Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have made a generous donation to Royal Bolton Hospital in honour of a Wrexham player’s “miracle” baby boy.
Wrexham AFC midfielder, James Jones, and his partner, Chloe, are currently in the process of raising thousands of pounds for Royal Bolton Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), alongside a number of other charitable organisations, in a bid to say a worthy thank you to the neonatal nurses who provided life-saving care for their little boy, Jude.
James and Chloe set up the GoFundMe page after Jude was born 15 weeks prematurely back in November 2022, and went on to spend 122 days in hospital.
Jude was born at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, and weighed just 1lb 4oz when he came into the world.
Shortly after the birth, Chloe experienced pre-eclampsia – which is a condition causing high blood pressure – as well as the life-threatening pregnancy condition known as Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets (HELLP) syndrome, which led to her having two seizures and multiple organ failure.
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Jude was born weighing just 1lb 4oz, but he is now “absolutely thriving” / Credit: Bolton NHS | James & Chloe Jones (via Instagram)
Following this series of complications, Jude was so poorly that he needed a transfer to Bolton‘s NICU within just hours of being born.
After spending countless days “praying” their little boy would survive, and on several occasions even believing that he wouldn’t, one-year-old Jude is now beating all the odds, smashing every milestone, and said to be “absolutely thriving”.
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Chloe and James have continuously thanked all of the doctors, nurses, and midwives for the care the family received throughout Jude’s journey, but as the couple felt that words couldn’t really do their gratitude justice, they decided to set up a dedicated fundraiser to raise money for the intensive care units at both Wrexham Maelor and Royal Bolton Hospital (adult and neonatal), as well as neonatal family support charity, Spoons.
With a target of £20,000 set, donations to the fundraiser have been flooding in from far and wide since it was set up.
But no donation has been more generous than that from Wrexham AFC’s famous co-owners, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who have pledged a whopping £10,000 to the very-worthy causes.
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“We cannot thank the nurses, doctors and consultants enough for saving me and Jude,” Chloe commented as the fundraiser passed the £10,000 mark.
“The work they do day in, day out is amazing. There really are no words for how much it means to us.
“Jude is our whole world. He is beating all odds and is absolutely thriving. He is smashing every milestone and is the happiest little boy. Jude has chronic lung disease and an adrenal insufficiency as a result of his extreme prematurity and needing courses of steroids whilst in hospital [but] despite his difficult start, he is dealing with everything incredibly well.
Wrexham AFC co-owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have donated £10,000 to the family’s GoFundMe / Credit: Chloe Jones (via Instagram) | Patrick McElhenney / FX
“We are so proud of him for being so strong and brave through absolutely everything he’s had to endure.
“It’s an honour to be his parents, and we love every second of it.”
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Speaking on the success of the fundraiser – which has now clocked-up more than £17,000 and counting – Cath Bainbridge, who is the Matron for Neonatal Services at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The family overcame so much during their stay with us at Royal Bolton Hospital and it’s wonderful to learn that Jude is doing so well.
“We’re really touched that Chloe and James have chosen to raise money for our unit, and their funds will go such a long way in helping so many families in Bolton and beyond.”
Greggs confirms Festive Bakes return date as it unveils 2025 Christmas menu
Emily Sergeant
Greggs has unveiled its Christmas menu for 2025, and that means the Festive Bake is back again in all its glory.
The UK’s most-popular high street bakery chain has officially revealed its festive food and drink offering for the 2025 season, and there’s a few brand-new goodies joining the lineup this year, along with the return of some undeniable fan favourites.
And of course, nothing spells Christmas at Greggs quite like the Festive Bake, right?
The chain’s classic crumb-coated pastry filled with chicken, sage and onion stuffing, and sweetcure bacon in a creamy sage and cranberry sauce goes down an absolute treat each year, and is a serious fan-favourite, so it’s no surprise it’s made a comeback for 2025.
Thankfully for plant-based foodies, the Vegan Festive Bake has also made a comeback, but this year under a slightly different name – the Vegan Lattice (Festive Edition).
