An exciting new partnership between We Love MCR Charity and Groundwork has successfully awarded four local communities with the funds to transform unused areas and turn them into green spaces.
After one of Manchester’s most iconic charities, We Love MCR, heard of Groundwork’s competition, it fell in love with the idea immediately and hopped on board to double the funding available for projects within the borough. This has meant four communities have now been awarded this transformational opportunity.
The generous donation is helping to bring more ideas to life and will equip communities with the skills to design, install and maintain natural features to create communal spaces.
"I wish our alleyway looked like that" – Well now it can…
A panel of judges reviewed nearly 50 applications from across Greater Manchester, scrutinising community need, group creativity, and inclusion of nature-based-solutions that tackle climate change.
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The four lucky winners are Pioneer Quay in Deansgate / Castlefield; Pigeon Park in Longsight; Blooming Amazing Community Alley in Trafford; and The Ginnel Garden in Edgeley, Stockport.
Pioneer Quay is a canal-side site based in Castlefield, which has been disused and neglected for a number of years, and this funding aims to transform it into a real hub of community activity and a vital green lung in the heart of the city centre.
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The team behind the transformation planned for Pigeon Park – which is the informal name for a prominent triangle of grass in the centre of Longsight that’s gained its nickname thanks to the flock of pigeons that congregate there – are hoping the space will become somewhere people will stop to “read a book or just enjoy a bit more of what nature has to offer.”
Blooming Amazing Community Alley is an unusual wide-sectioned alleyway that backs onto a primary school in Gorse Hill, where there’s been flytipping, contaminated bins and broken glass for many years – but this funding offers the opportunity to transform the alley into a creative and inclusive community space.
The Ginnel Garden in Edgeley is an intergenerational project that engages neighbours of all ages in growing, creating and spending more time together, and while some creative steps have already been taken to improve the space, the group are keen to create a climate resilient alleyway which could help to inspire other communities.
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Funding will help Pioneer Quay become a vital green lung in the heart of the city centre / Credit: WLMC
Funds will equip communities with the skills to design and install communal spaces / Credit: WLMC
Speaking on the awarding of the whopping £24,000 funding, Marie O’Neill-Steinegger – Grants Officer at We Love MCR Charity, who was also on the judging panel – said: “The last 14 months have really shown us how important green spaces are to communities [and] having spaces in nature is so vital for everyone’s mental health, for general physical health and allowing communities to come together.
“It’s been fantastic reading all of the applicants’ stories and hearing about the great work happening across the city.
“We can’t wait to follow their progress and see how they develop.”
— Groundwork Greater Manchester (@GroundworkGM) April 14, 2021
Groundwork’s experienced landscape architects and community coordinators will be supporting each of the four projects throughout the summer to help design and install their new community spaces ready for use.
“Funding for green spaces can be hard to come by, and we’re so thrilled we’ve been able to support these four groups.” Amy Wright from Groundwork Greater Manchester added.
“I can’t wait to see these climate resilient and nature-friendly Eco Streets come to life.”
Featured Image – WLMC
UK News
Liam and Noel spent a wholesome Gallagher Easter together for the first time in years
Danny Jones
We wish you a belated and brilliant Gallagher Easter, courtesy of Noel and Liam, who spent the holiday together, along with family members, for the first time in god knows how many years.
In all seriousness, we do hope you had a lovely long weekend, but we’ll admit we’re far more interested in the Gallagher brothers spending the bank holiday together than anyone else.
No offence.
As far as largely inane celebrity news, this particular brand is the kind we get up for, mainly because we have alerts on for everything Oasis and/or Gallagher-related since the long-awaited reunion was announced. Safe to say the algorithm knows exactly what we want.
So we had a BIBLICAL Easter Sunday Noel Donavan and Sonny popped over to ours for a cup of tea it was absolutely incredible to meet the young guvs i obviously blew there minds coz im cool as fuck you heard it here 1st LG x
Hopping on social media (let’s be honest, he’s never off it) to share the good news, Liam confirmed that he and his big bro spent at least part of the Easter break together, along with some of the Gallagher kids.
Noel’s daughter Anaïs and Liam’s youngest, Molly and Gene, may have been spotted together on multiple occasions recently and look to have buried the feud along with their dads, but to our knowledge this may have been the first time some of these kids have ever met their cousins.
While it wasn’t a complete family reunion, the idea of the Burnage boys sitting with a brew alongside their children is quite a surreal image to picture in our mind’s eye – but then again, so were those first snaps of the brothers together in the same room before the comeback was officially announced.
Donavan Gallagher was just two years old when Oasis split up back in 2009, so there’s the plenty of reason to assume he had at least seen the mini Manc before that point; second son Sonny, however, was only born in 2010, so LG may have never even seen him in the flesh before.
In fact, Noel has insisted in the past that his younger sibling hasn’t met his of his kids bar his eldest daughter, Anaïs. As the kids were present, we’re going to faithfully assume the rider consisted of strictly tea and chocolate.
Given the unprecedented meeting and the fact the communion took place over Easter, for once, Liam describing it as ‘biblical’ feels actually somewhat accurate.
Once again, we’re just glad to see and hear any positive stories about the Manc music icons and we just pray they keep up the families until the reunion world tour is over at the very least.
We were also delighted to see that Radio X once again voted an Oasis track as ‘the greatest British song ever’ – can you guess which one it is?
Featured Images — BBC Three (screenshot)/Press Shot/@erintheredmc (via Wikimedia Commons)
UK News
Social media beauty spots and selfies blamed for record rise in mountain rescue callouts
Daisy Jackson
There’s been a record rise in the number of young people needing help from mountain rescue teams – and social media has been blamed for luring unprepared people into potentially dangerous situations.
As well as these viral beauty spots – such as Mam Tor – the rise in call-outs has also been attributed to ‘poor-quality map apps’ which can stop functioning when in areas with poor phone service.
According to an exclusive report in The Guardian, it’s now tourists under the age of 24 who are most likely to need mountain rescue’s assistance while out walking.
The data provided by Ordnance Survey said that the number of call-outs from this age group has almost doubled between 2019 and 2024.
Overall rescues increased by 24% over a similar period.
A spokesman for Mountain Rescue said that young people are drawn to places like the Lake District after seeing images on social media, but are often not dressed or equipped properly for the conditions.
Nick Giles said people are often ‘too reliant on mobile phones’ and unprepared for the changes in weather and terrain that come with hiking.
Mike Park, chief executive of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, told The Guardian: “We know from incident reports that more and more people are tempted into risky locations by Instagram posts and the navigation apps being used aren’t always suitable for an outdoor environment.
“Add to that a tendency to follow popular routes online without knowing the hazards and context, and it’s not surprising that those likely to be relying most on their phones are the ones getting into difficulties.”
Before you head out on any hike or walk, you should make sure you’re prepared and equipped – see Mountain Rescue’s tips HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
21st June 2021 
