Some of the region’s unsung heroes will rightfully be honoured at this year’s Pride of Manchester Awards in a live-streamed ceremony this evening.
The annual ceremony – which is now in its second year – aims to celebrate community champions from the region who go the extra mile to help out other people, but instead of a glitzy awards show this year, the event will be held online.
This is of course due to local lockdown restrictions amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The Pride of Manchester Awards 2020 – in association with TSB and the MEN – will be streamed live across The Pride of Britain’s social media platforms and can be watched on Facebook and YouTube.
Packed with inspirational winners, emotional moments and amazing celebrity surprises, the special ceremony – which is hosted by Kym Marsh – is set to be the perfect pick-me-up during these difficult times, and will also see the courage and dedication of frontline NHS staff during the pandemic honoured.
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There will be no shortage of famous faces either, with everyone from Little Mix to Olly Murs set to make an appearance and celebrate the winners.
The ceremony is due to begin at 7pm BST.
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Here are this year’s set of inspirational individuals who will be honoured this evening.
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Isabella Hibbert
Child of Courage
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Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
Isabella Hibbert – a courageous youngster from Oldham, who was just four at the time – managed to find and unlock her Mum Chelsea’s phone to called 999 for an ambulance after she collapsed and fell unconscious on the kitchen floor.
The young hero – who is now six – was able to give the call handler her address so that they could send help.
She also clearly answered questions asked by the handler, such as “is your Mummy breathing?”, and “is your mummy awake?”.
She then dragged her chair from the living room to the front door, so she could reach the keys to open it for the paramedics, before ringing her Grandmother – again on Chelsea’s phone – to tell her what had happened.
Chelsea, 29, was taken to hospital and has since made a full recovery.
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Katie Holmes
Teenager of Courage
Katie Holmes has cerebral palsy, but refuses to let her condition define her.
Her condition was caused by a bleed on the brain when she was born prematurely at 28 weeks, and since then, she has had to undergo five major operations to help her walk. She currently has metal rods in her legs and also uses sticks for support, but “selfless” Katie has dedicated her time to help raise money to help others.
She has taken on several challenges – including the Great Manchester Run – to help pay for her ongoing physiotherapy.
This year, she is running 2k to raise funds for the Stockport Cerebral Palsy Society.
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Luchia Fitzgerald
Lifetime Achievement Award
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
Luchia has been a trailblazing campaigner for LGBT and women’s rights for 60 years.
She arrived in the city from her native Ireland as a teenager in 1961 after she had fled a physically and emotionally abusive upbringing with her grandmother – who beat her after she found out she was gay – and then found refuge at the New Union Hotel.
She was one of the founders of the first women’s refuge outside London, and helped organise a monumental march against Clause 28 in the 1980s. The 73-year-old is now chair of Irwell Valley Homes residents group, and she advocates for the LGBT community – in particular for older LGBT people – whose needs are overlooked in housing and care planning.
She said: “I was shocked and overwhelmed to win the Pride of Manchester Award.
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“Experiencing such misery in my youth is what drove me to make a world a better place.”
Paul Redfern
TSB Community Spirit Award
Paul Redfern leads a group of lifesaving bikers – Blood Bikes Manchester – who deliver vital blood supplies where they are most urgently needed to hospitals.
He set up the group 2012 after losing his right leg in a serious motorbike accident aged 18 and having his life saved by an emergency blood transfusion. Last year, his team of volunteers saved local NHS and hospice services around £340,000 after completing 18 emergency runs, 564 urgent runs, and 680 non urgent and routine sample runs on their bikes.
Paul said he was “delighted” with his award.
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Jim Nicholas
Fundraiser of the Year
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
DJ and Elvis impersonator Jim Nicholas has raised an impressive amount for Francis House Children’s Hospice.
Retired Jim – who worked as Head Gardener for the Bishop of Salford – has been performing in pubs and clubs for more than half a century, and over the past 25 years, he has put out a collection box during his shows at hundreds of venues across Greater Manchester and beyond.
In that time, delighted audiences have donated more than £200,000.
