A number of local businesses in Greater Manchester are coming forward in support of Marcus Rashford by offering to provide food for children going hungry this half term.
Independent cafes, pubs and restaurants in Manchester city centre, Didsbury, Bolton, Wigan, Urmston and more are among the Greater Manchester businesses volunteering to lend a hand in an act of kindness sweeping the nation as we speak.
It comes following a bid to extend the free school meals voucher scheme over the school holidays until Easter 2021 which was rejected by the Prime Minister’s spokesperson, and then subsequently defeated after 322 Conservative MPs controversially voted against the extension in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The devastating outcome of this vote also arrived ahead of October half term, and shortly before Greater Manchester entered into Tier 3 restrictions under the government’s new three tier coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions scheme after a saga which saw Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham “fight for a fairer deal” for communities in the region.
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But luckily, local businesses are here to help out.
The Wythenshawe-born footballer took to Twitter yesterday evening to express his how “blown away” he is to see so many businesses across the country contribute. He said: “Blown away by news of local businesses stepping up to fill the voucher scheme deficit during the October half term.
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“Selflessness, kindness, togetherness, this is the England I know.”
He then went on to spread the word of a wealth of places throughout England that have come forward to offer support.
Each business has urged those struggling over the half term to get in touch for support.
Heaton Park Golf Course in Prestwhich, and Shelly B’s Cafe in Royton, Oldham are also offering packed meals for families to collect, Lords of Middleton butchers are offering a “meat voucher scheme”, and Heath St Fish & Chips in Golborne will be providing any child “in need” with a free chips and sausage, and will be donating fruit to add to the meals too.
The Mess Cafe and Message Community Grocery in Wythenshawe is offering a ‘pay with a post-it’ scheme, SANSAN in Prestwich is donating 10% of its profits this weekend to Fare Share Greater Manchester, Hunters Estate Agents in Leigh will be preparing lunch boxes with a sandwich, crisps, fruit and a drink for parents to collect, McDonalds UK is working with FareShare to “provide one million meals to families in need”, and kids can even eat free at M&S Cafe’s across the region this half term too.
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Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has also partnered with Coop to “provide 1,000 food vouchers across the city-region to young people who may need access to a meal during half-term”.
Some local councils in Greater Manchester – Manchester City Council, Salford City Council, Oldham Council, Rochdale Borough Council, Wigan Council, and Bury Council – have also stepped up to help, with others likely to follow.
We have no doubt that other businesses right across the ten Greater Manchester boroughs and neighbouring towns are likely to contribute support to this initiative, so if you are in need a helping hand this half term and as the winter draws in, please do not feel ashamed to reach out to those local to your area.
Or if you are struggling to find somewhere near to you that is offering its services, then do not hesitate to get in touch with us here at The Manc and we will be more than happy to help point you in the right direction.
Our DMs are always open, and we are here to listen.
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A number of participating businesses are also welcoming contributions from the public to help provide this service to as many children across the local communities as possible, so if you would like to make a donation, you are encouraged to reach out and see if there’s any way that you can be of support.
Contributions can also be made to food poverty relief charity Fareshare UK – the organisation that Marcus Rashford has partnered with for the ongoing the #endchildfoodpoverty campaign – via its website here.
Times are turbulent, but real community spirit has never been stronger than it is at this moment.
To see the people of this region come together to support one another when it’s most needed perfectly illustrates what it means to be Mancunian.
This is what makes Greater Manchester so great.
We’re in this together.
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Oldham mansion that starred in an iconic pop music video is up for sale
Thomas Melia
A Greater Manchester mansion that’s featured in one of the most famous music videos of the past decade is now up for sale.
Situated in the picturesque village of Uppermill, Oldham, Ashcroft House is currently listed at £2,350,000 accepting offers in the region of this figure.
The property has six bedrooms, six baths and five reception rooms – this mansion is a party host’s dream.
Ashcroft House has four storeys with the lower ground floor currently set up as a gym space and the ground floor boasting an eye-catching grand entrance hall.
This isn’t everything the lower ground floor has to offer. There are a number of breakout rooms such as a wine store, cinema room and your own personal steam room.
When going up another flight of stairs, the first floor’s main selling point besides the very large balcony is the matched walk in wardrobes paired with each of the six sleeping quarters, yes please!
