The parents of twins boys who have spent their entire lives in hospital have been delighted with the news they will be allowed home in time for Christmas.
Brothers Carter and Deacon Farnworth have finally been discharged from hospital.
The two-year-old twins – from Leigh in the Greater Manchester borough of Wigan – have sadly been unable to live at home since birth due to their various complex health conditions.
They were born prematurely in September 2018 and suffer from congenital myopathy – a rare muscle disease which causes the muscles to weaken and waste away – meaning the boys are fed through tubes, need 24/7 support from ventilators, and require constant care to manage their posture and positioning.
But now, thanks to ground-breaking specialist equipment, the twins will get to spend Christmas at home for the first time ever.
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Parents Melissa Anderton and Dean Farnworth said their homecoming had “saved Christmas”.
It’s all thanks to Newlife – a charity supporting disabled and terminally-ill children across the UK that delivers loan equipment within just 72 hours and can approve “fast-track” equipment grant applications within 24 hours when an emergency situation has been identified – which has provided the family with an emergency loan of specialist cots.
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The boys’ mother, Melissa Anderton, said: “It’s just amazing, it means everything – it’s our best Christmas and that’s all I can explain it as. The specialist cots from Newlife have allowed us to be one as a family, we don’t know what we would have done without them.
“Carter and Deacon being able to come out of hospital meant so much, it saved our Christmas.
“The P Pod chairs have been a godsend. Now the twins can move around the house and be included and take part in things altogether as a family, we can all sit together and relax and spend quality time together knowing that Carter and Deacon are comfortable and happy.
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“It’s been very stressful and there has been a lot of strain on the relationship, but it’s been good to experience the things we have because that’s made us who we are now.”
Now, the family are looking to give back ahead of the festive season.
After it was revealed that Newlife has lost more than £3 million in income due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Farnworth’s are urging others to donate to change another child’s life this Christmas by backing the charity’s The Big Give Christmas Challenge campaign.
Any money raised through the challenge will provide essential equipment to disabled and terminally ill children who are in desperate need of support through the charity’s Emergency Equipment Loan service, and what’s more is that between 1st – 8th December, all donations will be doubled too.
Newlife is determined to help those families in need.
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Sheila Brown OBE – co-founder and CEO of Newlife – said: “It’s been a really difficult six months for Newlife after the coronavirus forced us to shut all of our shops in March and again in October. We lost more than £3m in income but our promise of supporting disabled children across the UK has not been compromised and we’ve been there for families when they need us most.
“A lot of the disabled children who need our help are at most risk of the effects of COVID-19 and right now they need us more than ever.
“Newlife wants to be there for future families who need specialist equipment and we can’t thank Carter and Deacon and family enough for backing our Big Give Christmas Challenge this year. It’s a fantastic way to make your donation have double the impact and we’re hoping our wonderful supporters will be able to dig deep this year.
“Regardless of the size of the donation, your generosity will be directly changing the lives of disabled children and their families across the UK who are in urgent need of our support.”
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You can make donations to The Big Give Christmas Challenge via the Newlife website here.
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Oldham mansion that starred in an iconic pop music video is up for sale
Thomas Melia
A Greater Manchester mansion that’s featured in one of the most famous music videos of the past decade is now up for sale.
Situated in the picturesque village of Uppermill, Oldham, Ashcroft House is currently listed at £2,350,000 accepting offers in the region of this figure.
The property has six bedrooms, six baths and five reception rooms – this mansion is a party host’s dream.
Ashcroft House has four storeys with the lower ground floor currently set up as a gym space and the ground floor boasting an eye-catching grand entrance hall.
This isn’t everything the lower ground floor has to offer. There are a number of breakout rooms such as a wine store, cinema room and your own personal steam room.
When going up another flight of stairs, the first floor’s main selling point besides the very large balcony is the matched walk in wardrobes paired with each of the six sleeping quarters, yes please!
The girls styling themselves in one of the many walk in wardrobes at Ashcroft House.The bold statement front door in the Oldham mansion.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
Finally, if that wasn’t enough to draw you in, there is another flight of stairs leading to the second floor which is currently acting as the house’s ever-impressive storage area.
