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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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,
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“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.
Manchester City Council green-light new venue at Medlock Square, with Mamma Mia! The Party to open the immersive space
Danny Jones
The smash-hit ‘Mamma Mia: The Party’ is set to land in Manchester next year as the maiden event of another brand-new space set to open as part of the upcoming Medlock Square development.
Etihad Campus has seen a lot of moving pieces over the past few years, be it the building of Co-op Live, the ongoing expansion of Man City’s home ground, the soon-to-launch hotel attached to the stadium and now Medlock.
But those in control of the land are content with stopping there; this looks to be just the start of a whole new evolution for the East Manchester area, with an as yet untitled new immersive arts, experience and events venue also set to join the new slate of projects.
You see another glimpse of the purpose-built mini arena, of sorts, down below.
With plans having now been approved by the City Council, the ‘immersive’ space will be situated between the Etihad, Co-op Live and Medlock Square itself, holding up to 600 guests per performance.
Currently set to open in late 2027, following the rest of the square’s launch window being fully rolled out, we still don’t know the name of this next addition, but the structure itself will dovetail with the surrounding buildings and areas as part of seasonal activations, live shows and sports screenings, as well as pop-ups, brand collaborations and more.
Looping back, the interactive, multimedia extravaganza that is ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ will finally be making its Manc debut as part of the 10th anniversary of the all-singing, all-dancing and even all-dining in-demand production.
As per an official press release from the Medlock Square media team, the show will combine “live music, theatre, food and storytelling” and “offer visitors an unforgettable night out.”
The original UK production at The O2 in London has now surpassed more than 1,500 performances, with a total of 700k guests attending these shows in 110 countries across the globe. Safe to say it’s rather popular.
As for Medlock Square and the surrounding Etihad Campus, Manchester City supporters have also been given another look at the soon-to-open, immersive hotel tie-in experience.
With a skywalk, rooftop bar, a new MCFC shop and various other bits set to spill out onto Medlock Square, it all feels like a period of wholesale changes over in the blue half of the city – especially with the football club bidding farewell to their manager Pep Guardiola after more than a decade.
Following the new and improved North Stand being named after him in the first of many tributes, the City Football Group (CFG) are also set to commission a statue in his honour over the coming months.
Meanwhile, Medlock Square is also due to open later this year, although an official completion date has not been confirmed.
You can stay up to date with all the latest on Mamma Mia! The Part’s Manchester shows right HERE.
Not forgetting a brand-new women’s football facility, too, there is so much stuff going on over at the Etihad that it can be hard to keep track, but here’s the latest look at some of the rooms set to feature in the hotel of the same name.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (CGIs via Medlock Square)
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Manchester City sign Beth Mead as European champion Lioness completes major transfer move to WSL title rivals
Danny Jones
In a major move for recently crowned champions Manchester City, two-time Euros winner Beth Mead has completed a switch from title Women’s Super League (WSL) rivals Arsenal.
This one is sure to cause quite the stir, especially given the players that have been transferred between them in the past.
Announcing the signing on Friday, 12 June, Man City Women confirmed the done deal in a social media post that also revealed she will don the number seven shirt.
With City having finally won the first title in over a decade earlier this year – only their second in the modern era – the England Women’s star and WSL heavyweight didn’t mince her words on arrival, telling the club and its fans: “I’m here to win.”
The 31-year-old from Whitby spent the best part of nine years at Arsenal, during which time she has also gone on to become one of the most prolific Lionesses under Sarina Wiegman.
Boasting not only 81 national team caps to her name, but also having scored 40 times in his career thus far (her assists included, guaranteeing at least a goal contribution every other game, on average), she’s been one of the most dangerous female forwards in Europe for some time now.
Speaking in a club statement, she said: “City have always played beautiful football, but I think this season they’ve been very cutthroat in front of goal, [found] different ways of scoring, different ways of creating goalscoring opportunities.
“I think that’s been the difference: they’ve found ways to score and win games when it’s been cagey, or whether it’s felt easy and you become complacent. I think that’s been the difference this season for City winning.”
Having already linked up with fellow England star Alex Greenwood upon making her first appearance at Man City’s brand new women’s football facility, she went on to add: “I’ve played with a lot of the players in the team, I’ve watched a lot of players in the team over the years and in the season gone [by], and I think that’s what created a lot of excitement.
They’ve aimed to set a new industry standard for the women’s game.
Penning a first MCWFC contract this week, she has signed a deal until the summer of 2029; both she and City supporters will no doubt be hoping she can add at least one more piece of silverware by the end of the 2026/27 campaign.
With head coach Andrée Jeglertz now looking to mount a title defence over at the Etihad Campus, and the Women’s World Cup in Brazil getting underway this time next year, Mead will obviously be looking to hit the ground running ahead of her first season in sky blue.
There is undoubtedly an element of curiosity to see who will have the better overall performance this upcoming term between her and national teammate Chloe Kelly, with the latter ex-City player having left the club for the red side of north London instead.
Speaking of cities split into two halves, football-wise, elsewhere in transfer news, Manchester United have also been linked to a new attacker of their own – it remains to be seen how strong the interest is going both ways…
Emily Sergeant -
3rd February 2021 
