Locals in Bolton have been raising funds to carry out repair works to a bench after it was damaged in a road traffic collision.
This isn’t just any ordinary bench though.
What makes this bench – affectionately known as ‘Tommy’s Bench’ – so special, is that it’s often sat on by Bolton’s very own ‘waving man’.
Tommy Halliday has been sitting on the bench – which is found on the junction of Smithills Dean Road and Scout Road in the Greater Manchester borough of Bolton – for the past four years after his wife sadly passed away, and can often be found smiling and waving at those passing by.
The beloved community figure is often credited with “bringing a smile to people’s faces” at all times of the day.
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And it was this joy that prompted locals to set up an online fundraiser via JustGiving in his name with the kind-hearted intention of buying Tommy a Christmas present “to show him how much we all support and appreciate what he does”.
Wahid Khan, who set up the fundraiser, said: “Tommy is a Bolton legend.”
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“He is on the bench seven days a week come rain or shine. Every morning on the way to work, I always see Tommy sat on the bench.”
“I do not think he knows how much Bolton appreciates him.”
He continued: “With everything that’s going on in the world, it would be great to buy him a Christmas present.” and it was clear that the people of Bolton shared in this wish, as the fundraiser quickly went on to raise hundreds of pounds towards a gift for Tommy, however on Tuesday, in an un-expected event, the bench was destroyed in a road traffic collision.
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This is when the community really rallied around.
Mr Khan encouraged those who had a few pounds to spare to donate towards helping to repair / replace the bench, and within the same day, the bench had been repaired and bolted-down by the Bolton Impact Trust, with the addition of a new plaque honouring ‘Tommy’s bench’.
Writing in an update on the JustGiving page, Mr Khan said: “Just got the news that the amazing kids from the construction team at Bolton Impact Trust have managed to repair the old bench and it’s just waiting to be cemented before the plaques go on.
“Money raised will go towards a much-needed shelter and Christmas present.
“I absolutely love our community – this is brilliant”.
The JustGiving page for ‘Our Tommy’ has now raised over £1,995 towards Tommy’s Christmas present fund and you can donate here.
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Manchester City announced signing of top Premier League defender Marc Guehi
Danny Jones
It looks like they’ve finally got a done deal: Manchester City have finally announced the transfer of highly sought-after defender Marc Guehi.
Man City reached an agreement with Crystal Palace to sign the increasingly established Three Lions star after emerging as a suitor in recent weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s pursuit of the impressive Premier League centre-back ramped up earlier this month, as it became apparent that they were hoping to hijack Liverpool’s prospective move for Guehi.
The Ivory Coast-born England international looked all set to arrive at Anfield back in the summer, but the deal never materialised, and now rivals City have sealed his signature instead.
Finally confirmed and fully announced on Monday, 19 January, Palace and Man City are said to have reached an agreement in principle for a base fee of approximately £20 million.
However, rumoured add-ons are thought take that total closer to £30m; either way, it’s fair to say that it’s an absolute bargain for a player of his quality.
On the other hand, the acquisition will also see Man City’s total spending reach roughly half a billion pounds over the past year alone. Staggering sums for any sporting outfit.
Not that his former London team will mind one bit, of course, as it became increasingly clear that Guehi would be leaving eventually; manager Oliver Glasner – who also seems set to depart at the end of his contract – even addressed the sale ahead of completion in a recent press conference.
Guehi will wear the number 15 shirt for Man City and has penned a deal until 2031.
With Man City currently facing multiple absences, particularly in their backline with both Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias out injured, Guehi’s arrival is no doubt a welcome one.
Although many debated whether or not Pep needed to sign another centre-half, especially with two promising youth players returning from loan, supporters will nevertheless be glad to have snatched him from the clutches of Liverpool.
Over in the women’s team, they’ve also brought in a new member of the squad who could help spur on their title charge.
Can you see any more deals being down befor the end of the window?
New survey reveals half of Mancs have already given up their new year’s resolutions
Emily Sergeant
We’re into our third week of 2026 now, and according to a new survey, half of Mancs have already ditched their new year’s resolutions.
New year’s resolutions are always made with the best intentions, and it’s not like we intentionally set ourselves up to fail with them, but more often than not, that tends to be the case – and now a new survey of 1,000 Brits carried out over the past few weeks has found that 35% of us have already admitted to giving them up.
That percentage rises to a whopping 50% when narrowed down to the people of Greater Manchester.
Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, and Glasgow are the other four major cities joining Manchester in the top five list of people in each area that have stopped their 2026 challenge early.
Half of Mancs have apparently already given up their new year’s resolutions / Credit: PICRYL | Pexels
On the other end of the spectrum, it’s the cities of Southampton, Newcastle, and Edinburgh that are staying strong, with just 25%, 26% and 26% giving their new year’s resolutions up respectively, and some of the other northern cities on the list including Liverpool and Leeds.
According to new research from greetings card marketplace, Thortful, more than half of Brits (53%) expect to give up within the first three months of the year – with the hustle of busy schedules, work commitments, families, and social activities being given as reasons why.
When it comes to the reasons people provided for why they’ve given their resolutions up this year, lack of discipline tops the list at 43%, followed by just being too busy to consider them at 21%, and different mental or physical barriers in third place, as well as a change of personal circumstances and a lack of money also cited.
The majority of people cited a lack of discipline as being the reason they gave up / Credit: Andrea Piacquadio (via Pexels)
Looking forward to next year, it seems many of us want to reframe how we set our new year’s resolutions in the future.
According to the research, 32% of respondents want to ‘improve their existing qualities rather than set an unrealistic challenge’ next time around, and 16% ‘feel like there’s social pressure to change in the new year’, when in reality, they ‘don’t have to’.
Emily Sergeant -
26th October 2020 
