A Stockport lad’s harrowing barbecue accident which left him temporarily unable to walk and in need of a skin graft has been the catalyst for the launch of an inspiring fundraising campaign.
During a family day out at Formby Beach last June, 9-year-old Will Tyler accidentally stepped on hot sand where a beach barbecue had previously been sat, causing severe scarring to both his feet and leaving him needing urgent medical treatment.
The Tyler family left their home in The Heatons on 1 June 2020, and headed to the popular Merseyside beach to join friends.
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Having purposefully hiked across the sand dunes at Formby to keep away from the crowds, they set up a disposable barbecue to enjoy some sausage sandwiches, and then once the barbecue had cooled, moved it far away from the children to one side, so the youngsters could run around and play.
“Everyone I’ve told this story to just cannot believe how sand can stay that hot,” explained Will’s dad Toby, aged 51.
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“We’d used one of those disposable barbecues where the coals are in a foil tray.
“The bottom of the tray was on the sand – which I now know meant the heat was being sent down into the sand and the foil surface was trapping it there – [and] when we moved the barbecue, the top of the sand cooled in the atmosphere, but underneath it was still roasting hot as the heat had just been trapped there.
“We learned later it can stay dangerously hot for hours and hours.”
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The incident caused severe scarring to both of Will Tyler’s his feet / Credit: Tyler Family / RMCHC
He continued: “The kids were running around playing when suddenly Will just screamed [and] as a parent, it’s the worst sound I’d ever heard and it’s a sound I’ll never forget. He pulled his foot out of the sand and his skin was peeling off his foot like melted wax. We realised the sand was scalding hot and we were miles from anywhere with no first aid kit or anyone to help us.
“I ran carrying him to the car [and] by the time I got there, I was soaking wet with sweat. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, but seeing Will’s foot… I guess the adrenaline just kicked in.”
Will’s mum Claire drove to a nearby hospital about 30 minutes away from the beach, before he was taken to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to spend eight nights.
“He had to have a skin graft from his right thigh to his left foot,” said Toby. “He was on morphine for the pain but I know there were some days, especially when they had to change his dressings, that were particularly bad for him”.
From there, it’s been a slow recovery process – and one that is still ongoing.
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Toby continued: “As he’s still growing, we’re not sure if there will be operations in future, but for now, he is recovering well and he’s lucky that he has some close friends that have been really great at supporting him – and of course we have to thank the team at the hospital’s Burns and Plastics Aftercare Clinic.
There’s no denying that the tragic events of that day are forever etched in the memory of the Tyler family, but thanks to the expert care it’s one that’s inspired young Will to raise as much money as possible for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Will is aiming to complete eight fundraising challenges for RMCH Burns Unit / Credit: Tyler Family / RMCHC
Yesterday, on the one-year anniversary of his accident, Will began eight fundraising challenges – which vary from an 8km walk and an 8km paddle in the Mersey River, to eight random acts of kindness, eight nights sleeping out, and even getting eight friends to shave their heads in eight minutes – and revisited Formby Beach to raise awareness of the dangers of barbecues on sand.
All the money he raises will go to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity and will help other young burns patients just like Will.
“I wanted to do some fundraising themed around the number eight because that’s how many nights I was in the children’s hospital,” Will explained.
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“We originally wanted to raise £888 but even before the challenges were nailed down, we’d already smashed that target, so now we’re having a rethink of how much we would like to raise.
“As well as raising the money, I really want to raise awareness of how dangerous it is having a barbecue on the sand.
“We didn’t know how hot the sand would get, or that it would stay hot for such a long time.”
“Everyone I’ve told this story to just cannot believe how sand can stay that hot” / Credit: Tyler Family / RMCHC
Jo Thomas – who is the Community Fundraising Officer at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity, and has been supporting the family with their fundraising – added: “Will is such an inspiring young man and his enthusiasm for his fundraising is incredible.
“He really has thrown all his energy into preparing for his challenges and everyone at the Charity can’t wait to hear how they all go.
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“I’m particularly looking forward to the head shave pictures.
“We want to thank Will and all his family and friends for not only fundraising a fantastic amount of money, but also raising awareness of such an important issue.”
Keen to sponsor Will?
You can find more information about Will’s mission via his Facebook page ‘8 Days in June’ here, and you can also contribute to helping him reach his fundraising target by making a donation to his GoFundMe page.
Featured Image – Tyler Family / RMCHC
UK News
First-ever JD Wetherspoon pub to open at Manchester Airport
Danny Jones
In news that we feel many Mancs and travellers all-round have been waiting on for a long time, the well-known British chain, JD Wetherspoon, will be opening its first-ever pub at Manchester Airport.
That’s right: soon that first airport pint of the holiday could actually be a relatively cheap one.
While Wetherspoons are no strangers to popping up in terminals across the UK and Ireland, they’ve never done so here in Manchester despite having three, yes THREE, in Gatwick alone.
Not for much longer, though, as soon T2 will be lending more than 3,000 square feet of its prime leisure and retail real estate to a new Greater Manchester ‘Spoons’.
