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A huge board game festival is happening in Manchester this weekend

Tabletop Gaming Live is taking over the historic Cotton Sheds at Victoria Warehouse on Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 September.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 16th September 2022

There’ll be over 100 different games to play when a huge board game festival sets up shop right here in Manchester this weekend.

Run by the teams behind the Tabletop Gaming and Miniature Wargames magazines, and with games across the whole hobby, from must-see miniatures, to incredible indie RPGs and hot new board games, this epic two-day gaming convention gives the people of Greater Manchester and beyond the chance to play some of the most exciting games out right now.

The show is set to bring together gamers from across the country to our city centre for the first time.

Tabletop Gaming Live is taking over the historic Cotton Sheds at Victoria Warehouse on Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 September – which festival organisers say offers ample space for the 5000+ expected hobbyists and 100+ traders, publishers, and designers.

A huge board game festival is happening in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Tabletop Gaming

So, what can you expect to see this weekend then?

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Well, as Tabletop Gaming’s inaugural Manchester show is sponsored by local hobby titans Steamforged Games, they will be demoing Bardsung and showing-off upcoming titles, while Fanboy 3 – which has been at the heart of the Manchester gaming scene for years – will be presenting some of the biggest publishers from the US.

They are joined by Manchester indie legend Hall or Nothing – who will be showing new titles like the historical battler 1815: Scum of the Earth, and Manchester’s biggest gaming group Tabletop Manchester.

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Some of the other new games at the 2022 festival include – Amelia’s Secret (Hachette Board Games UK), Star Wars Villainous: Power of the Dark Side (Ravensburger), the new edition of Kingmaker, Call to Adventure: Epic Origins (Brotherwise Games), and Cartaventura Caravans (BLAM!).

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There’ll be hands-on games demos and events happening all weekend at various different stands.

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You can also roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with a variety of workshops too, including learning how to make your first game with James Wallis (The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen), create an RPG in an afternoon with Chris McDowall (Into The Odd Remastered), or even make your own miniature with Kit-bashing YouTube star Bill Making Stuff.

Tabletop Gaming Live is promising to bring a huge weekend of gaming where you can “get stuck into the hobby like you never have before”.

Fancy it then? There’s still time to grab tickets from £11 here.

Featured Image – Tabletop Gaming

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The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson

In a city centre that has changed almost beyond recognition over the past eight years, one Manchester gym has stuck to a simple idea – getting people stronger shouldn’t have to take over their lives.

Tucked away on Kennedy Street, opposite Manchester Town Hall and just a short walk from St Peter’s Square tram stop, P1 Fitness Studio is celebrating its eighth year in business.

This local success story has been built by husband-and-wife team Peter and Abby, who wanted to build the kind of gym they actually wanted to train in themselves, after becoming increasingly frustrated with what they saw as the ‘normal gym scene’.

Their answer was to create something different: a smaller, calmer space where people could be coached properly, recognised when they walked through the door and actually enjoy coming to train.

Eight years later, Peter and Abby are still hands-on in the independently owned business, working alongside a coaching team of five.

Welcome to P1 Fitness, in Manchester city centre / Credit: The Manc Group

There is no franchise model or corporate head office. Just the same basic philosophy they started with in 2018, which seems to have resonated with a particular part of Manchester.

P1’s members are predominantly busy professionals – lawyers, architects, creatives, teachers, business owners and office workers – many of them in their 30s, 40s and beyond.

For people spending much of their working lives behind a desk, the proposition is deliberately straightforward – you don’t need to live in the gym to become stronger and healthier.

P1 believes two properly coached strength sessions a week can make a meaningful difference.

Sessions last 50 minutes and run throughout the working day, meaning members can train before work, at lunchtime or after work. There are showers, changing facilities, towels and toiletries too, making it possible to fit training around a working day rather than the other way round.

More recently, the studio has added an infrared sauna, giving members somewhere to recover and switch off before heading back to the office or home.

The independent Manchester gym that’s spent eight years getting the city’s office workers stronger / Credit: The Manc Group

P1 specialises in small group personal training, with a maximum of six people per coach.

Everyone follows a structured strength programme, but the coaching is adapted to the individual. Exercises, weights, and progressions can all be changed depending on someone’s ability, goals, injuries or simply how they’re feeling that day.

So someone picking up a barbell for the first time can train alongside somebody who has been lifting for years, without either being pushed through the same generic circuit.

