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Kids can get a letter from Santa this Christmas with the Royal Mail’s festive service

The Royal Mail has festive service ready for 2020 that's sure to put a smile on kids' faces. If they write a letter to Santa - he'll send one back from the North Pole!

The Manc The Manc - 27th October 2020

We’ve been warned that Christmas won’t be the same this year.

Social restrictions will probably still be in place when December 25 arrives – meaning there’ll be rules on how many people we’re actually allowed to have around the table.

We may even be discouraged from visiting certain relatives if they live in a different area.

Yep. For us adults, it’s going to be a tricky year. But that doesn’t mean Christmas has to lose its magic for the kids.

The Royal Mail has a delightful festive service up-and-running for 2020 that’s sure to put a smile on youngsters’ faces.

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If they write a letter to Santa – he’ll send one back from Santa’s Grotto!

@mikearney

The Royal Mail ‘Letters to Santa‘ service asks kids to send their post to the ‘Reindeerland’ before Friday 11 December, and Santa will respond with a letter of his own before the big day.

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Parents should ask their children to:

  • Write Santa’s address carefully on the envelope
  • Put a stamp on the envelope so it gets to me
  • Include your full name and address in your letter

All letters should be addressed to Santa/Father Christmas, Santa’s Grotto, Reindeerland, XM4 5HQ.

So, no matter how weird Christmas might seem this year, at least the enchanting festive spirit can at least remain intact.

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Learn more about the Letters to Santa service by visiting the Royal Mail website.

Oh, and the big fella will also be at the Trafford Centre from November, if you fancied meeting him in person.

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‘Hefty’ Foo Fighters ticket prices for surprise Manchester gig divide opinion

Danny Jones Danny Jones Foo Fighters surprise Manchester gig O2 Ritz ticket prices

Foo Fighters fans, gig-goers and all-round music lovers in general have been left up in arms after the legendary American rock band announced some surprise shows in the UK and Ireland – including here in Manchester – as ticket prices have labelled ‘shameful’ by some.

In case you missed the news that sent us here in Manchester and all over the nation into bedlam, Foo Fighters recently revealed they would be playing just a handful of shows up and down the country, all at smaller venues than their usual arena tour dates.

Sharing the news fairly last-minute over the weekend, with tickets going on sale this past Sunday and (shock) selling out almost immediately, many have taken issue with the band’s and/or promoters’ approach to the event.

While lots have revelled in the excitement of a show scheduled for this week being dropped on our laps in the eleventh hour, lots of others feel the price point for the tickets is ‘ridiculous’.

Although they’re not quite on the level of the controversial Oasis/Harry Styles sagas, at £99 including all fees, they’re still up there with the most expensive gig tickets venues like these will ever charge.

Most poignantly, the tickets were sold strictly in person via the box office, with fans queuing up outside a trio of venues.

Taking place at the O2 Ritz, which has a capacity of roughly 1,500, the Foo Fighters’ Manchester date is not only one of the most in-demand gigs, but also promises to be one of their sweatiest – and, apparently, most divisive.

For some, this is a very cool bit of marketing and at least an attempt to curb online ticket touts, plus helping support live music spaces directly; on the other hand, the significant fee remains a sticking point they refuse to move past.

Responding in the comments underneath the post by the Ritz, one person wrote: “That ticket price is f****** disgusting. It’s not costing them f*** all to play there, if Harry Styles can play the Co-op Live for £20 then they should”; another simply added, “99 quid is wild, do better.”

Safe to say it has split opinions across the board.

As you can see, it’s also affected other acts set to play these same rooms this month, too.

Others have also doubted whether the ‘face value exchange’ tactic really works all that much, as a few people on social media reported having already found a number of tickets being listed on resale on certain platforms.

What do you make of artists charging these kinds of prices for exclusive one-off shows like this, or the cost of gig tickets in general these days?

Better yet, did any of you succeed in grabbing tickets to see Foo Fighters at the Ritz here in Manchester this Friday, 27 February?

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Featured Images — Audio North/Publicity picture (via Foo Fighters/O2 Ritz)

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Manchester Sinners actress Wunmi Mosaku scoops BAFTA alongside other ‘surprise’ northern winners

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Wunmi Mosaku wins BAFTA

Manchester-raised actress Wunmi Mosaku was one of the well-deserved winners at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards last night.

Born in the Nigerian city of Zaria to Yoruba parents, Oluwunmi Olapeju Mosaku – known professionally as Wunmi Mosaku – moved to England when she was just a year old, and settled in the Manchester community of Hulme, going on to be educated at Trinity Church of England High School and Xaverian Sixth Form College, before heading off to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London to study acting.

The 39-year-old has been a celebrated actor of the screen for nearly 20 years this year, with some of her most notable roles being in TV series like Vera, Luther, and Lovecraft Country, as well as being a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

But it was for her role as Annie Ryan Coogler’s 2025 hit horror film Sinners that has truly become one of her breakout roles – a role she won the Best Supporting Actress award for at last night’s BAFTAs.

Wunmi was already a BAFTA TV Award winner or her role as Gloria Taylor in the 2016 TV film Damilola, Our Loved Boy, but this was her first win on the Film side, and it was a win that has turned the Best Supporting Actress ‘Oscar race’ into one of the more up-in-the-air categories this Awards Season.

Taking to the stage to accept the award, Wunmi thanked her family, her fellow nominees and co-stars, director, and wider team, as well as explaining what the role of Annie meant to her.

“I found a part of myself in Annie,” she said in her speech. “A part of my hopes, my ancestral power, and connection, parts I thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in. Through her, I deepened my belief in my potential, my capacity to love and hope in the darkest moments of grief.”

Wunmi’s win wasn’t considered the only ‘surprise’ win of the night in the major acting categories either – nor was it the only major win for a northern actor – as the Best Actor in a Leading Role award went to Hull-born actor Robert Aramayo for his role in the 2025 biographical drama film, I Swear, based on the true life story of John Davidson – a Scottish man with severe Tourette’s syndrome, and follows his life at a time when his condition was barely identifiable.

Robert’s win was considered so ‘surprising’ by many given the fact he is not nominated for any of the other major televised award ceremonies this year – including the Oscars – with the two main frontrunners of the season being heavy-hitters being Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo Dicaprio.

Aramayo also took home the EE Rising Star Award, which is voted on for by the British public.

Sean Penn was another shock – but again, well-deserved – winner of the night, taking home Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another, with his win being similar to Wunmi’s in that he is the third winner of the Best Supporting Actor category so far this season.

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Elsewhere in the ceremony, some of the other big winners of the night were One Battle After Another, which scooped Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson, among others, while Hamnet took Best British Film, and the film’s lead Jessie Buckley won Best Actress in Leading Role – with the latter being, arguably, the only expected and predicted acting win of the night.

Featured Image – BAFTA (via YouTube)

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