A Manchester-based charity aiming to “fight food poverty and loneliness” will continue to provide free takeaway meals to people in need in during lockdown.
And this week, it’s also launching a ‘Cook & Collect’ and takeaway service too.
FoodCycle – a national charity which, under normal circumstances, has volunteers who take surplus food and turn it into nutritious community meals, with the aim of reducing food waste, food poverty and tackling social isolation – found that during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 68% of its guests across the country worry that they can’t afford to live and rely on FoodCycle’s weekly meals alone.
Research also showed that 80% of FoodCycle guests who attended with children said they have skipped meals this year because they could not afford or access food, and 75% also admitted that they experienced loneliness.
This is why – as vital service providing food and conversation to thousands of people every week across the country – FoodCycle projects can still legally operate and remain open.
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As with other takeaway services, and with additional COVID-19 policies and procedures already in place, under the new regulations for England’s third national lockdown, FoodCycle can continue to provide much-needed food to local communities.
FoodCycleFoodCycle
Speaking on the decision to keep services running, Mary McGrath MBE – CEO of FoodCycle says: “Our number one priority will always be the safety and welfare of our guests and volunteers and we will continue to work with our teams, volunteers and venues to maintain our high standards and keep everyone as safe as possible while delivering this vital service to vulnerable people across the country.”
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Under the new national lockdown restrictions, FoodCycle guests can continue to collect nutritious food for themselves and their households, and those unable to visit their local FoodCycle project due to self-isolating or shielding can ask a friend, neighbour or family member to collect on their behalf legally under the “reasonable excuse” category.
Those who fall under the category of critically vulnerable, or have been told to shield can also access extra provision through NHS Responders as part of the Check-in and Chat service.
Created in April 2020 in reaction to the first national lockdown, Foodcycle’s Check-in and Chat service is also open and is helping to combat the rising issue of social isolation during the pandemic by having volunteers call guests for a weekly natter.
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A FoodCycle guest who has made good use of the service said: “It makes me very happy that FoodCycle are still looking out for people and caring for the community during this time.”
In the past 365 days our volunteers dished out the equivalent of 475,000 meals to the vulnerable and saved over 200 tons of surplus food through a global pandemic, smiling despite face masks and social distancing
FoodCycle Manchester is currently operating its new project from The Inspire Centre in Levenshulme, and is also due to launch its weekly ‘Cook & Collect’ service on 14th January from 7.30pm – 8.30pm too.
You can find more information from the FoodCycle website here.
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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 -
13th January 2021 