It’s also not the kind of gym where you’ll see your own reflection staring back at you at every turn, because the focus is on becoming stronger and moving better, rather than how you look. 

The idea is longevity – looking after your joints, maintaining muscle, building strength, and staying capable of doing the things you want to do outside the gym as you get older.

Or, in P1’s own words: “Built stronger to last longer.”

And there’s some impressive evidence that the approach has encouraged people to stay the course.

Based on its current schedule of roughly 75 coached sessions a week, P1 estimates it has delivered more than 31,000 coached sessions across its eight years.

Some of the people attending those sessions have been there since the doors first opened.

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Rather than celebrating short-term transformations, P1 marks the less glamorous (but arguably more meaningful) milestones: members receive T-shirts when they reach 100, 250, and 500 training sessions.

That means there are members whose relationship with the studio is measured in hundreds of coached sessions and several years, rather than a six-week challenge.

And over time, the gym has become something more than somewhere to lift weights.

P1 increasingly describes itself as a ‘third space’ for Manchester professionals – somewhere between home and work where people can train, switch off, see familiar faces and feel part of a community.

People train alongside many of the same faces each week, and coaches get to know the people they’re working with.

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There are socials, themed workouts, challenges, member celebrations and charity events to really build that P1 community – for example, members raised more than £1000 for Parkinson’s UK through a bake sale last year. 

The business has also increasingly taken its philosophy beyond its own four walls, working with Manchester companies and corporate teams on strength training and health education, including sessions around women’s health, men’s health, nutrition and sustainable strength training.

P1 has won Best Strength Training Gym of the North West at the National Fitness Awards in 2023, 2024 and 2025, while also being shortlisted three times for the National Fitness Awards’ Functional Training Gym of the Year UK award.

But perhaps the more remarkable achievement is simply making it through the last eight years as an independent city-centre business.

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Since P1 opened, Manchester has had to navigate Covid and lockdowns, the huge shift towards home and hybrid working, and the major redevelopment around Town Hall and St Peter’s Square.

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The city centre around the studio has changed dramatically, but the basic idea inside P1 hasn’t. It’s not just a gym, but a third space with a barbell in the middle of it. 

Find out more and book your first sessions with P1 in Manchester HERE.

Featured Image – The Manc Group

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A FREE shopping event dedicated to saving students money is returning to Manchester Arndale

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia The Manchester Arndale MCR Student Social is back

One of the city centre’s most popular shopping events helping students save money is returning to Manchester Arndale and the city centre.

MCR Student Social is heading back to the city with its big discounts, freebies, giveaways and plenty of entertainment to keep you busy while you browse.

This interactive shopping event encourages new and current students to wander round Manchester Arndale and the surrounding streets while snapping up some seriously good deals.

Expect discounts of up to 50% off at 120 stores including big high street retailers like Champion, Søstrene Grene, Selfridges, Sephora, and Berghaus.

This incredible 50% off deal continues into some of Manchester Arndale’s big-name food vendors like Wingstop, Archie’s, Barburrito, Sides, HOP Vietnamese and more.

If you’re after carrying that Zara Larsson energy into your next academic year, the Arndale’s Rhinestone Rodeo celebration includes a Charm Bar in Exchange Court, where you can turn photos into personalised charms.

No shopping trip is complete without a matcha in-hand and you can bag yourself a free hot or iced drink in Exchange Court at the Cult Beauty Matcha Station.

Look out for our Audio North truck on Market Street
Look out for our Audio North truck on Market Street
The Manchester Arndale MCR Student Social is back
The Manchester Arndale MCR Student Social is back

There’s even the Arndale’s Party Tuk Tuk which will be roaming around the city-centre shopping complex blasting out hip-hop tunes and some of your song requests.

Just outside Manchester Arndale on Market Street, there’s plenty of activities split across three dedicated zones, like Food & Drink by familiar foodie faces like Franco Manca and Great British Doner.

The Party Zone will be buzzing as Footasylum, Museum of Illusions and Urban Playground all unite, while there’s plenty of giveaways over at the Info Zone with brands like Science + Industry Museum and RSPB.

And, our very own Audio North x The Manc DJ Truck is soundtracking Market Street with student DJs playing out everything from dance and funk to classic party anthems.

MCR Student Social is taking place on Thursday 24 September at Manchester Arndale from 12pm to 7pm and you can find more information via its official website HERE.

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Featured Images – The Manc Group

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