An inspirational young football fan from the Greater Manchester area is taking on an incredible running challenge this summer in an effort to help bring sports for those with disabilities to his local team, Altrincham FC.
21-year-old Joseph Adams is an Altrincham superfan with a massive heart and an even bigger love of the beautiful game, and he will soon be tasking himself with a demanding feat of fitness in the hope of helping bring football to his home club for supporters who have special needs.
Diagnosed with Down Syndrome, Joseph has taken part in many adapted sports from football and dancing to skiing, rugby and more, even winning multiple gold medals including one at the 2023 UK Down Syndrome National Swimming Championships.
It’s safe to say that this is a cause very near and dear to both Joe and his family; so, in an effort to help deliver support for special needs activities through Alty FC, the die-hard young Robins fan is setting himself the task of running ten 10ks in a total of ten different countries over the course of just five days.
Joseph has had a defiant and determined attitude to everything since he was a kid. (Credit: GoFundMe/Supplied)
Taking on what he has called the ‘No Limits‘ challenge in the coming weeks, Joseph is aiming to raise a total of £250,000 in order for Altrincham to hire a dedicated disability sports officer role this year.
As a non-league football club and even with the recent backing from more than 20 new investors, the local Trafford-based outfit obviously doesn’t have unlimited resources, so fundraising efforts like these are their only option.
With that in mind, Joe, his parents and two sisters will be completing the running challenge in less than a week as part of the club’s growing Community Sports charity arm to help establish a programme for children and adults with special needs.
Having already raised well over a whopping £176k of his overall target, his ultimate goal is to broaden the programme to provide further support, training and employment opportunities for adults with disabilities across the local area and beyond Altrincham too.
Speaking about the excitement of his upcoming challenge, Joseph said: “I’m really looking forward to visiting lots of countries and running with my family and I can’t wait for a beer at the finish! […] Think Race Across the World meets Hardest Geezer! I don’t know if I can do it but I am going to try my best.”
⌛️ The countdown is on for 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵'𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 – 𝗡𝗼 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 💪
It was France for training this week, and yet another fundraising milestone has been reached 😍
Dad Phil Adams said of his inspiring son: “When Joseph was born, his Mum and I were told about all the things he wouldn’t be able to do because he has Down Syndrome, but we vowed to take a no-limits approach to what he could do and 21 years later, we couldn’t be prouder of him…
“Ironically, he hates running and hadn’t really tried before taking on this latest challenge but what we’ve all learned over the years is that Joseph has been able to achieve a huge amount more than we might have expected when we ignore perceived wisdom.”
A number of Manchester-based businesses such as Castore, Travel Counsellors, Houlihan Lokey, DMR, FK Group and Farrat have lent their support to Joseph’s Challenge and the No Limits campaign, including Altrincham FC’s own official front-of-shirt sponsor, AO.
Founder and CEO, John Roberts alongside his wife Sally, have donated a generous £30k between them to the cause, with Roberts commenting: “The sky really is the limit and Joseph is living that philosophy in spades. He’s an inspiring young man and every one of AO’s 3,000 employees wishes him every success.
The youngster’s incredible journey will conclude as he passes the finish line of the Altrincham 10k on Sunday, 1 September. You can do your bit to help by donating to Joseph Adams and his incredible running challenge, which will help provide important access to sport, HERE.
It has to be said, there is a very wholesome buzz around the J Davidson Stadium lately.
Live football to be prescribed by some GPs to help treat patients with depression
Danny Jones
Live football looks set to be prescribed by a section of the NHS in an effort to try and help people suffering from depression.
As part of the experimental new wellbeing and mental healthcare initiative, GPs across the UK could soon be able to suggest watching football in person as part of their wider treatment plans.
While it may sound like a somewhat unorthodox approach, it’s sparked plenty of conversation on social media and is already gathering some steam up and down the country.
The scheme is being pioneered by Labour MP, Dr Simon Opher, the representative for Stroud, as well as Ecotricity owner and green industrialist, Dale Vince.
Today we’ve announced Football On Prescription. Football clubs up and down the country and up and down the leagues can take part in this – and I hope they will. Mental health is a big issue, as are loneliness and isolation. One of the superpowers of football is its inclusivity -… pic.twitter.com/OWNOag6Fcc
‘Prescribed footy’, to coin a somewhat jarring colloquialism, is set to be rolled out to relevant patients across the Gloucestershire region diagnosed with depression and some other mental health conditions.
