the #BeeNetwork.
36 service changes will benefit around 740,000 people across Greater Manchester, helping more communities access reliable, convenient public transport.
“We’re bringing night buses to every borough, launching new routes and ensuring buses run more often in the mornings, evenings and weekends. In doing so, we’re making it easier than ever for people to get around the city region by bus, but we’re also supporting our businesses, whose staff and customers need a reliable and safe way to reach them.
“Almost three quarters of a million people live within walking distance of a bus route we’re improving over the next few months, and we’ll continue improving connections for even more communities based on the feedback we get.”
Danny Jones -
8th August 2024 