With the rolling hills of Saddleworth nearby and a local pub a ten minute walk away, how could life possibly get any better?
Oh wait it does! In 2016 one of the UK’s best selling girl groups of all time shot a music video for their worldwide hit right here in these very four walls.
X Factor prodigies and three time BRIT award winning girl group Little Mix perched up with their film crew to spend 21 hours recording the video for their groundbreaking single ‘Hair’.
The video itself has amassed nearly 500 million views on social media platform Youtube since being released eight years ago.
The grand staircase that greets you as you enter this Greater Manchester property.The Little Mix girls having a bite to eat in Ashcroft House.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
The previous owner of the house even revealed that once the music video shoot wrapped up, the girls stayed with the family to share a slice of pizza or two.
If you’re interested in owning a piece of pop culture history or just as nosey as we are you can take a virtual tour of this mansion in Oldham here.
People are finally discovering this super easy money-saving food hack
Danny Jones
These days, pinching the pennies and protecting the pounds wherever you can is more important than ever, so we have no intention of gatekeeping this game-changing itsu food hack.
For the longest time, we’ll admit that we thought itsu was just another good place to grab some fresh sushi, Asian-inspired meals and groceries, but after learning of this clever little loophole, it’s probably up there with one of our very favourite chains.
Starting out in London back in the late 90s, itsu has gone on to become a huge franchise with nearly 80 locations nationwide and, naturally, the risk that comes with a food brand getting this big is the almost unavoidable problem of waste.
However, what was once just a conveyor belt in Chelsea has turned into a super-efficient restaurant and fully established food brand that has also come up with a great way to not only help stop food from going to waste but save you money in the process too.
itsu Manchester on 1 Hardman Blvd, Spinningfields.itsu prices aren’t pretty decent to start with given the quality.We’re all about food hacks and cutting back the budget wherever we can. (Credit: The Manc Group)
Put quite simply, because itsu would quite rightly rather see food go in your gob than in the bin, they have a discount policy on their products that are about to go out of date.
Think Too Good To Go only more specific and with even more money off guaranteed.
Once the clock hits a certain time towards the end of trading hours, sushi, salad boxes and other cold food items can be purchased at 50% off their usual price to help save money and on food spoiling.
No, we’re not having you on: each and EVERY single day you can get highly-quality itsu sushi selection platters, rice and salad boxes, poke bowls and more at literally half-price. You can see the full details in their FAQs.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a random work night or a peckish walk home from the pub on the weekend, provided you go after 8:30pm and get there before they shut, you can grab some of your favourites at essentially a two-for-one rate. Sensational stuff.
You don’t even have to download an app, go up to the counter and have any kind of awkward conversation or anything like that: the digital pay screens will automatically update once the click strikes cha-ching and you can saunter out of the gaff with your scran.
Half price itsu? Don’t mind if we do.50% off itsu every night.Always leave looking this happy.Get your hands on half-price itsu whenever you can with this simple hack. (Credit: The Manc Group)
We’ll be honest, we often end up getting double the amount we came for but who can blame us with a value-for-money offer like that? There’s also a 15% discount for students and NHS workers, by the way.
We know that might sound counter-intuitive when we’ve pitched this as a money-saving life hack, but it’s actually come in handy when grabbing not just a last-minute tea for ourselves but hungry flatmates too; plus we go home knowing we’ve done our little bit to help reduce waste.
Eating out can get super expensive, especially in Manchester city centre during a cost of living crisis, but let’s face it, we all fancy a treat sometimes and the thought of cooking is too tiring to even think about – that’s what makes stumbling upon little happy discoveries like these makes so great.
Now, we’re not going to pretend you’re the first people to know about this: the ‘secret’ is out and is gradually getting more and more popular, so you’ll almost certainly find a fair few people queuing up with the same idea come 8:30pm, but that’s kind of the idea. The more we spread the news, the less waste.
itsu Spinningfields is currently the only branch in Manchester (the first-ever Northern site to be opened by the brand back in 2016) but if you need some discounted food whilst you’re travelling around, you can find your nearest location HERE. Enjoy!
Emily Sergeant -
2nd December 2020 
