Universities warn students to avoid Freshers’ Week parties or face ‘sanctions’
It is feared that an influx of young people - whom Health Secretary Matt Hancock partially blamed for a new spike in coronavirus cases - attending parties during Freshers' Week could push boroughs to the brink.
Universities in Greater Manchester have banded together to issue a joint warning for freshers – as 100,000 students begin to descend on the region.
Freshers’ Week is typically populated with large-scale events taking place in nightclubs and bars, but local universities are urging students to buck the trend this year and avoid mass gatherings when the new term begins.
Most Welcome Week events are being moved online, with some first-term lectures and seminars conducted remotely until at least Christmas.
Students are set to arrive in Greater Manchester at a tumultuous time, with restrictions tightening over the past few days.
Bolton currently has the highest rate of COVID cases in the country, whilst many neighbouring areas continue to suffer a rise in positive test results.
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It is feared that an influx of young people – whom Health Secretary Matt Hancock partially blamed for a new spike in coronavirus cases – attending parties during Freshers’ Week could push boroughs to the brink.
Vice-chancellors and National Union of Students officers from the Universities of Bolton, Manchester, Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Royal Northern College of Music have come together to urge students that they must adhere to the rules.
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In a joint statement, the leaders of the five universities said: “This is a special time in the university calendar, where we welcome new students to campus for the first time as well as welcoming many more back.
“This September, though, is like no other, not just for our students, but also for the communities in which they live and study.
“Across our universities, staff and students have worked tirelessly in the fight against Covid-19 – many on the front line in healthcare, volunteering, or at the sharp end of research to treat those suffering with the virus or to protect those at risk.
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“This commitment to fighting Covid-19 continues as we bring students back on to campus and surrounding areas in our cities.
“As new and returning students join our community, we remind them of their responsibilities in minimising the transmission of the virus in our city region and in acting as ambassadors for our universities in the areas where they live and socialise.”
All universities have pledged to “use sanctions for students who do not adhere to rules on safe behaviours.”
News
Trailer released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed all across Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The first trailer for a new romcom that’s set and filmed all across Manchester has been released.
The film, titled Finding Emily, tells the story of a lovesick musician, played by Spike Fearn, who meets his dream girl on a night out, but ends up with the wrong phone number, and so teams up with a driven psychology student, played by Angourie Rice, in a bid to find her.
Together, the unlikely duo spark a hilarious campus-wide frenzy that tests their own hearts and ambitions along the way.
The film – which is directed by Alicia MacDonald, and based on a screenplay written by Rachel Hirons – is produced by Working Title Films, is set in the fictional Manchester City University, and is due to be distributed by Focus Features and Universal Pictures across the UK and internationally this spring.
The talented ensemble cast groups together big names like Minnie Driver with rising stars like Ella Maisy Purvis, Yali Topal Margalith, and Kat Ronney, as well as other established actors including Timothy Innes and Nadia Parkes.
Filming took place in Manchester between August and September 2024.
The two and a half-minute trailer has been shared with the world today, and when we say it’s a Manc film, we mean it… we quite literally lost count of how many of our city’s famous locations can be spotted in just the trailer alone.
The trailer has been released for new romcom Finding Emily set and filmed in Manchester / Credit: Universal Pictures & Focus Features (via YouTube)
There’s everything from Manchester Central Library and Piccadilly Records, to Canal Street and the Gay Village, the Northern Quarter, the Crown & Kettle pub in Ancoats, and even the Emmeline Pankhurst statue in St Peter’s Square featured for all to see, alongside what’ll, presumably, be dozens of other famous locations.
Oh, and not to mention, if you keep your eyes peeled when watching the trailer, you can even see a small clip of Stockport band Blossoms playing a gig in there too.
Finding Emily is set to be released in cinemas across the UK on 22 May, before it debuts in the US on 28 August.
Featured Image – Matt Squire / Focus Features
News
Man jailed following series of ‘violent’ knife attacks in Wigan town centre last summer
Emily Sergeant
A man has been sentenced this week following a series of ‘violent’ knife attacks in Wigan town centre last summer.
Charles McMurray, of Satchel Close in Wigan, appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of Section 18 wounding with intent, threatening a person with a bladed article, and threats to kill following a distressing incident in Wigan town centre last summer.
The court heard that McMurray arrived on Wallgate at around 6:33am on 9 August 2025 before entering a taxi office, where he stabbed two men without warning.
The victims fled, and McMurray pursued them towards the town centre.
McMurray then went on to threaten a passer‑by at Wigan bus station and held a knife to the man’s stomach. A short time later, he located the injured victims on Standishgate and assaulted one of them again. Following that assault, he chased after another member of the public with the knife shouting that he was going to kill him.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers arrived shortly after 6:50am and found McMurray in possession of the knife, before he was subsequently quickly arrested at the scene.
McMurray has now been sentenced to nine years and nine months behind bars, which police say is a ‘testament to the brave victims’ who gave their accounts.
Speaking following McMurray’s sentencing this week, Detective Constable Harris from Wigan CID, who led the investigation, said: “This was an entirely unprovoked attack which left multiple victims requiring hospital treatment. McMurray is a dangerous and violent offender who is now safely behind bars.
“Knives have no place on our streets, and we hope today’s sentence shows just how seriously we take knife crime. Our communities should feel safe where they live and work, and we are committed to tackling knife crime to ensure no family has to face their loved ones being harmed.
“It is a testament to the brave victims who not only endured this attack but had the courage to provide detailed accounts together with the impact this has had on them, that we have been able to ensure McMurray has been brought to justice.”
The Manc -
9th September 2020 
