News

UK job vacancies reach record high

Data showed job vacancies reached 953,000 in the three months to July.

The Manc The Manc - 17th August 2021

There were more job vacancies on record in Britain this summer than ever before.

Official data shows the number of available roles had risen to an unprecedented figure of 953,000 in May to July this year.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), vacancies grew by 43.8% (290,000) compared to the previous quarter, with “strong growth” across a number of industries.

The number of job vacancies in May to July 2021 was 21.4% (168,000) above pre-pandemic levels, and in the same period there were a record 3.2 vacancies for every 100 employee jobs.

Data also showed that unemployment fell to 4.7% in the three months leading up to June, whilst the average pay packet rose by 7.4%.

ONS deputy statistician Jonathan Athow said the data showed the world of work was continuing to “rebound robustly from the effects of the pandemic”.

Atlow stated: “As large parts of the economy started to reopen in recent months, the number of hours worked went past one billion a week for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.

“There were no sign of redundancies starting to pick up in our survey data ahead of the furlough scheme beginning to wind down, and Insolvency Service figures for July suggest the same.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the figures reflected the fact that the government’s plan for jobs was proving effective.

He stated: “I know there could still be bumps in the road but the data is promising.

“There are now more employees on payrolls than at any point since March 2020 and the number of people on furlough is the lowest since the scheme launched.”

Featured image: Scott Graham / Unsplash

News

Manchester’s famous 24-hour charity run for the homeless expands into three new cities

Danny Jones Danny Jones Manchester 24-hour homeless charity run expanding into new cities for 2025

Manchester city centre’s famous 24-hour charity run, which raises money for Britain’s homeless community every year, is growing once again in 2025, with the heartwarming event expanding into a trio of new regions.

The annual 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness may have started out life here in Manchester, but last November saw it branch out for the first time ever, launching the maiden edition of The Birmingham 24 Hour Run – an instant success, with the return 12 months later confirmed soon after.

We here at The Manc have been supporting the cause for a while now, with multiple members of the team having joined both the local and Brummy editions of the run.

Now set to branch out even further in just a few months’ time, The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness is set to make its Yorkshire debut across two separate fundraising events this autumn, not to mention another event in the West Midlands this winter.

The 2024 Birmingham run saw almost £1,700 for relative homeless causes in the area, with all contributions considered: nothing short of an incredible tally for the inaugural event attended by far fewer numbers than its now well-established founding counterpart.

It was the first time that the Manc-born and bred charity run had ever ventured out of the city, proving that the format and not just nationwide, but a global crisis is what that can be supported all over.

With that in mind, this year, The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness will be hoping to positively impact rough sleeping numbers in Leeds for the very first time, as well as Sheffield, Hereford and, of course, Birmingham once again.

And yes, you can expect support from our friends over at The Hoot and The Sheff.

Backed by numerous local businesses, fellow non-profit organisations, run clubs, university groups, and plenty more from in and around the community, the annual fundraising relay run attracts thousands – and that’s just in Manchester.

The 24-Hour Run Against Homelessness was started by a bunch of uni students as a charitable arm of their running society, Run Wild MCR, and has since gone on to raise more than £50,000 for the ‘A Bed Every Night Scheme’.

An amazing achievement for a crucial cause we can all get behind.

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

Overseen by the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and the Labour MP himself, Andy Burnham (who is a regular attendee every year now), the event that starts at noon one day and finishes at the same time the next, has seen both regional and national news coverage.

Speaking on this year’s expansion, 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness co-founder Tom Lewis told us: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the support over the years; the Manchester running community, local companies and so many other organisations have come together to make a real difference.”

“Everyone should get involved with the 2025 events as it brings communities together from across each city to help raise money to aid those in need.”

For anyone considering getting involved with this year’s charity run for the homeless around Manchester city centre, or indeed any of the other four cities hosting in 2025, you can find the dates for each and more information HERE.

You can also watch a helpful little explainer, featuring the voice of yours truly, down below:

Read more:

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Featured Images — The Manc Group/The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness

News

Questions about CPR and defibrillators to be included on driving theory tests for the first time

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Woman driving a car

Driving theory tests will soon include new CPR questions and questions about defibrillators in a bid to boost cardiac arrest survival.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has confirmed that, from autumn 2025, driving theory tests will start to build on the existing content that’s been part of driver education for years by adding enhanced first aid questions on CPR, and for the first time, questions on automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

The Government says the move aims to address the UK’s low cardiac arrest survival rates by making sure more people ‘know how to respond’ in emergencies.

Around 2.4 million theory tests are taken each year, so this means that hundreds of thousands of people annually will gain knowledge of life-saving skills through the enhanced questions.

At present, the driving theory test – which has to be taken by learner drivers before they can book their driving test – has two parts, and it’s in the first part where the enhanced first aid questions are expected to be added.

The first part of the test involves 50 multiple-choice questions drawn from a bank of over 700 questions, covering topics from road signs and traffic laws, to vehicle safety, hazard awareness, and crucially in this case, first aid.

Learners must get at least 43 out of 50 right to pass this section of the test.

The DVSA assures that the upcoming changes involve no additional cost, test time, or difficulty, and that they ‘simply update’ existing first aid content with current best practice.

From autumn 2025, car and motorcycle theory test candidates will need to familiarise themselves with CPR techniques, including proper hand placement and compression rates, and how to use automated external defibrillators.

Read more:

“Part of being a safe and responsible driver is knowing what to do in an emergency – how to step in and make a real, life-saving difference,” commented Mark Winn, who is a DVSA Chief Driving Examiner.

“Learning CPR and how to use an AED is a very simple skill and adding this into the official learning resource is a great way for DVSA to support the drive to raise awareness.”

Featured Image – pxfuel

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