Vernon Kay has been welcomed back to his hometown of Bolton as a hero after completing his incredible ultra-marathon challenge and raising over £4 millionfor Children in Need. Amazing.
Completing the fourth and final day of his endurance challenge, in which he set himself the task of running and walking over 100 miles on behalf of the BBC and Children in Need this year, Kay concluded his epic journey at Bolton Wanderers’ Toughsheet Stadium on Friday morning.
Met by a live broadcast of Zoe Ball’s Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Two and hundreds of locals greeting him with cheers and rapturous applause, the presenter didn’t just surpass his century of kilometres but went on to polish off a whopping 116 miles in total for good measure.
The 49-year-old started off his final day by leaving Old Trafford at 7am before heading through Salford, past Swinton, the likes of Linnyshaw and Little Hulton, before receiving his well-deserved grand reception in Bolton.
The moment Vernon Kay completed his amazing ultra marathon challenge.
Having traipsed all the way from Leicester, through to Derbyshire and finally ending up back in Greater Manchester, supporters from all over lined the streets across various sections of his final leg.
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Passing through the likes of Marple, Stockport and Heaton Moor on Thursday evening as he wrapped up his third day of trekking his way back home, Kay kept going day and night, through wind and rain, before making his way back to the iconic football stadium where an estimated 400 people were in attendance.
Just before his BBC colleague and friend Zoe told him just how much he’d made, he shared an emotional moment with his parents, who had given him a heartwarming pep talk over the phone earlier in the week and were right there waiting for him in the stands.
As of the moment he crossed the finish line, Vernon’s final tally sat at £4,014,362: a truly incredible amount that will make a huge difference to the 2023 Children in Need campaign.
Well in Vernon, lad, unreal effort. Now go have a sit-down, grab yourself a brew and have the kip of a lifetime — you deserve it.
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More importantly, you can still donate to this ever-crucial cause HERE to hopefully help boost that number even more.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
17th November 2023 
