After all, when more than £15,000 was raised for the charity‘s vital work supporting Manchester communities last time round, then why no go for round two?
The We Love MCR Sponsored Firewalk is part of the charity’s ongoing series of ‘mind-over-matter’ fundraising challenges.
And if having 50 fundraisers walk over 700-degree hot coals with dozens of spectators cheering them on wasn’t impressive enough the first time, this year, the event was even bigger and better than ever, because the charity upped the stakes by putting on not one, but two, lanes of fire for walkers to conquer.
After being rescheduled to Thursday 25 January from its original date last November, due to adverse weather conditions, this meant that the second Firewalk was We Love MCR Charity’s first fundraising event in 2024.
70 “daredevil” Mancs took on the challenge in St Ann’s Square this time around.
‘Daredevil’ Mancs have raised more than £25,000 for charity / Credit: Jake Lindley (via WLMC)
Firewalking expert, Cliff Mann from TIME4CHANGE, returned to Manchester to oversee the event and coach nervous participants once again.
International samba reggae band, Batala, were also there to add to the atmosphere, and made sure their ferocious drumming served as a dramatic soundtrack to the night’s events so the brave firewalkers had a beat to march to while they stepped out of their comfort zone.
Simon Wright, who is the new Head of We Love MCR Charity, was one of those who took to the coals as his first fundraising event for the charity.
“Since joining We Love MCR in September 2023, I’ve been looking forward to getting involved in some exciting fundraising events,” Simon said following the event.
“And I couldn’t have asked for a better first challenge than a trial by fire right in the heart of the city.
“We’d like to thank our brilliant participants for once again rising to the challenge and raising funds in aid of Manchester’s communities and young people, as we truly couldn’t do it without your support.”
70 fundraisers walked on fire in St Ann’s Square last week / Credit: Jake Lindley (via WLMC)
More than £25,000 was raised from the event, and that figure is climbing by the day too.
All funds raised from the Firewalk will go towards We Love MCR’s life-changing support across the city with its two main grant-giving programmes – the ‘Rising Stars Fund’, and the ‘Stronger Communities Fund’.
Find out more about the future events in WLMC’s ‘Challenge Event Series’ here.
Featured Image – Jake Lindley (via WLMC)
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Pep Guardiola hints at when Manchester City fans can expect to see their latest arrival
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given supporters a rough timeline as to when they can expect to see their new signing, or at least their latest arrival, make his first appearance.
The Blues wrapped up the January transfer window with four major signings: their new attacking number seven, Omar Marmoush (who has already bagged a hattrick on his home debut) promising defensive duo, Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian Vitor Reis, as well as their ‘mini-Rodri’, Nico Gonzalez.
However, the club has had another late arrival who was technically signed back at the start of last year but who has spent for the last 12 months or so loaned back to his previous parent club, River Plate in Argentina, waiting to make the move over to the Etihad Stadium – and now he’s here in Manchester.
Speaking on his touchdown in 0161, Pep said Claudio Echeverri won’t be thrown into first-team action straight away but did give a rough estimate as to when City fans could expect him to get involved. You can see him discussing the integration plan in his post-match press conference following the Spurs win.
The mention was only brief but there’s still plenty of reason for Man City fans to be excited by the late January signing.
“Yeah, he [Claudio Echeverri] is going to start to train and mainly will be for the end of the season, maybe the [Club] World Cup and as soon as possible [that] he arrives he can adapt quick for the future.”
As mentioned, the 19-year-old Argentinian attacking midfielder from Resistencia officially put pen to paper with CFG back in January 2024 and was quickly dubbed ‘the next Messi’.
Now, although the football world is often quick to jump the gun with these things and he isn’t the first and certainly won’t be last to be slapped with this premature title, he’s done more to back up these claims since then than he has rubbish them.
Starring at the 2025 Under-20 South American Championships, netting six goals in nine games to finish the tournament as the second highest scorer thanks to notable braces against Brazil and Uruguay as the young Argentine’s finished as runners up.
He also notched 48 senior appearances for River Plate thus far, netting four goals and grabbing eight assists in that time, not to mention having already captained his national team at the 2023 Under 17s World Cup, where he scored another five.
Safe to say there’s plenty of talent to be tapped in this lad.
Once again, Echeverri won’t go straight into the senior set-up for a little while yet, barring a major injury crisis, but he’ll be a more than exciting addition to the City Football Academy and for future first-team lineups for years to come.
Who knows, maybe he’ll be included in an FA Cup matchday squad? Nevertheless, you can expect him to not just come of the bench but hopefully show what he can do at the Club World Cup this summer.
City‘s first fixture as reigning champions of the competition will be against Moroccan side Wydad AC on 18 June 2025.
You can watch Echeverri’s first full interview as a Man City player down below:
The new Man City signing is excited to be finally be part of the club 13 months on from agreeing his contract.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025
Emily Sergeant
Rochdale has officially been named Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2025.
Taking over the reins from Bolton – which held the title in 2024 – and following in the footsteps of Stockport before that, which held the title in 2023, and even hosted a massive ‘Town of Culture Weekender’ festival with 50+ free events to celebrate and bring its title year to a close, it’s now the turn of the north-eastern Greater Manchester borough of Rochdale.
Rochdale’s year will build on the town’s already-rich cultural history and international reputation as the home of the co-operative movement.
More than 35 arts organisations will be bringing together an ambitious programme of festivals, exhibitions, events, and performances throughout the year.
Unfamiliar with what the ‘Greater Manchester Town of Culture’ title is all about? It’s an accolade that’s handed out every year to different boroughs across the region.
Bury was the inaugural title-holder 2020 and held onto it in 2021 too due to the COVID pandemic, before being followed by Stalybridge in 2022, Stockport in 2023, and of course, Bolton in the year just gone.
The title celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.
As well as getting a new title to shout about, it also sees the towns given a grant from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) culture fund to help develop a programme of cultural events and activities throughout the year.
Rochdale has been named Greater Manchester’s ‘Town of Culture’ for 2025 / Credit: The Manc Group | Rochdale Council
In Rochdale’s case, you can expect the ‘very best local talent’, as this year is promising to put ‘people power’ centre stage, with residents helping to plan, develop, and deliver a lineup of creative activities, alongside a number of major events.
This includes the popular free days out for families, an exciting new urban arts festival, two different food and drink festivals, a lantern parade, the Ignite Fire Festival, a Pride parade, and so much more.
You can also expect live music performances, a new people’s gallery, and even some major international collaborations that are yet to be announced.
Rochdale is taking over the reins from Bolton, which held the title in 2024 / Credit: Rochdale Council
“Rochdale is a place with a rich cultural history, so it is great to name it Greater Manchester’s town of culture as it’s town hall and town centre enter a new era,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham as the borough was crowned this week.
“Rochdale submitted a fantastic bid for this which, was incredibly exciting and ambitious, while being firmly rooted in its local talent and deep history.
Emily Sergeant -
29th January 2024 
