News

Two police investigations launched following weekend of ‘madness’ in the city centre

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 31st January 2022

Police are investigating two separate incidents that took place in Manchester city centre’s shopping district this weekend.

A 16-year-old boy was stabbed on Friday evening in a disturbance between two groups of teenagers inside the Arndale.

Then on Sunday afternoon, police attended reports of a ‘fight between hundreds of teenagers’ outside the shopping centre.

Both incidents are now under investigation and Greater Manchester Police are appealing for anyone with information or video footage to come forward.

The Arndale shopping centre. Credit:  Thomas Foster on Unsplash

GMP officers and emergency services were first called to the Arndale at around 7.20pm on Friday 28 January, to a report of a stabbing.

ADVERTISEMENT

The teenager who had been stabbed in the disturbance was taken to hospital, but his injuries were ‘neither life-changing nor threatening’ and he has since been discharged.

The group behind the incident left the scene before the police arrived.

ADVERTISEMENT

No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.

Inspector Glen Rees of GMP’s City of Manchester division said: “I fully understand and sympathise with the worry and concern that incidents such as this can cause for the wider public, especially in such a busy area on a Friday evening.

“I would like to stress that we are treating this as an isolated incident and we do not believe there to be any ongoing wider threat to the general public.

ADVERTISEMENT
Police on patrol outside the Arndale. Credit: Twitter, GMP

“Thankfully the young man who was stabbed has not suffered any life changing injuries but violence such as this will not be tolerated and a full investigation is currently underway to establish the full circumstances and identify those involved.

“Our enquiries are ongoing but I would appeal to anyone who may have witnessed the assault or has any information to come forward and assist us with our investigation. This was a busy part of the city centre so I am confident there will be people out there who can help us identify those responsible.”

The second incident near the busy shopping centre was shortly after 3pm on Sunday 30 January, when police were made aware of ‘a large group of people acting in an anti-social manner’.

In a statement, a GMP spokesperson said: “Shortly after 3pm on Sunday 30 January, we became aware of a large group of people acting in an anti-social manner around the Arndale centre, Manchester.

“Patrols and specialist resources responded to disperse those suspected of being involved away from the city centre.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Councillor Pat Karney, who was inside Marks & Spencer at the time it was evacuated, said on Twitter: “The alarm went off in M and S. The staff evacuated us to New Cathedral St. We thought it was a fire.

“It was about 150 kids who looked as though they had arranged a face off. All the shops in that area closed.

“GMP did terrific job calming the situation and splitting these kids up. Moving them out of St Ann’s Sq now.

Read more: Mancs will soon be able to slide over the River Medlock, Mayfield Play Yard plans reveal

“The City Council will be meeting with GMP to go through what went on.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Shoppers came up to me very shocked at the scale of this disturbance.

“We will do all we can to prevent this madness.”

Anyone with information or video footage of either incident should contact police via the LiveChat at www.gmp.police.uk or call 101.

Featured image: Huey Images on Unsplash

News

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.

Read more:

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.

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

News

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.

Read more

Featured image: The Manc Group

More News

Boroughs

Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas

Crime

Former Manchester police officer jailed after sexually assaulting a child while on duty

City Centre

Manchester’s libraries will become ‘warm spaces’ with free hot drinks and Wi-Fi again this winter

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches