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Virgin Atlantic explains suspension of gender-neutral crew uniform policy on England’s World Cup flight to Qatar

The airline company said the decision comes after a recent "risk assessment".

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 16th November 2022

Virgin Atlantic has explained the reason it suspend its gender-neutral crew uniform policy on the England squad’s flight to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.

With the start of the 2022 World Cup merely days away, the 26-man England squad departed from St. James’s Park and hopped on board a flight to the Qatari capital of Doha with Virgin Atlantic yesterday – but the airline company made the decision to suspend crew members’ choice to wear gender-neutral uniform options.

Virgin Atlantic notably introduced a “fluid” uniform approach back in September.

The airline company’s policy allows staff the option of wearing its red or burgundy uniforms based on “how they identify or present themselves”.

But, following what it referred to as a recent “risk assessment” ahead of the World Cup, Virgin Atlantic confirmed it suspended this uniform policy while taking the England team to the host country.

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In a statement explaining the reason behind taking this decision, a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said: “We’re proud our leading Gender Identity Policy allows our people to express themselves through uniform choice [but] following a risk assessment, it was recommended the policy was not applied on today’s charter flight to ensure the safety of our people.”

The airline said its decision came after “considering laws and attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and expressions of identity”.

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As homosexuality is illegal in Qatar under Islamic Sharia law, there have been numerous concerns raised by the public and in the media about the conservative country’s treatment of LGBTQ+ tourists attending the tournament.

The England squad’s flight from Birmingham was believed to be on an Airbus A350 plane called “Rain Bow” – which is a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride.

England captain Harry Kane is one of several national captains who plan to participate in the ‘OneLove’ campaign during the tournament, and will be wearing a rainbow-coloured armband to campaign against discrimination.

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Virgin Atlantic explains suspension of gender-neutral crew uniform policy on England’s World Cup flight to Qatar / Credit: England

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 kicks off on Sunday 20 November.

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The Three Lions’ first game against Iran is on 21 November, with their second group game against the USA taking place on 25 November, and then the final clash of the group stage coming against Wales on 29 November.

Featured Image – Virgin Atlantic

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Oldham mansion that starred in an iconic pop music video is up for sale

Thomas Melia 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)

This isn’t the first time Manchester and its surrounding areas have been seen on the big screen as it seems lots of famous faces are keen to film the visual accompaniment to their songs here.

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.

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Featured Image: Ryder & Dutton via Rightmove

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People are finally discovering this super easy money-saving food hack

Danny Jones Danny Jones itsu half price offer Manchester

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!

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Featured Images — The Manc Group

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