A heartwarming video of a Sainsbury’s staff member surprising his autistic colleague with £400 in gifts to lift his spirits after he was mugged earlier in the week has gone viral on social media.
After an attack left Tommy struggling to eat and with injuries to his face, Liam Mason was determined to cheer up his friend and colleague by organising a whip-round via a Crowdfund on Twitter, which saw him manage to raise over £400 in total.
The funds raised meant that Liam and his fellow colleagues at a Manchester-based Sainsbury’s branch could treat Tommy to a £350 gift card and a Manchester United shirt.
Sharing the video to Twitter yesterday, Liam said: “As some of you on here already know, a lad I work with who has autism was mugged on Monday. We managed to get a whip-round on the go and raised over £400 [so] thank you to everybody who donated and passed on their best on here.
“He doesn’t show his emotions very well, but he’s buzzing.”
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As some of you on here already know a lad I work with who has autism was mugged on Monday. We managed to get a whip round on the go and raised over £400! Thank you to everybody who donated and passed on their best on here. He doesn’t show his emotions very well but he’s buzzing pic.twitter.com/WEx2qQx049
The video has since been viewed more than 1.2 million times, and has amassed over 70K interactions and comments from both famous faces and members of the public praising Liam and the wider team for their generosity and kind-hearted actions.
Following the overwhelmingly positive response to the video, Liam has since said in a follow-up tweet that Tommy “started tearing up”.
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He said: “It’s genuinely made his day/month/year [and] I can’t thank everybody who got involved enough. Social media gets a lot of negativity thrown about and a bad name so it’s good to use the platform for something nice and genuine for once – fair play guys.”
He continued: “I’m absolutely buzzing with how much positivity this has spread.
“[Twitter] is mad at times [but] if this has made you smile today, then I’m over the moon for you too. The future is uncertain but that doesn’t mean we can’t be nice to each other.
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“Absolutely belting.”
While most of the public response received has remained positive, Liam did choose to clear a few things up regarding COVID-safety protocols, as well address a couple of negative comments about why they chose to film the surprise.
Can’t believe I’m having to further justify this. Yes we were in a shop without masks on but it was before we were open to the public. As soon as we opened, masks were worn as usual when working in an open for business environment. We wear masks for 8 hours a day give us a break
“I just wanted to say thanks a lot for all the support and kind words directed at me.” he said.
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“It’s hard to get through all the messages, but just wanted to say I couldn’t do this by myself and everybody who donated deserves a portion of credit too.
“I’m just happy we put a smile on his face”.
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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 -
15th February 2021 
