The 2023 Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness was a landmark year for the heartwarming charity run as this year local runners raised more than £25,000 for Greater Manchester’s homeless community. Simply incredible stuff.
In what was just the fifth edition of the fundraising event, runners from all over the region and many others travelling into the city centre from across the UK once again put the hard yards in to raise money for the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity (GMMC) and the ‘A Bed Every Night‘ scheme.
Having comfortably smashed their biggest year to date, when taking into account fundraising matches, Gift Aid contributions and event t-shirt sales, The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness has now cruised past £24k to raise a whopping total of £25,265 with their most recent relay race last week.
In case you need any more context for this truly staggering total, that means they raised upwards of £1k for every single hour they ran around Manchester city centre and funded the equivalent of approximately 842 crucial beds including food and support for rough sleepers — and they’re still counting.
Recording 40 main relay laps, 1602 cumulative laps by runners and nearly 9,302 kilometres covered in total with virtual laps included, this year’s charity run broke all manner of records.
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With the largest wave which took place at 7pm on Wednesday, 15 November consisting of 230 runners, not to mention the returning runners on the previous lap, at one point there were roughly 400 runners out on the course all raising money for Manchester’s homeless community.
As if 2023’s tally wasn’t already impressive enough, this takes the grand total raised for the GMMC and A Bed Every Night to over £51,000 since 2018, all through simply running their socks off. Unbelievable.
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For instance, one local runner, Martin ‘Marv’ Lucass, ran a mindblowing 160km (100 miles) at the event without a single wink of sleep, stating: “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted but still nothing compared with the thought of being homeless for even 1 night.”
More than 55 running clubs, local businesses and organisations took part, with the likes of 54-year-old Ian Sharpe running a ridiculous 150km on behalf of Chorlton Runners and Andra Risca setting a new female record for the event with 100km to her name. Even The Manc got involved.
Co-founder and Lead Organiser, Thomas Lewis, said: “It has been amazing to see so many clubs and local organisations in Greater Manchester come together and raise such an incredible amount of money for the charities scheme. The money’s going to help make a real difference in the local community.”
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True to their word, the event’s incredible organisers and volunteers for the University of Manchester’s Run Wild MCR club didn’t stop going until noon on Thursday, 16 November, taking turns to lead and tail laps on very little sleep — if any at all.
Every single person who took part should be immensely proud of their achievements and having done their bit for a deeply important cause and, thankfully, the donation page is still live HERE so you can still help make a real difference in a person’s life. Aren’t us Mancs wonderful?
Featured Image — The Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness
Sport
Ruben Amorim reacts as Manchester United are booed off after Malaysia friendly
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has delivered a fairly brutal response after his club were booed off by supporters during a friendly in Malaysia.
The Red Devils recently embarked on a post-season tour following a calamitous 2024/25 campaign, both domestically and continentally, with that limp loss in the Europa League final, but have already resumed what has become alarmingly normal service with yet another defeat.
Finding themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against ASEAN All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur – a squad comprised of various talents from around the region who had never played together before and were only founded as an actual team back in 2014 – it was all far from clean slates and fresh starts.
In the wake of the shock result, Man United were booed off by the Malaysian and other international fans inside the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, which saw more than 70,000 in attendance.
It’s the end and that’s it. Man United got boo’ed by the fans after the final whistle.
They got beaten by non-full team Asean All-Star who just trained together as a group few days before the match. pic.twitter.com/fBxnMiZPN8
For context, the ASEAN All-Stars had only trained together for the first time just days before the game itself, but the de facto exhibition outfit still managed to break the deadlock in the 71st minute against a United side that rarely looked like scoring.
All that being said, Amorim had some choice words for his own players in his post-match duties after their first post-season tour fixture, insisting that while he always remains accountable, those out on the pitch perhaps received somewhat of a deserved reckoning too.
He began by stating, “I’m always guilty of the performance of the team, no matter what. [I have been responsible] since the first day”, but went on to argue: “The boos from the fans, I think it something that we need, maybe.”
Citing that the Old Trafford faithful and die-hard away fans have always been loyal and supportive despite frustration in the league, he suggested that “maybe they will change the way they behave” following this latest reality check.
Despite adding that he has seen reasons for optimism in performances against Man City and Liverpool, for instance, where he felt he saw “belief” and seeds of what’s to come, he’s made very few excuses for the poor displays up to now.
United face the Hong Kong national team in their next friendly on Friday, 29 May, and it’s fair to say anything less than a win would be beyond bad for the predictably unpredictable Premier League club.
You can see his full post-match press conference down below.
Featured Images — Manchester United (screenshot via YouTube)/Edward Kuruvilla (via X)
Sport
Stockport County to introduce safe standing at Edgeley Park
Danny Jones
Stockport County will soon be introducing safe standing at Edgeley Park as part of the pending stadium development plans.
The Hatters may have just missed out on promotion to the Championship, but it’s still been an exciting few years for the club that has seen a fresh surge in young new supporters in addition to their passionate lifelong followers.
In more fantastic news for fans, County have announced that brand new safe standing sections will be installed across the ground.
Confirming the news on Wednesday, the club said: “After receiving all necessary approvals and working closely with safety authorities, we are set to install rail seating in two designated areas of the stadium.
Stockport County is thrilled to announce the introduction of safe standing areas at Edgeley Park ahead of the upcoming 2025/26 season.
Visit the club site for more details on this exciting new development ⤵️#StockportCounty
— Stockport County (@StockportCounty) May 28, 2025
As detailed on the club website, there will be two new dedicated safe-standing/rail-seated zones – one in each main stand: the back five rows of seats in the Cheadle End’s upper tier and the back two rows of the Vitality Railway End.
With Stockport Council greenlighting plans for League One side to expand their home capacity, this reconfiguration is set to accommodate a total of 849 County fans and/or supporters.
Although this all depends on final approval from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), the aim is to deliver a “vibrant and dynamic environment for both home and away fans at Edgeley Park.”
The official statement goes on to explain that the push for safe standing is not just to provide more matchday options for those in attendance, but in hopes of further “enhancing the atmosphere and improving the overall matchday experience for those who prefer to stand.”
Couty has insisted that “The rail-seating system incorporates a barrier for every seat, ensuring that supporters are protected from a sudden surge or crowd movement.”
Safe standing is part of the larger Stockport County stadium redevelopment plans.
Addressing early concerns in a ‘What This Means for You’ section, they go on to add: “Season ticket holders currently in the affected rows will be contacted directly by the Club over the coming weeks with details on their options, including relocating to a seated area if they prefer not to stand.
“Information regarding new season tickets and matchday tickets in the safe standing areas will be released in due course.
“We believe this is another significant step forward for Stockport County and will further enhance the already incredible atmosphere at Edgeley Park. We look forward to seeing and hearing the renewed energy in these new sections.”
The safe standing plan is set to be introduced for the upcoming 2025/26 season, with the administration hoping to make this their last in the third tier. Do you see them going up next year?
Danny Jones -
21st November 2023 
