A scaffolder who was inspired by Marcus Rashford’s campaign for free school meal vouchers during holidays has achieved his own amazing feat.
Jordan Mattinson – 27, from Whitehaven in Cumbria – has managed to secure a whopping £11,000 worth of food to feed children over the Christmas holidays, and has even taken in a delivery of 20 tons, which will feed around 2,000 families in his community.
The amazing haul of 4,000 carrier bags full of food was so big it needed its own articulated lorry to be delivered to a social club, where it was stored ahead of being distributed.
Jordan and a group of pals launched the Copeland Christmas Food Project after the government rejected pleas to extend free meals for kids over the festive break, and even though the government eventually made a U-turn on the decision, the group decided to continue with the project.
They’ll now be able to help feed thousands of children from more than 50 different schools in the region.
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Speaking on the incredible achievement, Jordan said: “When Marcus Rashford asked the government to extend free school meals into the Christmas holidays and they said no, I set up the fundraising campaign. We were just going to donate food to a couple of schools whose children needed it, but it grew arms and legs.
“I put a crowdfunder online and set a target of £500, but we’ve had more than £11,000.
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“It’s absolutely amazing,
“I was blown away by the support and generosity of people [and] we’ll be able to feed 2,000 families. We got in touch with so many schools who were so grateful for it and said they had children who needed the help.
“We don’t get involved with the families directly as it’s a very sensitive thing for them and some of them find it embarrassing, but we ask the schools how many children they have on free school meals and donate it to the schools who distribute it to the families who need it.”
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Jordan Mattinson / SWNS
Jordan and his fellow organisers of the Copeland Christmas Food Project – Danny Dougherty, Josh and Rikki Tweedie and Beth McGregor – bought 26,000 individual items from Aldi’s Whitehaven store, which made up 4,000 carrier bags.
This means that each family is set to receive two bags of food.
On advice from the local food bank, the group prioritised long-lasting foods such as pasta, rice and soup, which would last for the entire two-week holiday period.
Jordan added: “It came on 32 pallets, it took a lot of effort to pack, there was around 50 volunteers. It’s been really nice to see people coming together and helping each other out.
“I have never been more proud or happy with anything I’ve ever been involved in.”
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He continued: “The response was overwhelming. It was just an unbelievable response from the community, all the volunteers and businesses who have helped us.
“It’s been eye-opening, the more we did this, the more we saw how many people actually need help [and] you don’t realise it’s so rife, people are really struggling and it is hard for them. People are finding this year harder than other years with the pandemic and people losing their jobs, so even more children are on free school meals than ever before.
Jordan Mattinson / SWNS
“The response from people in need has been overwhelming [too],
“[And] schools were so grateful for the help, and we’ve had messages from people who have needed help.
“As our food will be none perishable items, they will keep and hopefully help families at a later date if needed and make for a more comfortable Christmas.”
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A spokesman for The Whitehaven Academy – one of the local secondary schools set to receive donations of the food – said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to the Copeland Christmas Food Project who have provided us with food parcels for our families.
“[It’s a] fantastic effort by the team and wider community, [and] together, no child will go hungry in Copeland this Christmas.”
A massive social for Manchester runners is happening in the city centre this winter
Danny Jones
With the bulk of race season nearly over, the local running community is finally starting to wind down and indulge in some well-deserved rest and relaxation – well, that and a sprinkle of clubbing, as the massive Cross Club Social for Manchester runners is back for 2025.
Following a successful sophomore edition last winter, the MCR Cross Club Social is returning for another proper good bash and looks to be shaping up nicely.
Hosted at a brand new venue, with sets from Manc-based DJs, karaoke and even giveaways on the night, the runners are going BIG this year.
So, if you’re part of a local running club or even just a Greater Mancunian who’s partial to a bit of jogging and looking for a night out, you’d best keep 8 November free.
Credit: Cross Club Social
Combining forces once again, the third iteration of the Cross Club Social sees multiple Manchester running clubs putting on one of the biggest parties of the year, with people from all over the community turning up to swap their trainers for dancing shoes.