Joseph Hibbert
Young Fundraiser
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Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
10-year-old Joseph Hibbert from Cheadle Hulme has raised more than £32,000 for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital since he was just three, and hopes to raise another £10,000 when he and his friends climb Kinder Scout – the highest point in the Peak District – next year.
His Mum Shelley said: “It’s been a difficult few months with the pandemic, but I do think that doing good inspires other people to do good things too”.
Marcus Rashford
Special Recognition Award
Wythenshawe-born Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has won a Special Recognition Award for his remarkable campaign to #EndChildFoodPoverty
The 22-year-old convinced government ministers to make the u-turn on plans to end free school meals over the summer, which resulted in around 200,000 disadvantaged children being able to access food and support during the break.
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He continues to speak openly on the urgent issue on social media and in various media appearances.
Maggie Oliver
Special Recognition Award
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
Maggie Oliver – former Greater Manchester Police Detective – became a fearless whistleblower who exposed catastrophic failures to protect child victims of grooming gangs.
She bravely spoke out after Operation Augusta – a widespread investigation into a suspected grooming network – was dropped in the mid-00s, where eight of the potential suspects went on to rape or abuse other women and girls. In January this year, Maggie was vindicated by a damning independent review – which found police and social services knew girls were being abused, but failed to protect them – and that Operation Augusta had been shut down, because police were not prepared to commit resources to it.
Speaking of her award, Maggie said: “After all the doom and gloom it was much needed.
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“I was totally overwhelmed and it feels fantastic to be appreciated with this award.”
Dr Gerry O’Shea
Special Recognition Award
Pride of Manchester Awards 2020
GP Gerry O’Shea has been treating homeless people in the city for more than 20 years.
He does so from The Urban Village medical practice in Ancoats, where around 750 homeless patients have registered there, using the address of the practice.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Gerry took a decision to open his surgery to people who are homeless here in the city of Manchester. He gives them help, vital healthcare, support to get off the street, but more than that, treats them with dignity and respect.”
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Review | Some of the most fun you can have at a theatre – Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestrax
Danny Jones
On Wednesday night, we did something we hadn’t done in a long time: we went to a concert almost completely blind and walked in without having heard a single second – because how many times in life are you going to get the chance to say you’ve seen Jeff Goldblum music live in Manchester?
We can comfortably say it wasn’t just one of our favourite shows of the year so far, but it might be one of the best decisions we’ve made, maybe ever…
Honestly, there’s not even a whiff of exaggeration in that statement; within minutes of the headline date starting, a long, hard day suddenly melted away in the smooth, sultry, stylish and unapologetically silly atmosphere created by Jeff Goldblum and the truly wonderful Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.
For starters, we were pleasantly surprised to see ‘Bonnie Scotland’s very own Liverpool-based singer-songwriter, Brooke Combe, opening up for the man himself, whose soulful, 1960s, 70s and Motown influences made for a perfect fit to warm up the crowd.
With the North West favourite – who we recently caught once again at NBHD Weekender late last month – even getting a perhaps initially hesitant and very possibly more Theatre-leaning audience inside the Palace to relax with some fun vocals excercises and Scottish banter, we were off to the races.
But in truth, this show turned out to be so much more than we were expecting – and by that we don’t mean when Brooke joined him on stage for a spell and had him try his first Irn-Bru…
In our heads, we were kind of expecting to see Goldblum, 73, playing his beloved piano as other members of the jazz band got to enjoy a few moments centre-stage as those who sat watching admired their sheer technical ability.
Where we actually landed was somewhere between a live and just the right amount of chaotic stream-of-consciousness stand-up show, interlaced with a series of effortlessly charming and loose bits of crowdwork as if he were compèring, and, of course, the incredibly cool musical arrangements.
It may not have been entirely free-form (it’s clear that a lot of time, effort and tireless rehearsal go into this shindig), but it did have the feeling that things were unfolding organically as the night went on, the perfect example being specifically for Manchester, with each local reference getting a rousing reception.
His latest LP is going down a treat with the critics in the early reviews, too, and having now heard a few samples, we’re not surprised.
As Jeff said at the top of the show, the best bit about this music is watching these marvellous musicians effectively jamming and playing call and response, not only with each other but you down below – not to mention with the man himself vamping over the top and enjoying plenty of solos on the keys.