Finally, if that wasn’t enough to draw you in, there is another flight of stairs leading to the second floor which is currently acting as the house’s ever-impressive storage area.
With the rolling hills of Saddleworth nearby and a local pub a ten minute walk away, how could life possibly get any better?
Oh wait it does! In 2016 one of the UK’s best selling girl groups of all time shot a music video for their worldwide hit right here in these very four walls.
X Factor prodigies and three time BRIT award winning girl group Little Mix perched up with their film crew to spend 21 hours recording the video for their groundbreaking single ‘Hair’.
The video itself has amassed nearly 500 million views on social media platform Youtube since being released eight years ago.
The grand staircase that greets you as you enter this Greater Manchester property.The Little Mix girls having a bite to eat in Ashcroft House.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
The previous owner of the house even revealed that once the music video shoot wrapped up, the girls stayed with the family to share a slice of pizza or two.
If you’re interested in owning a piece of pop culture history or just as nosey as we are you can take a virtual tour of this mansion in Oldham here.
People are finally discovering this super easy money-saving food hack
Danny Jones
These days, pinching the pennies and protecting the pounds wherever you can is more important than ever, so we have no intention of gatekeeping this game-changing itsu food hack.
For the longest time, we’ll admit that we thought itsu was just another good place to grab some fresh sushi, Asian-inspired meals and groceries, but after learning of this clever little loophole, it’s probably up there with one of our very favourite chains.
Starting out in London back in the late 90s, itsu has gone on to become a huge franchise with nearly 80 locations nationwide and, naturally, the risk that comes with a food brand getting this big is the almost unavoidable problem of waste.
However, what was once just a conveyor belt in Chelsea has turned into a super-efficient restaurant and fully established food brand that has also come up with a great way to not only help stop food from going to waste but save you money in the process too.
itsu Manchester on 1 Hardman Blvd, Spinningfields.itsu prices aren’t pretty decent to start with given the quality.We’re all about food hacks and cutting back the budget wherever we can. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Put quite simply, because itsu would quite rightly rather see food go in your gob than in the bin, they have a discount policy on their products that are about to go out of date.
Think Too Good To Go only more specific and with even more money off guaranteed.
Once the clock hits a certain time towards the end of trading hours, sushi, salad boxes and other cold food items can be purchased at 50% off their usual price to help save money and on food spoiling.
No, we’re not having you on: each and EVERY single day you can get highly-quality itsu sushi selection platters, rice and salad boxes, poke bowls and more at literally half-price. You can see the full details in their FAQs.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a random work night or a peckish walk home from the pub on the weekend, provided you go after 8:30pm and get there before they shut, you can grab some of your favourites at essentially a two-for-one rate. Sensational stuff.
You don’t even have to download an app, go up to the counter and have any kind of awkward conversation or anything like that: the digital pay screens will automatically update once the click strikes cha-ching and you can saunter out of the gaff with your scran.
Half price itsu? Don’t mind if we do.50% off itsu every night.Always leave looking this happy.Get your hands on half-price itsu whenever you can with this simple hack. (Credit: The Manc Group)
We’ll be honest, we often end up getting double the amount we came for but who can blame us with a value-for-money offer like that? There’s also a 15% discount for students and NHS workers, by the way.
We know that might sound counter-intuitive when we’ve pitched this as a money-saving life hack, but it’s actually come in handy when grabbing not just a last-minute tea for ourselves but hungry flatmates too; plus we go home knowing we’ve done our little bit to help reduce waste.
Eating out can get super expensive, especially in Manchester city centre during a cost of living crisis, but let’s face it, we all fancy a treat sometimes and the thought of cooking is too tiring to even think about – that’s what makes stumbling upon little happy discoveries like these makes so great.
Now, we’re not going to pretend you’re the first people to know about this: the ‘secret’ is out and is gradually getting more and more popular, so you’ll almost certainly find a fair few people queuing up with the same idea come 8:30pm, but that’s kind of the idea. The more we spread the news, the less waste.
itsu Spinningfields is currently the only branch in Manchester (the first-ever Northern site to be opened by the brand back in 2016) but if you need some discounted food whilst you’re travelling around, you can find your nearest location HERE. Enjoy!