Jack Grealish has surprised a young visually impaired fan by sending him a signed shirt and a personalised letter written in braille.
It’s fair to say that the Birmingham-born footballer has had quite the eventful week.
After playing an important part in winning the Champions League to help Manchester City complete the historic treble, the 27-year-old went on to properly let his hair down and celebrate in style at the team’s trophy parade, with his entertaining antics being shared all across social media, all before reporting for international duty with England only a few days later.
But even with his busy schedule, Grealish is known for always making time for his fans – as 10-year-old Ralph Mullineaux was lucky enough to find out last week.
The budding para footballer from Cornwall – who is severely visually impaired, and has recently starred in a TV advert for charity Guide Dogs – calls the Manchester City and England winger his “hero”, and admits that he even regularly wears his hair scraped back in a hairband like Grealish so that he can “be just like him”.
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As Ralph’s mum Georgina explained in a social media post, the youngster “really loves how Grealish understands disability”, especially as the footballer often “celebrates” and shares how much of an inspiration his younger sister, Hollie – who has cerebral palsy – is to him.
Jack Grealish with his younger sister Hollie, who has cerebral palsy / Credit: Jack Grealish (via Instagram)
Grealish is notably an ambassador for the Special Olympics, as well as being a long-time supporter of the Saving Lives and Children in Need charities.
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In a bid to let the footballer know how much of a role model he is to him and other young fans everywhere, Ralph decided to send a letter to Grealish written braille – and to his surprise, Grealish sent a personalised letter back, along with a signed Manchester City shirt.
The brilliant moment Ralph received the letter and shirt was caught on camera and shared to Instagram.
“Thank you so much to man of the moment who’s sent Ralph a signed shirt and a personalised letter,” Ralph’s mum Georgina wrote on Instagram.
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“Grealish is Ralph’s hero. Ralph wears his hair like Jack so he can be just like him… Ralph sent Jack a letter in Braille telling him how much of an amazing role model he is. As Ralph has a visual impairment, he really loves how Grealish understands disability and celebrates his sister who has cerebral palsy.
“Ralph was beyond thrilled to get a reply from his favourite footballer, and for it to be in braille, is just so special.
“It’s so nice to see how inclusive and kind Jack and Manchester City can be.”
It seems that the signed shirt and personalised letter from Grealish is just one of a handful of amazing things to have happened to Ralph already in 2023, as Georgina revealed that the 10-year-old has also been accepted onto the England Para Football VI Pathway programme, as well as becoming the star of a TV advert for Guide Dogs – which is a charity that has “helped him so much”.
After all his achievements so far this year, Ralph’s mum has admitted she is “so proud of him”.
8 million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year, new research finds
Emily Sergeant
Millions of Brits are predicted to use AI to help them write their Christmas cards this year.
According to some new Royal Mail research, AI is most likely to be used for researching gifts (19%), festive party ideas (13%), and decoration inspiration (13%) throughout this festive season, but in what is a revelation many will find surprising – and even alarming – it’ll even be used for the timeless tradition of sending Christmas cards.
2,000 UK adults who celebrate Christmas were surveyed by the postal service early last month on how they plan to make use of technology this festive season.
The new research found that 11% of respondents will be using AI to help write the messages for their Christmas cards, which works out to be around eight million people.
It’s the under-55s who are driving the trend, as you can probably imagine – with 57% of this age group planning to lean on AI for guidance, compared to just 14% of those over 55.
Oh, and you’ll want to keep an extra eye on the Christmas cards that come from the men in your life too, as men are 67% more likely than women to use AI to help them.
Eight million Brits are predicted to write their Christmas cards using AI this year / Credit: KoolShooters
Although it may be largely frowned upon, it’s fairly easy to see why people are turning to tech to find the right words, as the Royal Mail’s research found that nearly one in five (19%) Brits say they don’t know what to write in cards, and this figure rises even further to 31% when it comes to 18-24-year-olds.
Despite the use of AI as a helping hand, three quarters of Brits (74%) do still think it’s important to keep the tradition of sending handwritten Christmas cards alive.
“AI is becoming part of everyday life for many people,” says technology journalist and broadcaster, Georgie Barrat. “So it’s natural we’ll see it used during the festive season. When it comes to writing cards, it can help you go beyond a simple ‘Merry Christmas’ and choose words that feel more unique.
“Often, people know what they want to say – they just need a little help expressing it.”
Richard Travers, who is the Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail, concluded: “No matter what you include in your card, or how you choose to write your message, cards are truly a way of spreading festive cheer.”
Featured Image – Richard Bell (via Unsplash)
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Manchester’s 2025 Christmas Parade in pictures as tens of thousands turn out for festive event
Emily Sergeant
Tens of thousands of residents flocked to the city centre this past weekend for Manchester’s annual Christmas Parade.
Over the past few years since it first took place in 2022, Manchester Christmas Parade has become a festive favourite with both locals and visitors alike, and with more than 400 participants and performers gracing the city’s main shopping streets this year, it’s really not hard to see why it’s a much-loved fixture in the city’s countdown to Christmas.
Seen by many as the heartwarming event of the festive season, Manchester Christmas Parade was even ‘bigger and better’ than last year’s fantastic crowdpleaser.
Even a drop of the classic Manchester rain didn’t stop play on the day, as the fabulous festive Parade made its way through the packed city streets to the smiles and cheers of all those watching.
Despite the Manchester weather, tens of thousands of you turned out to make Sunday’s Christmas Parade truly magical. 🎅 👼 🥁
A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for the heart-warming event of the season.
“I remember thinking at the end of our fabulous Manchester Christmas Parade last year that we would never be able to top it,” commented Cllr Pat Karney, Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson. “But this year’s parade has been off-the-scale brilliant – it was so much fun and you could see how much all the children loved it.
“The city centre was heaving, it felt like millions of Mancs had turned out for the parade, and what a performance we put on for them.”
The streets were filled with music and laughter this year, as well as the return of Manchester’s very-own Elf Express, complete with VIP passenger Santa hitching a ride on his way to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
Tens of thousands of people turned out for Manchester Christmas Parade 2025 this past weekend / Credit: Manchester City Council
Not only that, but Nutcracker-inspired toy soldiers also sweept their way through the Parade on segways, alongside a roaming Christmas tree, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer, a stunning arctic fox, and Jack Frost himself.
Brand-new for this year will be the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle, which stood over three-meters tall and truly was the stuff of fairytales.
“Manchester once again helped make the magic and the memories for a whole generation of families from across the city and beyond,” Cllr Karney concluded.
Emily Sergeant -
19th June 2023 
