Warburtons and Morrisons have teamed up to give away thousands of free crumpets to anyone who ‘asks for Ellen’ this Easter holidays.
After first introducing the initiative to huge success back in July of last year during the school summer holidays, Bolton-born bakery Warburtons has decided to join forces with supermarket chain Morrisons once again to relaunch the ‘Ask for Ellen’ initiative this Easter, and serve up a whopping 100,000 crumpets for free.
It means that anyone and everyone who ‘asks for Ellen’ at one of the 395 Morrisons Cafes across the UK will be given toasted crumpets with butter and jam, completely for free with “no questions asked”.
The offer will be available all day every day of the Easter holidays, while stock lasts.
Warburtons and Morrisons are giving 100,000 free crumpets across the UK this Easter (Credit: Morrisons)
With 300,000 portions of free crumpets having already been provided as part of the much-needed scheme, and even more set to be given away over these next couple of weeks too, the ‘Ask for Ellen’ initiative aims to help “alleviate holiday hunger“.
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This comes after research revealed that over six million families notice an increase in their weekly shopping bill during school holidays.
This is the kind of retail and high-street news we like to hear.
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It also works to ease the additional financial strain often put on parents, carers, and guardians when children are not at school.
This latest ‘Ask for Ellen’ giveaway, which is running UK-wide from Monday, 25 March to Sunday, 14 April, comes as stark new research was commissioned by The Warburtons Foundation, and polled 2,000 parents of school-aged children.
The study detailed that over six million British families notice an increase in their weekly shopping bill during school holidays, with an overwhelming 82% of parents stating they have to spend more on snacks to “keep up with the demand” from their children too.
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Research also highlighted that, on average, children ask their parents for a snack three times a day during the school holidays and because of this, more than a third (35%) have to go shopping more often to keep their children satisfied.
When taking into account the ongoing cost of living crisis as well, initiatives like this are so crucial.
Anyone and everyone who ‘asks for Ellen’ will get free toasted crumpets with butter and jam. (Credit: Warburtons)
“With families continuing to feel the financial pinch as we head into the Easter break, we’re looking forward to providing a little support for those who might need it,” commented Jonathan Warburton, who is the Chairman of Warburtons,as the ‘Ask for Ellen’ initiative relaunches from Monday.
“We are expecting to serve a further 100,000 free portions of crumpets to families up and down the country as part of the scheme this Easter holiday too.”
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As well as running the ‘Ask for Ellen’ initiative, Morrisons is also continuing to provide its ‘Kids Eat Free’ promotion all day, every day, throughout the Easter holidays too, meaning families can get a free kids meal when purchasing an adult meal that costs £4.50 or more.
To get your free Warburtons crumpets this Easter, all you’ll need to do is head down to your nearest Morrisons Cafe and ‘ask for Ellen’.
Featured Images — Warburtons
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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 -
21st March 2024 