Ticket prices have crept ever so slightly this year, mainly because of just how well attended the 2025 event was, but also to help raise money for their official charity partner.
However, it goes without saying that all newcomer clubs and solo runners in general and welcome to come along to this year’s event, which is also the first to be held at Fairfield Social Club near Angel Meadows Park – the more the merrier, as far as these lot are concerned.
For example, here’s a taste of the kind of turnout it got last year…
Speaking to The Manc, organiser and resident MC Dave ‘Macca’ McLaughlin said of Cross Club Social 2025: “This event is a celebration of the local running community, by the local running community.
“It’s a great chance to get some of the biggest running clubs in Manchester together to celebrate their achievements of the year without the running kit or carbon-plated trainers.
“It’s a pleasure to organise an event that local runners seemingly love, alongside some of Manchester’s biggest running clubs, all while raising money for our charity partner. Last year, we were able to contribute nearly £400 to their fundraiser, and we’re aiming for even higher this year.
“The demand has been huge – our first event sold out in under 50 minutes, last year was just under two hours at a bigger venue. This year we’re going even bigger to handle the demand, with more clubs than ever and a venue with three separate rooms for different kinds of entertainment.
“Me and Sophie [de Greenlaw – fellow DJ and co-founder] hope to continue expanding the event into a day-long running festival; we’d love to book bigger venues, get more clubs and sponsors involved, and make this a day that every local runner has marked on their calendar. See you there.”
Credit: Supplied
Early bird access will be on sale from 10am this Friday, 10 October, with the general admission tickets going live at the same time next week (17 Oct).
The social itself will run from 5pm until midnight, with last entry at 8:30pm, and you can bank on there being some kind of after-party elsewhere on the night. Get ready to grab your tickets HERE.
It’s also worth noting that the two previous years sold out fast, so make sure you put in a PB-worthy performance when it comes to that online shopping basket if you want to be there.
Once again, the Manchester Runners Cross-club social is a completely non-profit event; all funds from ticket sales go directly towards setting up the next one, back into the running clubs who take part, and to charitable organisations like The MCR 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness.
Lady Gaga is a tour-de-force of talent at the Co-op Live Manchester
Clementine Hall
Lady Gaga proves she’s a truly world-class act after two sold-out nights at the Co-op Live Manchester, as if we needed any reminding.
The city of Manchester has been flooded with harness-wearing, mesh-sporting little monsters over the past two days.
And that’s because the absolute icon that is Lady Gaga brought her ‘Mayhem Ball’ to the Co-op Live for two nights.
I don’t think you’ll find anyone who doesn’t know who this fabulous woman is. Over the past decade, she’s won an Oscar, headlined the Super Bowl, performed in blockbusters alongside Al Pacino, no less, and her songs are literally ingrained into our minds.
It’s been a whole 11 years (yes, really) since she performed in Manchester, and it’s safe to say she was back with a bang.
The performance was split up into five distinct acts, and each one was as exhausting and exhilarating as the next.
She begins the show by bopping out of a comically huge red dress, but this staging was only the start of what madness was about to ensue.
Luckily, we’d been prepared by the other half of the Audio North team, who had the equal privilege of seeing her on night one and were left similarly speechless.
Throughout the 30-song epic, we had crutches, sand pits, cages, skeletons, enough wigs to produce an amateur production of Annie, and we didn’t question any of it. Why would we? It’s Lady Gaga.
Kicking things off with ‘Bloody Mary’, the two and a half hour marathon didn’t leave any stones unturned.
We had all the bangers, from ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Paparazzi’ to ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Applause’, it had us wondering why any other superstar even bothers putting a song out these days.
Pop is in a good place at the moment with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and so on, but you can make a strong case for Gaga having helped pave the way for every lady in the business ever since.
Gaga truly had us in the palm of her hands (or claws at one point), even more so when she left the stage to de-robe and show her more vulnerable side for the last two songs – beanie firmly on.
It wasn’t just a concert: this was a fully-fledged tour de force of talent that Manchester won’t forget any time soon.
Sometimes there’s no point in intellectualising why someone has that ‘X-factor’; sometimes you just have to take a step back and say WOW.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd December 2020 
