It’s been exactly 250 days since one of the city’s most iconic charities launched a dedicated fund to help determined young Mancunians take the next step in education, entrepreneurship, employment, or training.
It then provides them with the resources needed to achieve these ambitions.
Manchester is a top-class city – recently named the third best city in the world, actually – but for some young people living here however, that doesn’t always match up with their experience, as with more than one in three children in Manchester who are living in households defined as being in poverty, they may sadly not be given the chance to turn their ambitions into successes.
This is a loss both to them and to our city.
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And so, in February 2021, We Love MCR Charity launched the fund to give these young people the opportunities to overcome their financial barriers and allow them to make the most of their talent and drive.
People aged 16-24 can apply for funding to pay for what they need, to take their next steps to success in work, qualifications or entrepreneurship.
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The charity ultimately believes “circumstances should not determine futures”.
In the 250 days since the fund launched, We Love MCR Charity has already awarded over £70,000 to dozens of industrious young people – and here’s three success stories.
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Trinity
Sound Engineer
£1,200
Trinity was awarded £1,200 from the MRSF / Credit: We Love MCR Charity
Trinity has had a difficult path through her teenage years.
No longer in formal education, she had been volunteering at the Abbey Taphouse in Hulme, which often hosts music performances, and it was there she discovered a keen interest in sound production and engineering.
Trinity applied to the Rising Stars Fund for the professional equipment she knows will help her to make the most of her newfound passion – a laptop, sound card, microphone and headphones – and was awarded £1,200.
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She is now on an apprenticeship, practicing her craft at home, and will be supporting events at the Abbey Taphouse, including their own radio station and podcasts broadcasting across Manchester.
Kenan
Actor
£2,000
Kenan was awarded £2,000 from the MRSF / Credit: We Love MCR Charity
Kenan is a talented young actor from Wythenshawe who earned himself a place on the Professional Acting course at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which only accepts 28 students a year from 3,000 applications.
Kenan is the only Manc representative in the current intake of students.
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We Love MCR Charity awarded Kenan vital funds towards his rent in Bristol, as he was not eligible for further student loans.
To be a working class Manc with Turkish heritage performing on the one of our greatest stages is incredible, and the charity says it is proud the Manchester’s Rising Stars Fund can help Kenan to be in the spotlight.
Mo
Football Coach
£1,600
Mo was awarded £1,600 from the MRSF / Credit: We Love MCR Charity
Mo’s passion for football runs deep.
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Born and bred in Moss Side as the oldest of seven siblings, Mo was a top-class player when he was younger, but his potential career was sadly cut short by injury. Despite this, Mo decided to continue in the game regardless and now runs his own coaching business – where he’s coached future Manchester United and City players thanks to his links and respect across Manchester’s football community – whilst also taking his FA badges.
The MRSF supported Mo by awarding him £1,600 for a sports camera, venue hire, and coaching equipment to help him to take his young business to the next level.
He already does lots of work with inner-city young players, and We Love MCR Charity says it can’t wait to see the next Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden come from under his wings.
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As mentioned, We Love MCR Charity has already awarded over £70,000 to dozens of industrious young people throughout the city – but the charity says it is keen to reach £200,000 by March 2022 by finding even more rising stars who need a helping hand.
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Did any of the above inspiring success stories remind you of someone who’s a perfect fit for the Manchester’s Rising Stars Fund?
Keen to apply yourself?
You can find more information and stick an application in here.
Featured Image – We Love MCR Charity
News
‘Busiest’ Easter bank holiday weekend expected as 19 million people hit the roads
Emily Sergeant
It’s expected to be one of the busiest Easter bank holidays in three years, as millions of people travel across the UK.
With the four-day weekend upon us, and people nationwide prepare to make the journey to visit family or friends over their extra couple of days off work or school, the RAC has now issued one of its annual travel warnings – anticipating that 19 million people could be hitting the roads from this Thursday evening onwards.
It’s all according to a new study of drivers’ spring getaway plans carried out by the RAC and traffic analytics specialists INRIX.
