Three Salford siblings are fighting to keep the memory of their late father alive by continuing with his life goal of helping Manchester’s homeless.
Alan Dolan spent much of his life on the streets of Manchester helping the city’s most vulnerable.
He was fondly known by family, friends, and those in the community as someone who would lend a hand to anyone he met, and was described as “caring too much for everyone”.
Even at times when he found himself without a job, technically homeless, and needing to crash with relatives, his years of “selfless” work to give back to the community were commended, and he was guided by his dream to build a shipping container village in the centre of Manchester to ensure that nobody was forced to sleep rough and would instead have access to food, clothing, shelter and a place to stay the night.
This was something he was so “passionate” about, and would often discuss with his three children.
But sadly, his vision never made it to reality.
On 26th November 2020, Alan suffered a heart attack whilst out helping some homeless friends, and was taken to hospital, where he sadly died at just 55-years-old.
Now, his three children – Robyn, Grant, and Jenna Dolan – are striving to continue his legacy by promoting the message that “love always wins” and #RealLoveMatters, and by carrying out his life-long goal of helping Manchester’s vulnerable when they truly need it most.
They are doing this through their newly-launched charity Humble Souls, alongside a JustGiving fundraiser, with the aim of raising £2,000 – a target they are so close to reaching.
Humble Souls – which has been created to “continue the work and legacy” of Alan Dolan – is being ran by Robyn, Jenna, Grant, his mother, and a family friend.
They have described him as “the best dad”.
“Anyone who knew him knows how passionate he was about [his shipping container village dream] and just helping people in general.” the Dolans said.
Grant Dolan, 29 – who has recently achieved his own personal goal of setting up a recruitment company, which was something he talked about with his father often – added that: “Even though my dad was going through so much of his own stuff, he’d always do the daftest things to make you laugh,
“He just felt for people, and his message was that all that matters when you go, is how you’ve helped people”.
He continued: “We’d been talking about my dreams to start my own recruitment company for years [and] around half an hour before he died, I got the call to say I’d received the funding I needed [to start the company], but I never got to tell him.”
Grant’s new company, Real Recruitment, will donate 10% of all profits to the Humble Souls project.
On the charity’s long-term aspirations, Grant said: “We are starting the project in Manchester, but want to make it UK-wide eventually. We’re looking to build the container village for the homeless in the city centre, and we also want to build a community centre [too]”.
There are also future plans to release an album featuring a series of Manchester-based artists, with all sales being donated to the Humble Souls project.
“We just want to do something positive in my dad’s memory,” Grant said.
The Dolans added: “He was a great dad and a great soul, [and] we just want people to know that if you cant donate any money [to the fundraiser], you can always donate your time, old clothes, food, and even just a smile to brighten someone’s day,
“Words of encouragement when someone needs it the most are what our dad was about,
“[He was] 100% real”.
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The Dolans’ fundraiser for the Humble Souls project has now raised £1,767 of its first £2,000 target, so if you able to spare a couple of pounds for this truly worthy local cause, then all donations are welcome.
Brighton’s Carlos Baleba is now said to be ‘keen’ on a move to Manchester United
Danny Jones
Manchester United may not yet be done with their transfer business, as another potential summer target, Carlos Baleba, is now reportedly “keen” on a move to the Theatre of Dreams.
The Brighton midfielder popped up on the radar of numerous clubs around Europe following a breakout season in 2024/25.
At just 21 years old, the promising young player has recently emerged as one of the most exciting prospects in the Premier League over the past 12 months or so, and it appears Man United are leading the race to sign him.
Many around the club think the Cameroonian CDM could be the perfect fit for Ruben Amorim’s somewhat makeshift midfield at the moment; perfectly positioned to take the starting spot from an ageing Casemiro or an as-yet unproven Manuel Ugarte. Moreover, it’s now said United appeals to him.
📹🚨🗣️| Laurie Whitwell on Carlos Baleba and Manchester United:
“Now you come to Carlos Baleba, and as you say, Brighton are going to ask for a lot of money for him.
I don’t know an exact figure – I don’t think that’s been communicated yet. Clearly United feel as if they have… pic.twitter.com/MNYQzgeU5a
Whitwell had already explained that the Seagulls would be setting a hefty and perhaps intentionally excessive asking price in a previous episode, as it is understood they would prefer not to sell him at all, with a figure of at least £100 million being floated around as the current rough estimate.
