Plans to transform shipping containers into a new modular home village for rough-sleepers have been submitted to Manchester City Council this week.
Following public consultation, Embassy – which is supported by Peel L&P and CAPITAL&CENTRIC – is planning a new community to help the city’s homeless and vulnerable get back on their feet.
The Embassy Village will provide up to 40 permanent modular homes made from repurposed shipping containers on a self-contained, currently-derelict site below the railway arches between the Bridgewater Canal and River Irwell.
It will provide ‘safe and secure’ accommodation for those who are homeless, or are at risk of being homeless, with in-house start-to-end support, and routes into work.
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📢We’re buzzing to announce that our #EmbassyVillage plans for a housing-led community in Manchester have been submitted to the council, which will provide much needed wrap-around support & give the city’s homeless & vulnerable men their own front door @CapitalCentric@PeelLandPpic.twitter.com/qUU41jjKm6
The Embassy Village will also include a Village Hall – a community hub, training and mentoring facility for residents – as well as communal outdoor space with plenty of greenery, a multi use sports area, space to grow vegetables, and external eating and socialising areas.
The charity’s team of re-settlement workers and volunteers will provide wrap-around support of at least six hours per week, per resident, to equip them with a range of life skills designed to help residents “unpack past traumas” and “grow in confidence”.
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The self-contained site will be managed 24/7 by Embassy’s experienced team.
Embassy / Peel L&P / CAPITAL&CENTRIC
Speaking on the submitted plans, Sid Williams – Founder of Embassy – said: “The big need in Manchester is to find a way to cut the time it takes for an individual to move on from homelessness.
“Last year, we housed a chap who had spent seven years going from shelter to shelter waiting for council housing to come up [so] Embassy Village will help reduce the burden on the council’s housing waiting list and end people’s homelessness on the day they arrive.
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“As residents will be renting their Embassy Village homes, we also hope to instil a strong sense of empowerment from day one.
“Embassy Village is being specifically designed as a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol consumption community [and] critically, we train our residents to manage their money and home and support them into full-time employment with a wide range of Manchester based, full-time employers [which] means most people leave us to live in normal rental accommodation without the need for benefits thereafter.
“Our brilliant team continue to support our residents with aftercare visits and mentoring in the months after they move on to their next chapter, helping to keep them on an even keel as they reintegrate back into society”.
Embassy / Peel L&P / CAPITAL&CENTRIC
Councillor Lee-Ann Igbon – ward member for Hulme – added: “After consultation with councillors and residents with full details of the proposed accommodation, l support the Embassy proposed homeless housing in an under used site on the edge of the canal in the St Georges area.”
“In a city that struggles to offer homes this unique opportunity enables a place of security, advice and rebuilding of vulnerable adults.
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“The high quality accommodation will be supported by measures including job opportunities, mental health support and training in life skills in stylish accommodation in an independent, well-lit environment with on-site support.
“[Embassy Village] will work in partnership with Manchester City Council and others in the city, and bring a new chapter for those living in their new homes”.
Police seize an estimated £6m worth of counterfeit goods from Rochdale industrial units
Emily Sergeant
Police have seized an estimated £6 million worth of counterfeit goods from several industrial units in Rochdale.
It comes after the Trading Standards team and officers from Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Rochdale Neighbourhood Policing Team attended a joint visit to a business park, at Crown Top Lane, on the afternoon of Thursday 1 May last week, following the receiving of some intelligence that an Organised Crime Gang from Cheetham Hill had extended their operation and opened another site in Rochdale.
According to GMP, the visit was part of a ‘targeted operation’ tackling organised crime in the Castleton area of Rochdale.
When police arrived on the scene, seven units containing counterfeit goods – including a range of branded sports trainers, perfumes, luxury accessories, high-end tech products, and illicit cigarettes – were all discovered.
Two men, aged 29 and 70 were present at the site, and they were subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession and control of counterfeit goods.
Police have seized an estimated £6m worth of counterfeit goods from Rochdale industrial units / Credit: GMP
They have been bailed pending further enquiries, GMP revealed.
Due to the large scale of the boxed goods, the scene was secured overnight and officers and trading standards returned the following day (Friday 2 May) with a HGV to recover all the items.
Police are now appealing to the public for information, with Inspector Anthony Taylor, from GMP’s Rochdale Neighbourhood Policing Team, explaining that it takes any intelligence submitted by the public ‘seriously’ and acts upon it ‘accordingly’.
“If you have any concerns about organised criminals operating in your area, please get in touch with us,” he concluded.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police on 101, or via the LiveChat function on the GMP website.
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Featured Image – GMP
News
The annual Manchester Remembers Foundation charity football match has shut down
Danny Jones
The annual Manchester Remembers charity football match has been cancelled for 2025, and unfortunately, the wider Foundation has also shut downfor the foreseeable.
Set up back in 2020, the Manchester Remembers charity game was created to help raise funds for the families of those lost in the tragic 2017 Manchester Arena attack, raising nearly £200,000 in donations for multiple organisations.
It has been a truly treasured community event across Greater Manchester, welcoming thousands to the likes of Manchester City Academy Stadium and Oldham Athletic‘s Boundary Park, as well as spotlighting local musicians and notable figures volunteering their help for a deeply important cause.
However, the Foundation is now set to hang up its boots. Confirming the news over the bank holiday weekend, founders Aaron Lee and Paul Corrigan shared “a difficult statement to make and a decision not taken lightly.”
— The McrRemembers Foundation™️⚽️🐝 (@McrRemembers) May 3, 2025
As explained in the lengthy and emotional post, it is with a “heavy heart” that this year’s charity match has now been officially cancelled, and tickets already purchased up to this point are now being refunded.
Having played a small part in helping spread awareness around the game and the Foundation since it began, we were gutted to learn of this sad news.
The 2025 MCR Remembers game was scheduled to take place this June at a new venue for the event, Bury FC’s home ground at Gigg Lane, but following what they have labelled “a lack of support” from Greater Manchester leaders and “influential people needed to carry the event forward.”
Lee – a former police officer turned firefighter who was one of the emergency responders on 22 May, 2017 – went on to share a follow-up video reflecting on the announcement.
As he puts in the piece to camera, he says that even if those who had been reached out to in recent times were to suddenly respond, that it is “sadly too late.”
Taking time to thank not only past sponsors, managers, ex-pros and celebrity players who have been part of the event in the past, but everyone who bought tickets to the event(s) over the past few years, stating simply: “We cant thank you enough.”
Lee, who was given both a Chief Fire Officers Commendation and British Citizen Award in 2024, went on to address those “so-called leaders and influential people” in a subsequent post, adding: “All we needed was a bit of help. But we were ignored. Thanks for the memories.”
Unsurprisingly, the comments on social media have been awash with messages of love, support and sadness upon learning of this year’s cancellation and the end of The Manchester Remembers Foundation after more than half a decade.
There is some hope, though, as he ends the video by saying, “Who knows if this is the end or not? […] I dare say we’ll be back at some point.” We can only keep our fingers crossed he’s right and the MCR Remembers charity game won’t be shut down for good.
Emily Sergeant -
18th May 2021 