Posting on social media, the airport wrote: “Wetherspoon comes to Manchester Airport this September! The pub will be located in the Terminal 2 Departures lounge and will have more than 300 seats.
“This will become the final major food and drink venue to open its doors as part of our decade-long £1.3bn transformation of Terminal 2. It will be named ‘The Belle Vue’, in a nod to Manchester’s historic showground [now a sports complex and leisure hub].
“It was a focal point for social life in the city from the Victorian period up until 2020, when the final event was held at Belle Vue stadium. The design of the pub is inspired by the history of Belle Vue and the sporting culture of the North West of England. We look forward to welcoming you all in September!”
While a lot of money has been pumped into T2’s refurb as a whole over the past few years, it remains unclear just how much this particular new addition will cost; we do know that great sums were set aside for the launch of the Great Northern Market last year.
The inaugural Manchester Airport Spoons is just the latest in a series of major renovations.
As mentioned, the company already operate several up and down the country – 10 airport pubs, to be specific – but this will be the first in the North West.
Speaking on the news, JD Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson said in a statement: “We are looking forward to opening at Manchester Airport. We believe our new pub will prove popular with travellers of all ages and be an asset to the new terminal.”
With Manchester Airport adding a dozen new routes to its roster this summer, you can expect to see even more people flying in and out than ever – no doubt having already polished off a cut-price pint or two beforehand.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/CGIs (publicity pictures via Manchester Airport)
UK News
Review | We need NBHD Weekender every year – and so does the North West
Danny Jones
Neighbourhood Weekender returned for 2026 this late May bank holiday, and after its second consecutive edition following an admittedly brief hiatus, we’re more confident than ever that we want this music festival on the calendar every single year.
Actually, we’d go so far as to say that lots of people around the North West and beyond NEED it.
We know plenty of people are understandably wary of potential hyperbolic declarations like that, but let us explain ourselves…
For starters, getting an opportunity to see the likes of criminally underappreciated Northern names like Richard Ashcroft playing the big slot on the main stage is a good place to start.
Many of you will have no doubt seen the Wigan legend on solo tours – not to mention serving as the pitch-perfect support act for Oasis’ reunion tour last summer – but topping the bill on Saturday night of NBHD Weekender 2026 served as yet more proof that he is, in fact, a headline act.
Maybe that changed a little for lots of people post-Live ’25, but his set was one of several over the course of the two-day festival in Victoria Park that served as a reminder of just how good lots of these long-standing acts both were and still are.
Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, The Fratellis, Mel C, Shed Seven, and so on: they’re not just nostalgic acts that those of a certain generation get to enjoy as a throwback – they’re all still incredible, seasoned performers in their own right.
They boast a wealth of experience and aptitude for playing to live crowds that you only get by being very good at what you do for a long time. You only have to look at the countless youths who quickly realised they knew more choruses than they realised, and got to sample hearing them in person for the first time.
Strong crowds from 12 noon until curfew. (Credit: Audio North)
And then speaking of the younger, more up-and-coming section of the lineup, the next generation absolutely smashed it as well. Let’s just say there were more than a few rising stars on show.
Westside Cowboy are clearly at the start of something very special and got a healthy dose of shout-outs from punters on the day; Keo were as frenetic as everyone knew they would be, Brooke Combe was on top form as she has been every time we’ve seen her, and Cassia were class.
More Mancs rose to the challenge in the form of The Guest List’s biggest show yet, too – they were also left super humbled when we spoke to them afterwards – and fellow regional band The Royston Club were nothing short of excellent, simple as.
Hearing thousands belt out ’52’ and ‘Cariad’ at the top of their lungs was one of our highlights of the entire weekend, to be honest.
Of course, then you’ve got the likes of the already established DMA’S, who were absolutely box office and made it plain how much affection they have for “their second home” up here in this part of the UK, and Sunday’s headliners, Blossoms, have proven time and time again that they’re the real deal now.
But aside from banger after banger, it was a conversation we overheard near us during the Stopfordians’ set that helped us come to this revelation.
Somewhere between their walk-out on stage and the second/third song, a bloke and his mate behind us shared an intimate moment we felt almost rude for having accidentally eavesdropped on, right up until the point it made us well up ourselves.
Without going into too much detail, this very stereotypical-sounding Northerner dropped all pretence and confessed to his friend that he’d had a tough couple of months, and that he’d been looking forward to this for weeks – not simply because Blossoms are his favourite artist, but because he needed it.
Call it a release, that hour or so of sheer abandon, or just sharing a special music memory with his best mate: whatever it was, this evening was much more than a gig to him. People throw the phrase ‘lifesaver’ around about music a lot, and it never feels like an exaggeration in moments like this.
It was also apparent that he was a working-class Warrington native who was lucky enough for his postcode to help him afford to go to Neighbourhood Weekender and have this embrace with his pal, who was in an ideal setting to have perhaps a long overdue heart-to-heart. THIS is what it means to people.
Music is therapy, and when done in its purest form – i.e. played live to people who live and breathe the stuff – it can do more good than you’ll ever know.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd June 2021 