Those on the receiving end of these prescriptions will be offered free tickets to watch local National League side, Forest Green Rovers (FGR), based in the town of Nailsworth.
Vince, who founded Ecotricity – formerly known as Renewable Energy Company – back in 1995, bought Forest Green back in 2010 and is just passionate about football and mental health as the push for clean energy and environmental causes.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio in an interview on Tuesday, 22 July, the 64-year-old Norfolk-born OBE said: “We just do the things that we see, that we think could be done, should be done, that will help; whether it’s helping our planet, our country – people here [in Gloucestershire]…
“When you attend football matches, particularly regularly, you find yourself a part of something, a part of a group of people with a common purpose. It’s a wonderful social experience that we think would be really good for people suffering from mental health problems.”
Despite some doubters and detractors questioning his motives online and in the media, he insists the sentiment is purely altruistic, and FGR hope to aligning itself with big causes like mental health, even making the first fully vegan-certified football kits ahead of the 2025/26 season.
He also went on to add, “We also won’t take adverts or sponsorship from gambling companies: they do great harm in our society.”
As for Dr Opher, he has continued to champion ‘social prescribing’ across his medical and political career, backing it as a viable alternative to common medication such as antidepressants for some individuals with mild-moderate depression.
The live football on presecption concept has been met with plenty of pushback online, including lots of discourse surrounding priorities and the NHS remaining underfunded, but only time will tell how well these early trials go.
What do you make of the idea of football being put forward as an aid for depression and do you think it should be considered by the NHS at large?
A giant ‘carnival on bikes’ championing Black culture is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
One of the biggest bike ride events in the country, dubbed a ‘carnival on wheels’, is coming to Manchester this year.
The Black Unity Bike Ride (BUBR) was set up in London following the murder of George Floyd, which took place on 25 May 2020 and set shockwaves around the world.
Now, as the event is looking to reach across the UK, the event celebrating Black culture, joy, empowerment and unity is coming to our city region and its surrounding areas for the first time ever.
It’s set to be a truly brilliant and inspiring event.
Teaming up with London Marathon Events (LME) once again, the mass participation veterans have been lending expertise since 2021, and now they’ve reached a new five-year agreement to help continue strengthening BUBR and, hopefully, create a national movement by setting up in two new cities.
Manchester marks the first stage of the Black Unity Bike Ride expansion, which will see thousands take to cycling from Alexandra Park in Moss Side on a 12-mile route through the city and back to the beautiful outdoor space.
Aiming to mirror the success of the flagship BUBR event down in the capital, Manc participants and supporters can expect a vibrant, ‘festival feel’ with pumping music throughout.
Back at Alexandra Park, there’ll be even a huge pop-up home base for the event, bringing together Greater Manchester’s Black community with a big food and vendor village, more music and an uplifting atmosphere all day long.
The inaugural Manchester event will come just a fortnight after the sixth annual edition of the founding Black Unity Bike Ride in London, which sees waves of cyclists take on 17 miles, starting at Leyton Sports Ground and finishing in Dulwich Park.
Credit: Black Unity Bike Ride Manchester (supplied)
Promising route leaders, cheer zones and pitstops on the route, plenty of music, not to mention various indie food and drink traders pulling from a wide range of different ethnicities and cuisines, it’s this kind of full-on festival energy that BUBR Manchester is striving to capture.
Once again, it’s a ‘carnival on wheels’.
BUBR MCR 2025 will take place on Sunday, 17 August, the birthday of Marcus Mosiah Garvey, a key political activist – the forefather of the ‘Garveyism ideology – as well as publisher, journalist and orator who has his own national day named after him in his home country of Jamaica.
He advocated for the empowerment and rights of African descendants and founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA), in addition to organising America’s first-ever Black nationalist movement.
You can see the event documentary film, which chronicles last year’s Black Unity Bike Ride in full down below. It really is a moving watch – pardon the pun.
It’s also worth noting that the Black Unity Bike Ride Fest is completely FREE, as the goal is to get as many people as possible. You can sign up
BUBR founder, Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, said of the upcoming event: “What began as a bold idea on London’s streets has grown into a national movement. We are very excited to bring the event to Manchester, it has been an aspiration for a few years so we can’t wait until Sunday, 17 August.”
“BUBR has valued London Marathon Events’ support since 2021, and we are very proud to extend this relationship with a new five-year commitment. The partnership is a true statement of intent when it comes to community, inclusion and inspiring active lives.”
BUBR has been to Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana and more; Manchester is up next and there’ll be another new home in 2026.
Danny Jones -
13th August 2024 