Given that Man United have already forked out over £200m on a selection of new signings – the most recent being striker Benjamin Šeško – the chances of him making the jump in this current window look slim, though it is thought there is still an eventual switch that could be done.
“Talks are continuing”, according to Whitwell. “There are obviously intermediaries working on behalf of United and the player [Baleba] as well, to see if Brighton would be open to this [a deal].
“Brighton are saying he’s not for sale, and there is quite a bit of scepticism at Manchester United as to whether this can be achieved, but still, it’s been totally shut down.
“That is leading me to believe that you never know, but I’m probably in the camp of it being unlikely. There are ways this can be sorted; a crucial point is the player – he’s keen on the move to Old Trafford.”
Whitwell goes on to detail that current players have been in touch to explain the “landscape” around the club amid this rebuild, reiterating that the environment is positive. However, Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler seems pretty confident that the south coast club will hang on to him, at least for now.
Fabian Hürzeler is adamant Carlos Baleba will still be a Brighton player at the end of the transfer window, despite interest from Manchester United… 👀 pic.twitter.com/4AagOtKJbl
Addressing the rumours with reporters, the German manager insisted, “I didn’t see any change. He seems to be in a very good place, enjoying it [the pre-season and training] with his team-mates.”
With that in mind, it’s more probable that Baleba could join the Red Devils next year, when he’s had yet another season to develop and prove himself in the English top flight, though his value will probably increase even further.
On the other hand, if Baleba does indeed want to swap his white and blue striped shirt for a red one, he could push for the negotiations progress, like new arrival and fellow compatriot Bryan Mbuemo did.
This is an outcome that could, in theory, benefit both teams, as not only are Brighton still considered a selling club, but with another EPL campaign under his belt, they could demand and even larger fee come summer 2026/January if Amorim is still desperately in need of a central solution.
You can watch the episode – one that also touches on the new so-called ‘Man United mantra’, which has even been printed on water bottles around Carrington – in full down below.
Featured Images — MyAlbionTV (screenshot via YouTube)
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Aldi is back looking for another taste tester to send FREE crisps to
Emily Sergeant
Aldi is looking for a special someone to become its official crisp taster, and will send the lucky winner a bunch of bags to try for free.
Calling all self-confessed crisp connoisseurs, this one’s for you.
That’s right, Aldi is ready to make savoury snack food lovers’ dreams come true, as the supermarket retailer is back on the look-out for another official ‘Crisp Taster’ to join the team, especially after the inaugural search last year proved to be so popular with shoppers, amassing hundreds of applications.
The highly-anticipated return also follows interest from local celebrities last year too, with Manc actress Michelle Keegan declaring to her 7.5 million Instagram: “IS THIS TRUE @aldiuk? Because I am READY and available with lots of experience.”
Last summer, it was 39-year-old NHS worker George Critchley from Sheffield who became Aldi’s first-ever Official Crisp Taster… but now it’s your turn.
Aldi is back looking for another taste tester to send FREE crisps to / Credit: Aldi UK | Esperanza Doronila (via Unsplash)
The successful applicant will receive a selection of Aldi’s most popular crisps to sample at home for free, including Aldi’s Specially Selected Lightly Sea Salted Hand Cooked Crisps, Specially Selected Mature Cheddar & Red Onion Hand Cooked Crisps, the Snackrite Delta Strips, and Snackrite Cheese Flavour Cheezios.
All that’s required in return is a set of exclusive reviews rating the crisps’ taste, crunch, texture and appearance to help guide the supermarket’s Buying Team on potential future flavours.
“After the success of last year with hundreds of entries, we welcome our shoppers feedback once again to make sure our latest products provide the quality, taste and price they deserve,” explained Julie Ashfield, who is the Chief Commerical Officer at Aldi UK.
“Our range of crisps are going down a treat this year, so launching the role for a new Crisp Taster is the perfect way to encourage innovative ideas and delicious products onto shelves.”
Fancy it then? To apply, you’ll just need to be aged 16 or over, a legal UK resident, and create a short application video, that’s no more than a minute long, explaining why you should be Aldi’s next ‘Crisp Taster’.
Applications are now open, with a closing deadline of Thursday 21 August.
You’ll need to share your application video via the email address [email protected], and you can find out more information on the official ‘Crisp Taster’ webpage here.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd February 2021 
