Greater Manchester’s leading dog rescue centre has shared a heartwarming success story of two of its former residents.
Dogs 4 Rescue – a semi-rural independent dog sanctuary based on Barton Moss Road – is known for its unique “cage free” approach to animal welfare, and carries out vital work across Greater Manchester to ensure all rescued dogs are socialised in a healthy, relaxed and happy foster home environment, while waiting for their forever families.
The centre has completely changed the lives of countless canines over the years, and has plenty of success stories.
It’s not just the lives of local dogs that Dogs 4 Rescue plays a part in, though. Owner Emma Billington is passionate about animal welfare right across the continent – and has also rescued many pups from other European countries over the years.
Many street dogs from Europe have had their lives transformed under Dogs 4 Rescue’s care – but there’s been no case quite as heartwarming as the story of two former residents’ recent role in their new owner’s wedding day.
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Taking to Facebook to share the story, Dogs4Rescue said: “Many of you will remember the photo of [rescue dog] Lara in the pound in Spain.
“She’d been waiting for her chance for five whole years.
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“Her transport to us was paid for by a legacy donation, so it is even more poignant to share these happy photos today. After adopting Lara a while back, and six re-arranged weddings later, Ashley and Johnny got to have their big day with Lara as flower girl and Dom as their page boy.
“Lara is loved beyond belief now and the look of love in these photos says it all.
“Page boy handsome Dom is also a D4R rescue.”
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Dogs 4 Rescue then went on to congratulate the newlyweds and thank them once again “for making Lara feel safe and happy”.
“We get criticised a lot for rescuing from abroad but this is the reality of the alternative – a life of misery in a concrete cell.
“And that is why for us, love has no borders.”
How brilliant is this? We honestly cannot think of a more uplifting local story.
News of Lara and Dom’s roles in their owners’ wedding has understandably touched the hearts of thousands of people across Greater Manchester on Facebook.
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The update comes after Dogs 4 Rescue successfully bought Clough Bottom Farm near Accrington; turning the land into a state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility for street dogs following several months of fundraising towards the latter end of 2020.
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.
Dogs 4 Rescue is known for its unique “cage free” approach to animal welfare / Image: Rhi Scotchbrook
Are you keen 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.
Stockport County defender Brad Hills ruled out for the rest of the season
Danny Jones
In a big blow to their promotion push, Stockport County have been hit with a major injury and loss to their first-team squad, as defender Brad Hills has been ruled out for what looks to be the remainder of the season and then some.
Not what Hatters will want to hear with crunch-time in and around the playoffs now well underway.
Having emerged as even more of a starring centre-back this year, following his initial loan spell with the club during the previous campaign, Brad Hills has arguably been one of Stockport’s best and most reliable players in 2025/26 thus far – but not County will have to do without him.
Although the exact severity is yet to be fully revealed, the former Norwich City youth academy graduate is said to have hurt his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Confirming the news on social media, the Greater Manchester side stated: “We regret to inform supporters that Brad Hills sustained an ACL injury in Saturday’s draw at Luton Town that will rule him out for the foreseeable future.
“Our full focus is on supporting Brad throughout his recovery – we know he’ll come back stronger”
For anyone unaware, ACL tears/ruptures are among some of the worst injuries in football, and depending on the extent of the damage, it can take anywhere between six months and a full year to bounce back.
Safe to say, therefore, that supporters have been left gutted by the update, with one commenting, “Awful, awful news”; another simply wrote, “FFS”.
After typing a very long expletive following the show news, fan podcast The Scarf Bergara Wore wrote: “Wishing Bradley Hills a speedy recovery – come back stronger!
Since becoming a permanent signing back in August, he’s earned multiple man-of-the-match awards in blue and white, not to mention contributed to a decent number of clean sheets. He’ll be a big miss in their backline.
While it’s no doubt a big setback as the League One team looks to get promoted into the Championship, the absence could see manager Dave Challinor reshuffle the pack and perhaps even the formation for the remaining fixtures.
One option is Louie Barry, who – depending on the setup – could finally be set for a return to the pitch after he was signed on a third loan deal this past January, but is still continuing his own rehab following a knee operation.
Put it this way, with not many games left, lots of County fans are probably wishing that the pending and potential further changes in the EFL could have come sooner…
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Emily Sergeant -
18th June 2021 
