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The RSPCA is looking for volunteers to cuddle cats and rabbits in Manchester

In 2021 alone, the team at RSPCA Manchester & Salford had 624 animals admitted into their care, and saw 503 animals rehomed.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 17th January 2022

The RSPCA is looking for volunteers to lend a hand in looking after its cats, rabbits, and more across Greater Manchester.

If you’ve ever wished that cuddling and caring for animals could be a hobby for you, then that could actually be a reality in 2022, as now that a new year is here, a number of volunteer roles have become available at the Manchester and Salford branch of the RSPCA.

In 2021 alone, the team had 624 animals admitted into their care, and saw 503 animals rehomed – 259 cats, 117 rabbits, and 127 smalls.

And you could be a valuable part of that rehoming process this year.

While the Eccles Road-based centre – which opened its doors back in July 2019 – may be a local branch of the RSPCA, it is also a separately-registered charity too – which means that it is required to raise all of its own funds to operate, and also relies on the help of volunteers for things such as cleaning and spending some quality time with the rescued animals to socialise them, so that once they get adopted, they’ll be more familiar with human company.

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So, if you’ve got a bit of free time on your hands, and you’re looking to do a good deed, then these roles would be perfect for animal lovers.

No matter whether you’re looking to help out during the week or at weekends, or whether you’re flexible with your time and commitments, or you have a full time job, there’ll be an opportunity to suit you.

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Volunteers will undertake comprehensive training.

The RSPCA is looking for volunteers to lend a hand across Greater Manchester this year / Credit: RSPCA Manchester & Salford

An advertisement for the volunteer positions by RSPCA Manchester & Salford reads: “Join our wonderful team of volunteers at our small animal centre in Salford.

“We are looking for folks who can commit to a weekly slot (a couple of roles are available fortnightly) for at least the next three months, and this is because a lot of time is taken training volunteers and so temporary placements are not manageable for us.”

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For “insurance reasons”, RSPCA Manchester & Salford says it is looking for volunteers who are over 18 years of age, and and if you have any cats/dogs/rabbits or ferrets in your home, then they would need to be up to date with their vaccinations 

This is said to be “for everyone’s safety”.

The roles on offer are:

  • Cattery Cleaning: 8:30am/9am start on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, either weekly or fortnightly.
  • Small Animal Room Cleaning: Start between 8:30am – 10am on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.
  • Cat Socialising: Anytime from 1pm until 4pm on Mondays – Fridays.
  • Rabbit Socialising: Anytime from 12:30pm until 4pm, seven days a week.
Volunteers will undertake comprehensive training for the variety of roles on offer / Credit: RSPCA Manchester & Salford

Fancy it then?

If you would like to join the volunteer team at RSPCA Manchester & Salford and help the animals, then you can email [email protected] for more information.

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Donations to RSPCA Manchester & Salford can be made here, and you can find more information about the centre here.

Featured Image – RSPCA

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Heinz teams up with Absolut Vodka to create new ‘pasta alla vodka’ sauce

Georgina Pellant Georgina Pellant

After hiking the price of its cream of tomato soup by 79% at the start of the year, Heinz was firmly in our bad books – but a new collaboration with Absolut Vodka might just be about to turn all of that around.

In a partnership we didn’t even know we needed, the two brands have come together to create the ultimate jar of Pasta alla Vodka sauce.

Spicy vodka pasta has long been a favourite with Italian food lovers, but the dish has been experiencing something of a moment in the spotlight ever since supermodel Gigi Hadid shared her own viral recipe on social media.

The dish has since become one of the trendiest recipes on TikTok and Instagram, leading Heinz to pull themselves into gear and create their own version of the popular sauce.

Despite its over 150-year history of creating world-renowned tomato-based products, Heinz has admitted to being ‘ridiculously late’ to the tomato-based pasta sauce game.

Now, though, that is all set to change as the brand releases its own version of the much-loved recipe to the masses, in jar-form, through the creation of Heinz x Absolut Tomato Vodka Pasta Sauce.

Calling it ‘a match made in pasta heaven,’ according to a press release the vodka in the sauce ‘unlocks the flavours and intensifies the aroma’ of the rich and creamy tomato, basil and cheese concoction. 

During the cooking process, most of the alcohol from the vodka is reduced, boosting the volatile flavour compounds already present in the tomatoes and creating a rich texture that perfectly balances the creamy, cheese notes with the rich tomato and fragrant basil.

Speaking on the new release, Caio Fontenele, Heinz New Ventures Director, said: “While it may have taken over 150 years of tomato expertise to launch our first Heinz pasta sauce, we’re determined to continue innovating and delighting consumers with delicious flavours, at the speed of social media trends.