Research is suggesting that traffic will be equally severe on Thursday 17, Good Friday, and Saturday 19 April, with drivers planning around 2.7 million trips every day during that period, but the number of planned trips does drop slightly on Easter Sunday to 2.5 million.
Sadly, that dip is only short-lived, as the number of trips increases once again to a further 2.7 million on bank holiday Monday as millions of people look to return home.
19 million people are expected to hit the roads over the Easter bank holiday weekend / Credit: Geograph | Pxfuel
To make matters even worse, it’s thought that a further 6.2 million journeys are anticipated at some point over the Easter bank holiday weekend, but drivers planning these trips are still unsure exactly when they’ll travel.
The ‘notorious British weather’ is likely to be a big factor in travel decision making, according to the RAC.
INRIX expects that tomorrow (Thursday 17) will be the worst day for traffic, when jams are likely to increase by nearly a third (30%) more than usual.
Meanwhile, on Good Friday, the lengthiest hold-ups are expected between 11am to 1pm, so drivers are therefore being advised to start their trips as early as possible in the morning, or delay them until later in the afternoon.
Motorists are being warned to plan their journeys in advance / Credit: pxfuel
“The bank holiday weekend clashes with the end of the Easter break for many schools, which we think will change the nature of this year’s getaway,” admitted RAC breakdown spokesperson, Alice Simpson.
“Although journey numbers are still very high, we’re anticipating more day trips and weekend breaks than people heading off on one and two-week stints… [so] this could lead to a ‘hat-trick of hold-ups’ on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as drivers visit family and friends.
“But while getaway journeys may be shorter in length, we’re still expecting to see extremely high levels of traffic from Thursday onwards, with the greatest number of Easter getaway trips planned for three years.”
Alice warned that drivers should expect queues if they ‘don’t plan the best time to set off’.
“It’s always best to travel as early as possible in the morning or later in the day when most of the traffic has eased,” she added.
Featured Image – Geograph
News
Onlookers ‘in tears’ after tiny duckling rescued from storm drain in beauty spot
Daisy Jackson
The RSPCA has shared a heartwarming video of a reunion between a tiny duckling and his mum, after the baby bird fell into a storm drain.
The charity, with the help of staff in the nearby Grandpa Greene’s Luxury Ice Cream Parlour, managed to fish the tiny bird out of the storm drain in a painstaking two-hour-long operation.
Miraculously, the duckling was unharmed, and his mum was waiting nearby on the canal in Saddleworth ready to be reunited with her baby.
The RSPCA has now thanked the staff member who helped rescue the duckling, and issued a warning to the public to keep dogs on a lead when near wildlife, believing the poor bird was chased by a dog before falling down the five-feet-high grid.
The rescue operation too place in Diggle last Wednesday 9 April, with Animal Rescue Officer Lee Ferrans taking on the ‘long and painstaking’ process of tempting the duckling into a net.
Lee said: “I wasn’t able to lift the grid so the only thing I could do was push an extendable pole straight down and try to catch the duckling in a net. There wasn’t a lot of room for manoeuvre and the net kept catching on all the debris.
“Just when I thought I’d been successful, the duckling kept disappearing into a drain on one side and then popping out again. A member of staff from Grandpa Greene’s had just finished her shift and came across to the other side of the canal to help me. I unscrewed the top of the pole with the net and held it down on one side of the drain while she used another section to gently encourage the bird to go into the net.
“It was quite a long and painstaking rescue but we eventually managed to bring the little one back up safely after more than two hours.”
The pair then placed the duckling into a cardboard box before heading further up the canal to reunite them with their mother and six sibling ducklings.
The adult duck ‘instantly recognised’ the chirping and swam straight towards it.
Lee added: “A little crowd had gathered and as the family were reunited people were shedding tears. It was a really lovely moment to see them all back together.
“I’d especially like to thank the member of staff from Grandpa Greene’s who offered an extra pair of hands – I couldn’t have done it without her – and to all the people in the area who stopped and were concerned.
“Storm drains can be a bit of a menace for ducklings, especially at this time of the year when there are babies around, and this brood was only a few days old.”
Emily Sergeant -
30th September 2021 
