There’s no denying that it won’t be for everyone, but one of Manchester’s longest-running charities, We Love MCR Charity, is holding a unique Manchester Firewalk Challenge in one of the city centre’s most iconic locations in less that a week’s time.
Following on from the success of its Landmarks of Manchester 10K – which saw hundreds dig their running shoes out between March and July to raise some money and fall in love with the city all over again once lockdown restrictions first began to lift – the charity is keen to keep the theme of Manchester’s iconic locations going.
Training for the daring challenge has been taking place at the historic Manchester Central Library this week, before the event itself arrives at St Peter’s Square on Wednesday 13 October.
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But if you fancy giving it a go for yourself, the charity is encouraging last-minute sign-ups to pop their name down and give it a go.
Some familiar faces are taking part in the challenge too – including the just-announced ex-Love Islander, influencer and Mancunian resident Rosie Williams, who is the charity’s newest Ambassador – so you won’t be braving it alone.
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“It sounds crazy, but I was thrilled to be asked to take on We Love MCR Charity’s Firewalk as one of my first challenges,” said Cllr Donna Ludford, Deputy Lord Mayor of Manchester.
“Doing this to raise money for Manchester’s communities and young people is a fantastic idea [and] I can’t wait to learn the secrets of walking on hot coals.
“I hope that lots of fellow Mancunians will join me.”
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The Manchester Firewalk Challenge is this year being sponsored by Manchester-based IT company Sync – which has been powering organisations throughout the UK with the latest technology to keep them moving for the last 30 years – and all funds raised by those with the guts to take the walk will go directly towards We Love MCR Charity.
“After awarding £1 million to frontline groups tackling problems in the pandemic, we need to raise new funds,” explained Ged Carter, We Love MCR Charity’s Manager.
“We plan to award a further half a million pounds this year to our local communities to help them recover, and to ambitious young Mancunians to help them to take their next steps to success [but] we can do nothing without the public’s support.
“And we know there are plenty of people who love Manchester too, who would fancy taking on this bucket-list challenge to support our local communities.”
“Places are limited, so sign up today before you miss the chance,” he added.
Registration for the Manchester Firewalk Challenge costs just £15 per participant, and you must commit to raising sponsorship for We Love MCR Charity as an individual online sponsorship page is automatically created for as part of the sign-up process.
All participants will receive full safety guidance on the evening, and learn how to do the seemingly-impossible by walking over burning coals with training led by fully-trained and renowned experts in this field.
As mentioned, funds raised will go towards helping the We Love MCR Charity continue to carry out its vital work throughout the city of Manchester, and will particularly support the organisation’s Manchester Rising Stars programme – which helps young people to succeed in their chosen paths.
Events on the night will be captured by one of the charity’s ‘Rising Stars’, who has been awarded camera equipment to get started in their ambition to become a professional photographer, and another beneficiary of the fund, who is an aspiring DJ, will provide inspiring tunes to build the atmosphere as the brave firewalkers step out.
“The event really is by Manchester, in Manchester, for Manchester,” Ged concluded.
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Reckon you’ve got what it takes to walk bare foot over 500-degree hot coals? / Credit: We Love MCR Charity
Fancy giving it a crack then?
You can find more information about the challenge, sponsor the “brave souls” taking part, and most importantly, sign up to the Firewalk via the We Love MCR Charity website here.
Featured Image – We Love MCR Charity
What's On
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Yard Act announce handful of new headline shows ahead of 6Music gig in Manchester
Clementine Hall
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024, including a show right here in Manchester – but not before their BBC 6Music Festival gig later this week.
We are so, SO back.
It’s been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a limited run of domestic shows for later in the year including their homecoming gig at the O2 Academy in Leeds on Friday, 6 November.
But after playing over in Yorkshire, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on the following Friday (13 Nov).
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album, Where’s My Utopia?, with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August ’24.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy.
It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have been keeping busy writing and recording their third studio LP, as well as heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives – oh, and that intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to this coming autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait. We spoke to them a little while back and know how much big stuff they’ve got further pipeline; you can see the interview HERE.
Booking just three headline slots, the handful of tour dates are as follows:
06 Nov – Leeds
13 Nov – Manchester
26 Nov – London
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday, 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday, 27 March. Sign up to grab yours right HERE.
As for those wanting to find out more about this year’s 6Music Fest, you find the full lineup and more down below.
Emily Sergeant -
7th October 2021 
