There’s no denying that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has flipped life on its head.
The first national lockdown introduced towards the end of March 2020 saw the world grind to a halt, with several industries ordered to temporarily close their doors, numerous events cancelled, all non-essential workers told to work from home, necessary social distancing measures put in place, and the public encouraged to do everything they can to “protect the NHS [and] save lives”.
But for some of us, working from home looked a little different to the rest.
For Dylan Rixon – a 24-year-old carer from Flintshire in Wales – working from home meant calling a new place home instead, as he left his hometown and country to cross the border and move into the Cheshire care facility where he works full-time.
Dylan works for the Deafness Support Network, which runs four homes caring for deaf people and those with learning disabilities 24 hours a day, and moved into Stepping Stones in Northwich, Cheshire, in March last year when coronavirus began to take hold of the UK.
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The move has meant that Dylan has spent all but three weeks living in the care home since the pandemic began and admittedly spent his 24th birthday “just staring at four walls”, but he said his sacrifice has been the best way to keep himself and the vulnerable tenants safe.
He also said he had better insight into the lives of the home’s 22 residents as a result.
The idea to move into the care facility full-time was suggested to him by his father, as Dylan has a weak immune system as a result of contracting meningitis as a toddler, and also had a mild heart attack two years ago too.
As well as as being in the name of safety, moving into the home also had its conveniences too, as it meant Dylan could avoid the 30-mile commute on public transport each day.
Dylan said: “I remember my dad saying ‘you need to be a bit wiser about your decisions, because further down the line its going to affect everyone and be much worse than you think’
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“And he was right.
“So we made the decision it was best for me, best for the family and work as well because I was reliable and always here.
“I used to get up around five-ish, get on the train for six o’clock and get here for half-past eight. Then I’d finish at nine at night and get home at one in the morning, get a few hours sleep and then come back again, so it has been a bit of a change from doing that, to now sleeping here”.
He continued: “When everyone’s going at seven at night I’m still here,
“I find myself in the kitchen cleaning or doing a bit of laundry and thinking ‘I wish I was going’, but I’m not [so] I usually watch movies or have game of Jenga”.
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But despite the monotony that may go along with his adjusted lifestyle, Dylan believes he has gained a better insight into the lives of those he cares for now that he’s living under the same roof as them, adding: “I was seeing the tenants three [days’] on/three off, and now I see them every day and I’ve got to know the way they approach life, how they go about things”.
And he has no plans to leave any time soon either.
He often even finds himself joking about staying on and paying rent in rent at the home, but admits that he does miss home and hopes that it won’t be too long before he is able to see his loved ones again.
“I miss my family and friends but I’ve just been getting on with work,” said Dylan.
“I keep in contact with everyone from home and I’m sure they’re missing me like I’m missing them.
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“I’ve still got Christmas presents to open and they’ve got presents coming their way when I see them again [so it’d be nice to get back to Wales one day.
“I do miss home.”
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‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Benson Boone has announced a headline gig in Manchester – and it’s a big one
Danny Jones
American pop sensation and unrivalled king of unnecessary front flips, Benson Boone, has just announced his first-ever headline Manchester arena gig as part of a new arena tour.
The solo artist and acrobatic chart-topper has seen a meteoric rise in the US and, as is usually the case across the Atlantic, he’s become increasingly popular over here too.
Benson may have performed here in Manchester before as part of the 2024 MTV EMAs and for a small show at The Deaf Institute, but now big fans have the added Boone of getting to watch a standalone show at one of Europe’s leading indoor entertainment venues.
Announced on Friday, 30 May, the 22-year-old will be making his way across the pond from Washington for a limited run of UK concerts, with a date at Co-op Live arena being one of just five dates.
Extending his ‘American Heart Tour’ ahead of the release of his eponymous sophomore record, with this autumn leg, Co-op Live will mark his individual visit to 0161.
The Grammy-nominated artist has earned several nods of recognition already for his first album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, which was released just last spring.
He has been described as among the current trend of male singers who fit into the American Idol and ‘Voice audition pop’ genre (a term recently coined online), along with the likes of Teddy Swims, Shawn Mendes, Alex Warren and others.
Regardless of the slightly tongue-in-cheek term, he’s become a huge hit around the world and landing him is still a big coup for the venue that has already welcomed similarly massive pop contemporaries like Swims, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo and more.
In case you’re wondering just how big a deal he is over in the States, even this early in his career, his domestic headline dates sold out in seconds, quite literally…
The last time he visited Co-op Live was to perform at the most recent MTV EMAs
Benson Boone is coming to Manchester on Monday, 27 October and will be playing just two other British venues: The O2 in London (two nights) and the Utilita Arena in Birmingham.
Safe to say you don’t want to miss this one if you like soaring vocals and lots of flipping.
General admission tickets go live at 10am on Thursday, 5 June, but Co-op Members can gain access via the arena’s official pre-sale window from the same time on Tuesday (3 Jun).
Emily Sergeant -
8th February 2021 