Greggs has unveiled its Christmas menu for 2025 / Credit: Greggs
Despite the new name, the flavours have stayed the same, as the Vegan Festive Lattice is puff pastry filled with savoury-flavour Quorn mycoprotein pieces, sage and onion stuffing balls, and vegan bacon, finished with a mouth-watering cranberry and red onion sauce.
Another returning Greggs festive favourite this year is the Christmas Lunch Baguette, which is a freshly-baked baguette ‘jam-packed full of festive flavours’, alongside last year’s newest addition, the Festive Flatbread – which is filled with sage and onion-style chicken, sweetcure bacon, mayo and cranberry and red onion relish.
When it comes to sweet treats, Greggs really does take some beating, as the lineup is full of tasty cakes, muffins, biscuits, and more.
Some of the stand-out newbies this year include the Gingerbread Muffin, and the Christmas Mini Caramel Shortbreads, while returning for more is the indulgent Chocolate & Hazelnut Flavour Doughnut, the Christmas tree and start-shaped biscuits, and of course, the classic Sweet Mince Pies.
The festive drinks lineup this year includes the popular Mint mochas and hot chocolates, and the Salted Caramel Latte.
Gingerbread returns for 2025 too, and you can get Gingerbread Lattes both hot and iced, as well as a Gingerbread Flat White.
All drinks are topped with whipped cream, and come with a range of festive sauces and toppings.
The 2025 Greggs Christmas menu will be available to tuck into across the UK from 6 November and will run right up until the new year.
Featured Image – Greggs
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A local Manc content creator is looking to set a world record by running around Old Trafford
Danny Jones
A local content creator, who specialises in running/hiking content (and sandwiches), is looking to raise money and potentially set a world record by jogging around Old Trafford.
Oh, and by jogging, we mean running – for a really, REALLY long time…
If you’ve never come across his channel before, let us introduce you to local influencer and videographer Sam Matthew, a.k.a. ‘Peaks and Pubs‘.
Boasting plenty of fans on both Instagram and TikTok within the world of trail running, the outdoors community and beyond, he’s set to toastreaching a very specific achievement by “turning a milestone into a mission” and doing laps around Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club.
As explained in the video, he’s now surpassed 74,310 followers, i.e. the same capacity of supporters you can fit inside the Theatre of Dreams itself.
We know, it’s distance running and feats of endurance aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they are a great way of raising money and awareness, not to mention possibly getting yourself in the official Guinness Book of World Records.
Explaining the challenge in the caption of the video, Sam writes: “There’s now enough of you lot following this daft account of mine on here to fill a stadium I’ve adored since I was a little boy. And that genuinely means so much to me.
“So why not celebrate the occasion by punishing my legs and raising money for good causes along the way? Donations are, of course, the aim, but I understand that not everybody is in the position to do that, so any engagement on this post is hugely appreciated.
“I mean it from the bottom of my heart that you lot genuinely make this all happen for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful that I get to do silly stuff like this on a random Wednesday [29 October]. Giving off pure ‘your unemployed friend on a Wednesday’ vibes, but I love it!”
Raising money for the club’s in-house Manchester United Foundation, which has already shown its support for the upcoming ultra-marathon distance event, they are also looking to generate crucial funds with the return of another annual charity event too.
The Foundation does some incredible work all year-round, if you’d rather swap running around Old Trafford for sleeping.
Once again, Sam will be kicking off the serious step-count from approximately 9am this Wednesday (28 Oct), he’s estimating it’ll take him around a whopping nine and a half hours, “with plenty of breaks for food and fluids”, thank god.
As the man behind most of the Bada Bing videos, we expect plenty of butties to fuel the running.
Furthermore, although he’s set to take on the distance solo for the morning, he’s invited as many people who fancy getting involved to come and join him for a lap or two from 12 noon onwards; hopefully, he’ll see the Guinness people popping along to see if he registers a world record while he’s at it, too.
We hope there are a few pints at the pub waiting for you at the end, as always, Sam.
Emily Sergeant -
4th June 2024 