Aside from crowd-pleasing arrangements of contemporary and well-known tracks like ‘Lover’ by Taylor Swift and even his own bittersweet and oh-so-gentle take on ‘Over The Rainbow’, it felt not just like an intro to some cult favourites from within the genre, but a serviceable broad-strokes education at times.
Personally, we’ve always liked to think of ourselves as open to anything, sonically, albeit fairly limited when it comes to jazz, but we left feeling like we knew more about the mechanics and flow of a jazz gig than ever; we’re now eager to learn more and dive deeper into the syllabus curated by this superfan.
One very special mention also has to go to session singer Khailah Johnson, who recently shone in the & Juliet production on Broadway and is now currently on tour with Jeff on his Night Blooms run.
Believe us, she’s not merely performing ‘beside’ anyone; when you have a voice and presence that’s so big and has such range that you generate enough star-power for people to genuinely forget that a Hollywood actor is there right next to you, you KNOW you’re beyond talented. Simply spellbinding.
The whole crew had a lovely, laid-back quality that was just infectious. (Credit: Lucy Elson-Whittaker)
And then we have the A-lister himself, who clearly doesn’t only have the gift of the jab and a natural penchant for pageantry, but looks so at home up there that we would happily trade ever seeing him in a film again if it meant we could have the next few decades watching him be the live showman that he is.
For anyone who feared Jeff Goldblum’s music career might just be a famous bloke indulging himself in a side project and cashing in on fandom simply because he can, fret not: this man has as much passion, love and aptitude for jazz and this particular side of showbiz as any role we’ve seen him play, if not more.
Whether it be playing movie trivia games with those in the stalls, thanking fans he bumped into at his hotel, or inviting people there for a special occasion backstage, he ticked almost every box you could have asked for, from the cabaret vibes and Jurassic Park puns to simply playing his socks off.
The new album that gives its name to this current slate of live shows is much more than a play on words. Be it the soft and warm hues of the coloured spotlights, the off-the-cuff comedy interludes, or even the pure giggle-fits in the audience, the Palace Theatre was bursting with joy, life and vibrancy.
We sincerely hope Jeff Goldblum has grown as fond of the city as he claims, and that we get to watch him play a Manchester venue every year.
Transfers: Manchester United reportedly in the race for Rafael Leao as asking price is revealed
Danny Jones
In the latest transfer news coming out of Manchester, Man United are reportedly set to make the first move in an effort to sign Serie A star Rafael Leao after AC Milan are said to have ‘offered’ the wantaway winger to Premier League rivals Arsenal.
After being linked with MUFC on and off in the past, this could shape up to be a tasty tug of war if all rumours are to be believed.
But a recent interview by Leao may have pricked up ears over at Old Trafford and Carrington:
Do you think there are some hints being dropped here?…
Speaking to London-born and now Manchester-headquartered (interesting…) streetwear and jewellery brand Cernucci on their new podcast, the Portuguese international confessed to presenter Fred Buckley that he spent much of his childhood watching Man United, and still does to this day.
While he also admitted he likes Arsenal, adding even more fuel to the fire of the links with the Gunners, he also named Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol; either way, the ‘Rossoneri’ are believed to be asking for between £43-50 million for the former Sporting and Lille player.
A teammate of his with the national squad and having starred for major European sides, winning silverware – a Serie A title and Italian Super Cup, as well as a UEFA Nations League with Portugal – he’s evidently looking to try and emulate his fellow compatriots’ success moving forward.
Now 26 years old, he’s at a crucial juncture in his career, and despite being criticised for his work rate and efforts off the ball at times, not to mention blowing somewhat hot and cold in and around a fair few injury problems, the next big money move feels almost inevitable as he approaches his ‘prime’ years.
As you can see, many Milan fans have seemingly turned on him already after he made his plans to depart rather publicly, which has also seen him pop up on the radar of several other Champions League competitors this summer.
One such alternative suitor outside of English football is Galatasaray, with multiple Italian and Turkish outlets claiming that the club are the only team to be drawing up a ‘formal proposal’ thus far.
Journalist Matteo Moretto does state, however, that no official offer has been made as yet.
Emily Sergeant -
1st October 2020 
