A young girl from Oldham has successfully completed a five-mile scooter ride this week to raise money for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Freya McKechnie wanted to do something to thank “the place that took Millie’s tubes away”.
After her “special new friend” Millie was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool shortly after being born to receive life-saving treatment, the five-year-old from Delph in Saddleworth decided she wanted to say thank you in her own special way.
So she set out on a mission to ride her scooter for five miles – one mile for every year of her age.
With a little help from her mum Jenny – who is the best friend of Millie’s mum – Freya first put out an appeal for donations to her charity scooter ride on social media, with a beautifully hand-written poster reading: “I am raising money for Alder Hey who looked after my friend Millie. I’m going to ride my scooter for five miles on 22nd December.
“Miracle baby” Millie – who was born at North Manchester Hospital – is now nine weeks old and is spending Christmas at home with her family in Middleton.
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Her mother Jenni Burrows-Maynard relived the unfolding drama after her baby’s birth, explaining: “Millie was struggling to breathe. I then haemorrhaged and lost over a litre of blood [so] she was taken to ICU and was intubated, but despite [staff] doing all they could, they didn’t have the facilities to help Millie and she had had limited oxygen for a prolonged period, which could impact on her neurological functionality.
“Her only option was ECMO – extracorpóreal membrane oxygenation – also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS).
“It is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequate amount of gas exchange or perfusion to sustain life.
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“Eight hours hours after Millie was born she was transported to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool and was on ECMO for six days. Once she was weaned off ECMO and stable she was then transferred Royal Oldham Hospital where she spent three weeks in their neonatal intensive care unit and then their nursery.
“She was discharged initially with a feeding tube, but now she is a healthy and chatty baby.”
Freya’s mum Jenny McKechnie added: “Freya’s not daft, she knew something was wrong and she’s followed all my texts and calls with Millie’s mum.
“When she found out people had been raising money on Millie behalf, she wanted to do the same.”
After being inspired to help, Freya admitted she’d “quite like to raise one hundred million pennies” for hospital staff, but her mum said they would be “eternally grateful” to anyone who is able to donate “a couple of quid”.
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Jenny set up a PayPal account to securely accept donations, as well as taking personal contributions from people they knew.
Her friends and family also chipped in by holding raffles and fundraisers.
And so this past Tuesday, Freya set off on her scooter from her home in Delph to Uppermill, riding past her school and then back home again – a distance of around five miles – and has managed to raise a whopping £800 and counting for the worthy cause.
Millie’s mother said: “Freya is an amazing little girl and a wonderful friend to Millie already – what she is doing is wonderful.”
This is just brilliant.
If you would like to donate to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital via Freya’s fundraiser, you can do so here.
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Castlefield is being transformed into Gotham amidst more Hollywood filming in Greater Manchester
Danny Jones
Castlefield, with its iconic viaduct and cobbled streets, is once again being used for big-budget filming as the latest Batman/DC Universe title, Clayface, looks to be setting up in the eye-catching Manc corner.
Whether it’s football kit reveals and brand shoots, BBC dramas or the next upcoming Netflix series, production crews can’t get enough of Castlefield, it would seem.
For those who hadn’t heard, work on the new Clayface movie revolving around the cult favourite Batman villain is well underway, and the North West has been used as the backdrop on multiple ocassions this month already.
You can see early glimpses of the set being put together down below.
Come on, how cool is it that we get to stumble on stuff like this right on our doorstep so often?
Speaking to The Manc, a source detailed that the set is being assembled today (Tuesday, 16 September) ahead of a single day of principal photography on what we can only assume is more Clayface filming sometime tomorrow.
While she could not confirm with us directly, she said, “If you’re a comic book nerd and look at the posters, you’ll be able to figure it out.” We’ve certainly been studying all the easter eggs already.
It might not quite be as dark and gritty as Gotham City, but this particular part of Manchester has been used in TV and film – especially period dramas – many times for good reason.
The Victorian-era steel structure, dark red brick and overall industrial aesthetic work so well when it comes to creating a believable and cinematic world.
Besides perhaps the most famous instance of Peaky Blinders shooting in these parts, you can add multiple music videos, several Manchester United and Man City shirt launches, and so many more that we’re starting to lose track.
As for Clayface, this isn’t even the first time the upcoming DC ‘body-horror’ flick has popped up in Greater Manchester.
Last week saw the equally striking Art Deco facade of the old The Plaza Super Cinema in Stockport turned into a fictional movie premiere to stunning effect:
Speaking of, another childhood favourite is filming here in Manchester right now, too.
Besides perhaps the most famous instance of Peaky Blinders shooting in these parts, the new Narnia adaptation by Greta Gerwig may just be one of the biggest projects that has ever landed underneath the familiar ‘birdcage’.
ln fact, it just so happens that there are actually multiple noteworthy small and silver screen works fighting over the Castlefield shooting schedule at the moment…
Manchester City staff member sacked after wearing Man United shirt to shift
Danny Jones
Man City have divided a fair few supporters after they sacked a barman for wearing a United shirt to their shift during the Manchester derby.
Although it’s not exactly surprising, the decision has ruffled plenty of feathers on both sides, as well as among neutral fans.
The Blues emerged victorious in the 197th clash between the two local rivals, winning 3-0 on an evening that paid tribute to the late, great Ricky Hatton, but another backstory looming over the fixture that caught the attention of football fans online was the City staff member who lost his job.
Working on concessions inside the Etihad Stadium before the game, the barman was made known to the official MCFC Matchday Support channel on X, who quickly confirmed he had been let go before the game even began.
In the since-deleted post, the home fan who reported the worker wrote: “Absolute joke – letting one of the bar staff in block 315 wear a United shirt on Derby Day.”
Although many City fans applauded the fast action by the club on the day, it’s fair to say that sacking him so soon that he didn’t even last until kick-off has rubbed many others the wrong way.
One Liverpool fan commented: “I hate United way more than City, but to sack him from a job because of an item of clothing is crazy. So, so poor from Manchester City, this. It’s just football lads, he’s not wearing a political or derogatory symbol. It’s literally a football team…”
Another neutral added: “Getting a minimum wage worker sacked for having a bit of fun instead of just winding him up is the absolute sad state this country is in.”
Even the ‘Out Of Context Football Manager‘ parody account chipped in, writing: “The guy’s been sacked for this. All he needed was a formal warning. I get he’s taking the p*ss – but losing a salary he might really need over this?!
While many have been even more outspoken in their response, as you can see, many supporters – be they Red or otherwise – have come up with arguably the perfect solution:
Manchester City are yet to comment on the backlash, apart from the initial confirmation that the still-anonymous staff member has been released from his position, but as for Man United, simply sticking him on the kiosks in the Stretford End could prove to be a very easy bit of positive PR.
Besides the growing frustration around the fanbase, as Ruben Amorim has yet to turn things around at Old Trafford (pressure was growing even before the derby day defeat), the Red Devils could no doubt do with some positive press for a change.
In fact, it was only earlier this year that co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, CEO Omar Berrada and the wider INEOS Sports administration sanctioned a second round of redundancies at United, with approximately 450 individuals losing their jobs.
That being said, although some have labelled the sacking of the now ex-City barman as “absolutely horrendous behaviour” for Man City, many jumped to quip back that “[United are] more likely to sack more bar staff, not hire them”, as well as simultaneously taking aim at their significant transfer spending.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd December 2020 
