An “inspirational” charity initiative backed by residents and famous names in Greater Manchester has donated the equivalent of 10,000 meals to foodbanks in the region.
As part of the now-viral #NoWasteofSpace campaign – which was created by electric car brand, Polestar, after staff at the company’s Trafford Centre-based hub in saw Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford’s recent Feeding Britain’s Children documentary and felt inspired to help local residents in need – empty boxes were delivered to unsuspecting residents and celebrities in Greater Manchester, with a request for them to be filled with non-perishable food and personal care items.
A total of 325 food boxes – weighing 2.2 tonnes in total – were donated to FareShare UK hubs in Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
If that wasn’t brilliant enough as it is, the car company then matched the public’s donations kilo-for-kilo and delivered the 4.4 tonnes of supplies via a fleet of ten Polestar 2 models – which would have otherwise sat idle due to the Trafford Centre remaining closed to the public until its planned reopening next month – earlier this week.
As well as hundreds of residents taking part in the campaign, Manchester comedian Jason Manford and actress Emma Samms were among some of the celebrities to fill up boxes, while Manchester United player Victor Lindelöf, Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and Chelsea F.C Women players Pernile Harder and Magdalena Eriksson all dug deep for the cause.
“We could never have envisaged the incredible response this campaign received,” Jonathan Goodman, Head of Polestar UK, said.
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“And the generosity of all who took part is truly heart-warming,”
“In 2021 it’s awful to think that some of the nation’s most vulnerable are having to go without basic items, so I’m glad the Manchester team were able to use our resources to help such a worthy cause”.
Polestar Manchester
Miranda Kaunang – Head of Development at FareShare Greater Manchester – added: “The COVID-19 crisis has been particularly challenging for those we work with, so Polestar’s #NoWasteofSpace campaign is particularly timely [and] the efforts of the Polestar Manchester team while they wait to re-open has generated an incredible response.
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“With over 10,000 meals donated through their initiative, this campaign will make a real difference to those in need”.
Polestar added that it would continue to use its resources to help worthy causes in the local community and hinted that more plans for the #NoWasteofSpace campaign in store for the rest of the year, with Jonathan Goodman adding: “We’re looking forward to continuing this effort once the Trafford Centre has re-opened, working with the other retailers and centre management to support the community around our latest space”.
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Polestar Manchester is due to re-open at the Trafford Centre in accordance with government guidelines on 12th April 2021, at the earliest.
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Kirstie Allsopp threw a banana skin at a driver in Stockport in littering row
Daisy Jackson
TV personality Kirstie Allsopp has admitted that she threw a banana skin at a driver in Stockport after she caught them littering.
In a furious rant on Twitter, the Location, Location, Location star said that she ‘leapt out of the car’ in order to pick up the fruity peel that was thrown out of another car window.
She then lobbed it straight back into the car, at the littering offender.
Saying that she’s been ‘horrified’ by the state of litter across the UK, Kirstie detailed the incident from her visit to Stockport.
Kirstie said: “In the last few weeks, travelling around the UK, I’ve been horrified by how bad roadside litter has become. Why is litter so much worse, who thinks chucking an empty red bull, for example, out of a moving car is acceptable?
“Last week in Stockport a banana skin flew out of the window of the car in front, we were at [traffic lights] and I was a passenger so I leapt out of the car, picked it up and threw it back into the car, the driver just threw it back out again.
In the last few weeks, travelling around the UK, I’ve been horrified by how bad roadside litter has become. Why is litter so much worse, who thinks chucking an empty red bull, for example, out of a moving car is acceptable? Last week in Stockport a banana skin flew
“But that’s not how to solve the problem. What is the solution…… £££ fines? In some places police take litter very seriously, I don’t feel that in the UK though. Closing roads to clear the litter? This would inconvenience us all, but would be a reminder of the cost of litter. Asking roadside landowners to clear their patch? What do you think?”
She later added: “I have a pet theory on this, I think a lot of litter is guilty eating, people consuming things they know they shouldn’t, and not wanting to dispose of the evidence at home.”
One fan replied to her: “Ohh you have been to my neck of the woods i have wrote to Stockport Council several times about cleaning all this litter up and there answer was ‘yes we are rotared to do a clear up in May’, i said ‘how about every month’, they replied ‘we do a clear up once a year only’. I just laughed.”
Yes, it’s true – in what is news that admittedly sounds fake, but somehow actually isn’t, one of the best rappers of all time has revealed himself to be an avid watcher of Britain’s longest-running soap, and is such a fan of it, in fact, that he said he’s “determined” to make an appearance on it sometime in the future.
The iconic ITV soap – which is set in the fictional Manchester suburb of Weatherfield, and celebrated an impressive 60 years of entertaining the masses back in 2020 – currently averages around six million viewers per episode, and has developed a well-deserved legion of loyal fans over the last six decades.
And it turns out, one of those loyal fans is chart-topping rap superstar Snoop Dogg.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun this week, the 51-year-old first spoke about how he’s “down to perform” at King Charles III‘s Coronation in a couple of months time, before he launching into how much he loves another type of coronation.
“Coronation Street, I love it,” the 17-time Grammy Award nominee admitted.
Snoop Dogg says he’s a massive Coronation Street fan / Credit: ITV / The Manc Group
“If they call me I’ll do it. I’ll play whenever they need. I love the cinematography, acting, the storylines and just the reality.
“I’d like to be a part of it because they’ve been a part of my culture.”
As bizarre as it all sounds, this surprisingly isn’t the first time the rapper – whose real name is Calvin Broadus Jr – has publicly revealed he’s a fan of the soap, and even famously admitted all the way back in 2010 that he had his agent get in touch with ITV to see if there was any chance he could make an appearance.
“I had my agent reach out to them to see if they could try to get me on and they said they were interested so hopefully it might happen,” Snoop told the BBC.
“It would be perfect for me to be on the show.”
The chart-topping rapper says he’s ‘determined’ to get a role on it / Credit: ITV
The Drop It Like It’s Hot and The Next Episode rapper isn’t the only famous name who’s revealed himself to be a fan of Coronation Street in recent months.
One of the greatest and most well-respected singer songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan, also admitted in an interview with WSJ back in December 2022 that he loves binge-watching the soap.
Dylan explained that that he’s “no fan of packaged programs or news shows”, and that the ITV soap makes him “feel at home” despite being “old-fashioned”.
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2021 
