The semi-rural independent dog sanctuary – known for its unique “cage free” approach to animal welfare – carries out vital work across Greater Manchester to ensure that all rescued dogs are socialised in a healthy, relaxed and happy foster home environment, while waiting for their forever families.
But with the numbers of unwanted dogs rising alarmingly – particularly in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – a second site was needed.
Now, “against the odds and in the most challenging of times” following several months of fundraising towards the latter end of 2020, Dogs 4 Rescue has bought Clough Bottom Farm near Accrington to turn into a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility for street dogs.
The not-for-profit company said the current Manchester site will continue to be used as a re-homing centre, while the new Accrington farm will be used to house dogs during rehabilitation in preparation for adoption.
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A total of £192,907 from over 7,500 supporters – as well as private donations – was raised to fund the purchase.
It’s officially ours! 🥳Against the odds & in the most challenging of times we have purchased the new site for a Sanctuary & Rehab Retreat for the dogs no-one wants. Thanks for sharing our dream, the incredible support & donations. We truly have the best supporters in the world. pic.twitter.com/NRQCIGmgp9
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph on the successful purchase, Emma Billington – founder and owner of Dogs 4 Rescue – said: “We are inundated now from everywhere, across the UK, across the world, with dogs desperately needing help… [and] it has kind of ended up that we have become a place for dogs that need rehabilitation.
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“With the near 40 of them here, hardly of them are up for homing as it can take years to rehabilitate them so we needed another site where we could help the dogs most in need, then we can have [the Manchester site] to use for dogs to find their forever home once they have been rehabilitated.”
Due to the location of the new site, some of the local residents have raised concerns over the centre and are concerned that the barking will be a disturbance, but Emma has said that because of the freedoms the dogs have, they are less stressed and don’t bark as much as you would associate with a normal kennel.
She added: “I can totally understand where people are coming from and all I can say is if they want any more information or they have any concerns, I am very open. We don’t want to upset anybody or make anybody’s life difficult, and we are really open to the local community.
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“We have had noise surveys done [at the Manchester site] which monitored the noise over a 24 hour period and they came back and said there was nothing more than what you would expect from a neighbour who had a dog.”
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To help Dogs 4 Rescue continue its essential work across Greater Manchester, please consider donating whatever you can via the website, and for large donations or offers of corporate support, you email Emma Billington at [email protected] or ring 07412361769.
You can also keep up to date with Dogs 4 Rescue day-to-day on social media – Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
11th March 2021 
