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Teachers, train drivers, and more walk out on ‘biggest’ day of strike action in a decade

500,000 workers from different sectors across the UK are striking today.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 1st February 2023

Teachers, train drivers, and civil servants are among the hundreds of thousands of workers across the UK walking out today.

Today is being described as the “biggest” day of strike action for more than a decade.

After what has been a turbulent time in recent months, with sectors ranging from nursing and paramedics, to rail, postal, border force, and more all staging differing forms of continued industrial action over pay and working conditions, it’s estimated that around 85% of schools in England and Wales will be fully or partially closed today due to teacher strikes.

As many as 300,000 teachers, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), are staging walkouts today, with around 23,000 schools in the two nations set to be affected.

Parents, carers, and guardians of school-aged children facing varying levels of disruption as a result.

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Teachers are striking for a pay rise to be above inflation, and are asking for the UK government to fund the pay rise, instead of it coming from existing school budgets.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has previously called the teachers strikes “deeply disappointing”, and claimed that the government has met teaching unions’ requests for an extra £2 billion in school funding in England.

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But these comments have been widely criticised by opposition, and deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has even accused the government of deliberately stoking the conflict.

Teachers taking part in picket lines across the UK on today’s day of industrial action / Credit: NEU (via Twitter)

Aside from the teacher strikes, industrial action is also taking place in several other sectors.

Today is the first of two days of strike action by train drivers from the ASLEF and RMT unions in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, while university lecturers and bus drivers are also staging walk-outs today too.

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Civil servants are also staging walk-outs today, with around 123 government departments prepared to be disrupted by industrial action.

Overall, it’s estimated that about 500,000 workers from all the different sectors mentioned are taking part in walkouts today, according to the Trades Union Congress, which would officially make it the “biggest” day of strike action in more than a decade.

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The government has conceded in a statement addressing the mass strike action that today will be “very difficult” for the public.

Featured Image – Northern | MChee Lee (via Unsplash)

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Manchester’s 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness raises a whopping £50k for ‘A Bed Every Night’

Danny Jones Danny Jones The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness fundraising tally

This city can stand up and pat itself firmly on the back after this year’s 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness raised a whopping £50,000 for the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity.

Manchester, you truly are incredible.

Returning for the sixth time last week, the 2024 edition of Manchester’s annual fundraising 24-hour relay event was a bumper year and then some, as not only did they cruise past their initial target of £25k but there were records all over the place for distances covered and attendance.

With well over 1,000 runners from all over the region descending upon host venue Freight Island and the city centre route at various different points during the 24 hours, we can well and truly say us Mancs ran our absolute socks off for a crucial cause.

Starting from 12pm on Wednesday, 13 November and running until noon the next day, those involved completed a total of 40 consecutive laps with some of those taking part barely stopping for even a moment’s rest in between each one, no matter how dark, cold or painful it got.

Translating to the equivalent of 1,666 beds for those in the Greater Manchester homeless community and counting, the team – comprised of 86 volunteers, hugely supportive overnight security staff and countless runners – managed to generate nearly double the amount of donations raked in last year.

If you want more context, prior to the 2024 event, The 24 Hour MCR Run had raised approximately £52,807.99 over the course of its entire first five years, meaning they’ve basically just matched that overall tally in just one day – albeit a very long one.

The frankly ridiculous tally couldn’t have been reached without help from donation-boosting sponsors AutoTrader and Together Co. (as well as help from Accenture and Mistral), but even without those additions, it was still by far and away the most successful year in the event’s history.

Countless runners booked time off or got laps done on their lunch hours, with many even coming after work on the Wednesday to then return and put in even more graft the following morning before their shift. Simply inspirational stuff.

Volunteers and run leaders like Marv Lucas, Shomak Chakrabarti, Jay Orris, Molly Glenister-Doyle and many others each smashed 100km or more; even The Manc managed to rack up 110k between us.

The 24 Run Against Homelessness
The Manc doing their bit
manchester 24 hour homeless run
Runners doing their 5k laps of Manchester city centre
running event freight island
Still hundreds there come nightfall
andy burnham speaks at charity running event in manchester
Burnham gave a rousing and emotional speech
(Credit: The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness)

One Chorlton Runner, 55-year-old Ian Sharpe, set the men’s record with a simply staggering 150k, while Natasha Barclay smashed the women’s record with an unbelievable 117k just 10 days after running almost the same distance at The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness‘ debut event in Birmingham.

Joining for the busy 7pm, when hundreds of people from Greater Manchester-based run clubs, local businesses and more lined the steps of Freight Island, Mayor Andy Burnham was in attendance and admitted that the immense turnout brought “a tear to the eye.”

Labelling the ever-growing initiative a prime example of “Greater Manchester in action” and community engagement at its finest, it was visible to see how taken aback he was not only by the sheer number of runners but by how much the event has grown since its inception.

Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity (GMMC) CEO, Dr Fran Darlington-Pollock – who also put in some laps herself along with members of her team – was equally blown away by the 2024 event.

Talking to The Manc, she said: “The 24 Hour Run raises vital funds to support our flagship scheme, ‘A Bed Every Night’ (ABEN), providing far more than just a bed for the night but vital wrap-around support to help get people back on their feet.

“No one should have to spend a night on the streets, particularly as we head into the colder, harsher months. Raising funds for ABEN helps to get us closer to a point when we can say we have truly eradicated the need for rough sleeping.” Safe to say a big dint was put in the problem this month.

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Speaking on an overwhelmingly successful 24 hours, co-founder Tom Lewis said: “I’m genuinely overwhelmed with the support we received for this year’s event and the Manchester running community and local companies coming together to help make a real impact in the region.

“As for the future, we plan to come back bigger than ever each year. We’ve set an ambitious precedent by doubling our fundraising total for the last few years, which could mean we’re looking at £100,000 next year. At the moment that seems like a dream, but I said the same about £50,000 and here we are.

“Also, expansion into London would be amazing and after launching The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness in Birmingham earlier this month, the goal is for it to reach Manchester levels too.”

It goes without saying that raising this much money for such a vitally important problem in the space of 24 hours is phenomenal and we couldn’t possibly be any prouder of all those who took part.

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The supplementary JustGiving page is actually still active for 2024, so you can still donate if you want to add to that already huge sum but, for now, well done to everyone and we’ll see you next year.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness

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Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre

Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.

The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.

Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.

A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.

Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.

It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.

Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.

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Featured image: The Manc Group

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