“We are thrilled with the partnership between these two centenary brands, bringing the first tomato vodka pasta sauce to major UK supermarkets. The iconic combination of Heinz’s high-quality tomato sauces and Absolut’s premium vodka is set to offer fans the ultimate pasta alla vodka experience. And the result is absolutely delicious!”

Of the launch, Leanne Banks, Marketing Director, Pernod Ricard UK, added: “It’s only natural that we’d partner with Heinz on this ultimate collaboration between two iconic brands, with two iconic bottles.

“As the UK’s no.1 premium vodka, Absolut was Born to Mix, whether that’s in delicious drinks or fun food combinations and Heinz x Absolut Tomato Vodka Pasta Sauce is a match made in heaven. Now fans of our brand can enjoy Absolut in an entirely new and innovative way, Pasta alla Vodka style.”

A limited number of the Heinz x Absolut Tomato Vodka Pasta sauce jars will be available at Waitrose from mid-April for £2.50 for a 350g jar. 

However, if you don’t want to miss out, you can pre-order one of a limited run of the special sauce from Heinz’s direct-to-consumer website, www.heinztohome.co.uk, to get your hands on a jar ahead of its official supermarket launch.  

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Qatar and Sir Jim Ratcliffe set to submit ‘world record’ offers to buy Manchester United as other bidders are expected to join the race

Danny Jones Danny Jones Qatar Jim Ratcliffe world record bit to buy Manchester United

The deadline for the second round of bidders in the race to takeover Manchester United football club has officially passed, with multiple world record offers reportedly on the verge of being submitted.

Following the first round of bids, which saw a Qatar investment group headed up by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe both put in their initial offers, Manchester United set a second deadline of 9pm on 22 March for them to increase their offers and welcome other offers.

While the opening bids matched each other at £4.5 billion, working with financial advisors Raine Group who are brokering in the deal from the US, neither reached the Glazer family ownership’s estimations, who value the club closer to £6bn.

As a result, both went on to carry out further negotiations — each visiting Old Trafford last Friday and staying for upwards of six hours (more than 10 in the case of the Qataris) — but it is now thought they may no longer be the only parties involved in the bidding war. Whether it will be in time is the issue.

Kaveh Solhekol trying to clear up the confusion over Qatar and Jim Ratcliffe’s United bids.

Despite earlier reports that Sheikh Jassim and his associates had submitted a “world record offer” before the Glazers and Raine Group’s 9pm deadline (5pm New York time), Sky Sports‘ Kaveh Solhekol has now clarified that the bid was not submitted in time and that they have asked for an extension.

Man United are said to have agreed to the extension and Sheikh Jassim still remains confident that they have the “best bid” of the bunch.

Moreover, as per the likes of Mike Keegan, Jim Ratcliffe was also set to enter his second bid, with both offers said to have increased to around the £5bn mark. However, the INEOS chief exec is also said to have failed to meet the deadline and been granted an extension, according to a senior source.

Kaveh also went on to detail that multiple other offers have in fact been submitted, with the numbers said to be “approaching eight” different bidders.

Any bid of more than £3.75bn would break the world record fee for a sports club set when the Denver Broncos were sold last summer.

As for the frontrunners, both offers are still around a billion short of the Glazer’s asking price and not only have Sheikh Jassim and co. already warned they will ‘walk away’ if the price is too high, but it’s unclear how far Ratcliffe’s wealth can stretch if he is to continue pursuing a deal.

The key difference between the two bids is that Qatar’s bid will apparently make the club debt-free given the sheer mass of state wealth behind them, whereas the Failsworth-born businessman’s financing may be more complex to put together.

Trying to clear up the confusion, The Times‘ Matt Lawton said on Twitter that “both Qatari and INEOS representatives said their bids were in, United sources [are] saying they haven’t yet bid and have asked for an extension”, with offers now set to be made by tomorrow.

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As reported by Sky Sports earlier this week, it was thought that “at least five other bidders” and as many as eight in question could join the race along with Ratcliffe and Qatar, who were the only two parties to have submitted an official offer for United during the first round of bidding.

However, a detailed list of the other candidates and precisely how many are still yet to be confirmed; Kaveh did go on to suggest that some could simply be a form of “hot air” designed to hopefully urge the ‘serious bidders’ to edge their offers up even higher.

As for next steps, neither of the parties in the supposed two-horse race expect an immediate decision from the board, especially after the unexpected delay, and those who submitted new offers in the second round of bidding will have to wait at least seven days to hear back from the club and brokers Raine Group regarding their progress.

However, it is worth noting that these subsequent bids may not necessarily be attempts to buy the club outright and not only is there a feeling that a third round of negotiations could take place, but there is also a growing sense that the Glazers could still pull out of a potential buyout altogether.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Image — pxfuel

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