A volunteer from Oldham who has given her time and skills to good causes for more than 60 years has received a prestigious award.
Barbara Heywood has been given a Platinum Champions award by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) for her volunteering excellence after she started lending a hand at homeless charity Emmaus back in 2011, and has been offering her services each week within the charity’s social enterprise and community since then.
Barbara has mostly given her time to Emmaus Mossley in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Emmaus Mossley is just one local branch of the charity across Greater Manchester, and it supports 26 formerly-homeless people by providing them with a home, work, companionship, and individual support.
Barbara was awarded her RVS Platinum Champions award as par of an official Jubilee project to celebrate outstanding volunteers across the country who are making a difference every day.
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Congratulations to our very own Barbara who, after more than 60 years of volunteering, recently received a @RoyalVolService Platinum Champions Award.
Thousands of people from all over the UK who volunteer for a range of causes were nominated for the RVS Platinum Champions award, and from these nominations, 490 volunteers were hand-picked by a judging panel presided over by The Duchess of Cornwall – one of which was Barbara.
“This award was a lovely surprise and really, I receive it on behalf of all the dedicated volunteers who see a job and get it done,” Barbara said.
Barbara has volunteered her time at Emmaus Mossley in Ashton-under-Lyne since 2011 / Credit: Emmaus Mossley
“I don’t think I’m exceptional and know a lot of other people who do amazing work for good causes. I get as much from volunteering at Emmaus than I give, if not more.
“It’s my happy place.”
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Before helping out at Emmaus Mossley, Barbara started volunteering in her teens and has supported various organisations over the past 60 years – including as a guide commissioner with the Girl Guides, a Duke of Edinburgh Award officer for North West England, and at Oldham LEA.
Alongside volunteering at Emmaus Mossley, Barbara also currently volunteers at Oldham Baptist Church as a church deacon.
Home Bargains has announced a special two-day closure of all UK stores
Emily Sergeant
Home Bargains has, once again, announced it’ll be closing all its UK stores on both Boxing Day and New Year’s Day this year.
And it’s to make sure staff get a ‘well deserved break’.
After what has been yet another busy year for the retail industry, many workers have been left feeling like they could do with a little extra time off, which is why Home Bargains is following on with what has become a now-annual tradition by shutting up shop on two bank holidays.
All of our stores will be closing for Boxing Day & New Years Day.
Announcing the move in a post on social media, the discount retailer confirmed: “All of our stores will be closing for Boxing Day and New Years Day. We would like to thank all our colleagues for how hard you have worked this past year, and want you to relax and enjoy the Christmas break with your loved ones.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time the retailer has kept its doors shut on bank holidays.
Many shoppers will recall it has made the same decision to give hardworking staff a break every year since 2019.
Explaining a little more about the decision taken to close all its stores, Home Bargains said: “As a family-run business, we know the importance of being together at Christmas with those we care about most, now more than ever.
“This is our way of saying thank you to our colleagues for their continued hard work and dedication.”
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Two Greggs in Manchester will be serving their breakfast menu in the evening next week
Emily Sergeant
Who says breakfast has to end at 11am?
In news that’s set to be music to the ears of breakfast lovers in Manchester, Greggs is giving them exactly what they want.
We all know that brunch is a ‘thing’ by now, so now it’s time for brinner to make a name for itself instead, as Greggs has teamed up with Heinz to bring its much-loved breakfast menu back for tea time, kicking off from 4pm onwards.
The move comes as a new survey has found that the majority of Mancs (69%) admit to enjoying eating breakfast food in the evening, saying it’s ‘convenient and comforting’ – even ranking breakfast as a ‘more important’ meal than tea, as well (38% vs 36%).
Two Greggs in Manchester will be serving their breakfast menu in the evening next week / Credit: Greggs (Supplied)
Greggs says it has ‘lost count’ of the amount of customers that have tried to order breakfast items after the usual cut-off time, especially in Greater Manchester.
But luckily for those breakfast-loving Mancs, they can finally get their favourite breakfast and sauce pairing long after the morning rush is over next… but only at two Greggs branches, and only for a very limited time.
On Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 October, the Heinz x Greggs Brinner collab will be available at Greggs St Mary’s Gate and Greggs Oxford Road, from 4-7pm only.
“We’ve lost count of the number of customers who have tried their luck ordering breakfast after 11am, so when Heinz came to us with the idea of making Brinner a reality, it felt like the perfect excuse to give the people what they want,” explained Zoe Harris, who is the Customer Director at Greggs.
“And let’s be honest, a Greggs Bacon Roll just wouldn’t be the same without a squeeze of Heinz Tomato Ketchup.”
Emily Sergeant -
1st July 2022 
