A Christmas campaign launched by Marcus Rashford and Tom Kerridge to tackle child food poverty has raised almost £200,000.
After the Manchester United and England star – who has first collaborated with the acclaimed TV foodie and two-Michelin Star chef on the ‘National Food Strategy’ earlier last year, the pair teamed up once again to launch the Full Time Meals campaign in aid of the food redistribution charity, FareShare, all the way back in April 2021.
The main aim of the campaign was to get children interested in cooking, and to help families prepare healthy meals on a budget.
As part of the project, Kerridge designed 52 recipes in 2021.
All recipes were available for free via a new video on Instagram every Sunday morning, as well as on recipe cards in supermarkets, schools, and food banks – with a QR code linking to the Full Time Meals social media page.
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Each recipe on the platform was easy to create, with limited equipment needed.
Tortilla pizzas, chicken satay stir fry, fish pie jackets, Mexican style chicken, broccoli & cauliflower cheese, creamy chicken pie, and fish finger butties were just some of the meals featuring on the Full Time Meals channel throughout the year.
This past Christmas, Rashford notably challenged Kerridge to create a Christmas dinner menu that only cost £10, as he said that his family “relied on the local food bank for our Christmas dinner” and he wanted to make it his mission to ensure even those using food vouchers would be able to enjoy something special.
Kerridge devised two healthy festive recipes that could feed six people across two days, on a sum that is relatively affordable for those on a budget.
It was revealed that FairShare distributed the equivalent of 122 million meals in the last financial year, but after having seen its demand double since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Rashford and Kerridge decided to make a special Christmas appeal for public contributions.
It saw people donate nearly £200,000 between 13-31 December.
The #FullTimeMeals Christmas appeal will help us provide 750,000 meals to vulnerable people.
The money raised by public donations will enable FairShare to provide an extra 750,000 meals to people in food poverty across the UK.
Kerridge said that the pair were “super chuffed” at reaching the milestone.
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“You lot really rallied to help families this winter. Absolute legends,” Kerridge added on Twitter.
Featured Image – Full Time Meals
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Manchester favourites hosting a heartwarming festive social for those alone this Christmas
Danny Jones
Beloved Manchester bar and cafe, Haunt, have announced that they will be hosting a special social to spread some much-needed seasonal cheer to those who are spending Christmas apart from their families and/or friends this year.
Wholesome stuff from a wholesome bunch.
That’s right, friendly neighbourhood ghosts Haunt will be putting on a little free shindig for the 2025 festive period in an effort not only to share the typical kindness with locals based in and around the city centre but to help create “a sense of community, no matter what your situation”.
Announcing the completely open-to-the-public Christmas Eve party over the weekend, the team are looking to provide those who might otherwise be lonely or struggle during the holidays with a warm, arms-wide welcome, plus plenty more.
Writing on their social media account this past Sunday, bar manager JJ said: “People, it’s time to connect this Christmas! We will be providing free coffee and sweet treats from 12-5pm on Christmas Eve, as well as some games and workshops.
“We’ve put a lot of work into this, so it would be amazing to see as many of you there as possible! Also need this to reach the people that need an event like this most, so please share and repost.
“As always, look out for your people, I wouldn’t be anywhere without mine – JJ xoxo”
Come on, who doesn’t love seeing heartwarming stuff like this on their feed, especially when it comes to a time of year where so many suffer quietly amid the majority having a good time?
This isn’t the first time they’ve held a pop-up that’s caught our attention in 2025, either; it was only last month that we were surprised to stumble on a mini padel court in the middle of the room.
Once again, there’ll be brews and fresh bakes, as well as plenty of other activities to keep people entertained on the night.
As described in their post, Christmas can be tough for a lot of people, and if they can make even just one person looking for some kindness and companionship feel better for a few hours this year, then they’ll have done above and beyond their job.
It goes without saying that we love seeing local businesses taking the social and community side of their work like this to heart and putting in serious effort to make a difference.
Well done to JJ, the Chosen Family support group, and everyone at Haunt for setting this up; if you know anyone who might be interested in coming along, please do pass on the information.
You can grab your free tickets via Eventbrite right HERE, and maybe we’ll see some of you there.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Haunt (via Instagram)
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The full lineup for the Strictly Live tour has been revealed
Danny Jones
Yes, ballroom lovers, it’s here: the full lineup of dancers for the ‘Strictly Come Dancing Live’ tour has finally and officially been revealed.
It feels like fans have been waiting ages to find out the entire roster for the Strictly Live tour next year, with only limited waves having been released thus far.
However, the patience has paid off, and we now know who’ll be starring both on the stage and on down on the floors of some of Britain’s most beloved venues, including our very own AO Arena.
You can see the latest raft of additions down below.
As you can see, the final four couples who complete the next Strictly Live tour lineup for 2026 are social media personality George Clarke, Emmerdale face Lewis Cope, former footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, and another actor in Layton Williams.
This quality quartet will be paired up with Alexis Warr, Katya Jones, Lauren Oakley and Nikita Kuzmin, respectively; it has already been confirmed that much-loved trio Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood will be returning as judges, with Janette Manrara remaining as host.
Strictly‘s still ongoing season – the 23rd in the show’s history – is due to conclude this weekend, following the final on Saturday night (20 December), and it remains to be seen which of the current cast will be crowned champion, with several of those above and below now signed up for the live tour.
The rest of the Strictly Live dancers for 2026 here:
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey aka ‘Nitro’
Alex Kingston
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Balvinder Sopal
George Clarke
La Voix
Chris Robshaw
Ellie Goldstein
Thomas Skinner
Vicky Pattison
Stefan Dennis
Ross King
Karen Carney
Lewis Cope
Amber Davies
It isn’t guaranteed that each of these contestants will be taking part in EVERY single one of the tour dates, but either way, you’ve still got ‘The Professionals’ to come next spring, too.
The annual Strictly Come Dancing UK tour has become a firm fan favourite, not only among die-hard viewers of the BBC show but lovers of live entertainment in general.
Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and others confirmed the dates for their live shows earlier this year, with the AO set to host the two days’ worth of moves across Saturday, 31 January and Sunday, 1 February.
Hosting both normal evening shows as well as matinee slots, it’s simply up to you at what time of day you fancy panto-booing Craig…
If you’re interested in securing tickets for the typically fabulous festivals, you can grab yours HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
6th January 2022 
