A seven year old boy from Stockport has managed to raise a whopping £470 and counting for Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home ahead of the festive period.
Harley – a passionate animal lover from Marple Bridge – became an official donations collector for the local rescue shelter after beginning a two-week mission earlier this month to raise funds and treat the dogs who are sadly without homes this Christmas.
A registered charity founded in 1893, Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home carries out vital work at its Harpurhey shelter to rescue, care for, and rehome our four-legged friends, but winter is always a tricky time.
And this is why Harley wanted to lend a helping hand.
Rallying together his friends, family and the local Stockport community, Harley asked for donations of tinned dog food, treats, toys, and even old bedding and blankets.
He also started a GoFundMe page for his mission, setting an initial target of just £20.
But with a little help from his Mum – who shared his fundraising efforts to social media and garnered hundreds of responses from members of the public – Harley managed to smash his target not once, but twice, and has now raised over £470.
How brilliant is this?
Items and funds were donated from all across the local community, and in no time at all, Harley had managed to fill his conservatory at home with toys, food, blankets, towels, treats, leads, dog coats, dog beds and more.
Everything a pup could ever need.
Word also made its way to higher places too, as the young fundraiser proudly received a visit, letter of encouragement, and donation of items this week from Marple Councillor and Chair of Economy & Regeneration Steve Gibbon, as well as a £10 voucher from pet supplies chain Pets at Home towards his collection.
He even earned himself a worthy shoutout on the Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home Facebook page too, with a post that went on to amass over 800 interactions and shares, as well as plenty of messages of support from far and wide praising his impressive fundraising efforts.
There’s no doubt he is making everyone proud after what has been a turbulent year, and his Mum has told us he is “so grateful to everyone who has donated items or money” over the past couple of weeks and are continuing to do so.
After hitting his target, Harley has decided that a chunk of the £450 raised will go directly to the home to help contribute to their vets bills.
And with just four weeks to go until Christmas Day, his mission still isn’t over.
Harley’s fundraising collection for the Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home is still open until 4th December.
Whether it be donations of items or funds, anyone can get involved, so if you have few extra pounds to spare to contribute to a worthy local cause this Christmas and help out a real Mancunian superstar, you can chip in to his official GoFundMe page here.
More information on the lifesaving work by the Manchester & Cheshire Dogs’ Home can be found via its website here.
Review | Snow Patrol roll back the years at Co-op Live for a mini-Manc’s first gig
Danny Jones
This weekend we enjoyed a new kind of live music experience: rediscovering the joy of listening to a childhood favourite by watching it through the eyes of the next generation – that was how we witnessed a fully-fledged arena return to Manchester for Snow Patrol at Co-op Live.
And it was special for lots of reasons.
Taking a little one to their first gig is something you’ll never forget and sharing a new-found connection with a band that you loved when you were their age is one of those magical things about music that we’re eternally grateful for.
You might assume the Snow Patrol crowd one skews a little older for the most part but we were pleased to see there were more than a few kids and teenagers donning tour tees, looking wide-eyed at the sheer size of the Co-op Live arena, and singing the words back better than Gary Lightbody at times.
Sees the sign: ‘Race you there!’ (Credit: Audio North)
Yes, the Belfast-born frontman made a few mistakes on the night, but it did add a rather laid-back quality to what many acts might have found a daunting performance: playing a sell-out night to around 23,500 fans inside the enormous state-of-the-art venue.
But, obviously, there wasn’t even a whiff of nerves from these lads.
You don’t get to have been around for this long and become as successful as they are without being able to relax on stage and lean into those idiosyncratic perfections that feel more like private moments shared between the artist and the crowd.
The young lad sat watching it with us certainly got a kick out of it and though we might not have been able to cover his ears in time to censor some light but ever-charming swear words (it always sounds better in Irish, don’t you think?), it made for some nice banter between him and the crowd.
Big props must go to Johnny McDaid on the keys too, who besides having written for the likes of Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams, Alicia Keys, Biffy Clyro and countless others over the years, also managed to impress by playing the majority of this entire tour after having trapped his hand in a train door. OUCH.
Credit: The Manc Group
Not only was that little interlude up there with one of the most applause-worthy parts of the entire show, but we were always pretty blown away by what we saw, as we all as what we heard.
Be it watching a digital tree come to life, shed its leaves and then fall as petal confetti, two sheer semi-opaque paper-thin screens swirl to create the album cover art for their latest album, or kicking the gig off with ‘Take Back The City’ as a multicoloured skyline appeared behind them, it was all pretty incredible.
We even got to hear a personal favourite of ours, ‘Set Fire To The Third Bar’, complete with a virtual performance from the voice that truly makes the song: Martha Wainwright.
It was in moments like this when we turned to see a 10-year-old’s face not quite sure of what it was seeing but an open-mouthed expression confirming they were finding it as stunning as we were.
We thoroughly enjoyed going through the back catalogue and working our way right up to plenty of the songs from The Forest Is The Path – which Gary himself firmly believes is their best work yet when we interviewed him – but it was as visually stunning as it was to the gorgeous sonically.
Both proved to be a brilliant way to see the contemporary rock, indie and alternative veterans, but there’s something about giving them a stage as big as this that reminds you of just how much they deserve it.
Up there with one of the prettiest gig snapshots in our memory.Not quite a hologram but very cool nonetheless.The production levels are always top-tier at Co-op Live but the Snow Patrol set was much more impressive than we expected.
Last but not least, thanks to Co-op Live not just for having but for creating a little boy’s memory that he’ll never forget.
Flashbacks: The timelapse of the Trafford Centre construction that’s gone viral
Danny Jones
The Trafford Centre might look like some decadent Roman emperor’s palace or as if it was plucked from the heart of Ancient Grecian city, but as anyone old enough to remember it’s opening and/or construction will tell you, it seems strange to think its not even been around for three decades yet.
As Greater Manchester’s and one of the North West’s most famous shopping centres full stop, the iconic attraction first began being built back in 1996, when John Major was Prime Minister, Manchester United were still Premier League champions, Britpop was at its peak and George Michael was number one.
It’s fair to say that a lot has changed since then and although Oasis might be back come 2025, The Trafford Centre and surrounding area are pretty unrecgonisable compared to nearly 30 years ago.
All told, it took approximately 27 months to erect the neo-classical epicentre of all things shopping, leisure, food and fanciness – and here’s what the process looked like:
With the initial 14 million sq ft shopping centre being completed in September 1998 following approximately 810 days of work, The Trafford Centre debuted to the Manc public and beyond.
It took more than 3,000 builders to bring the 60 hectare site to life at the peak of construction and since then the plot has only grown bigger, bolder and more ambitious over time.
Present day, it has everything from cinema screens and a mini Legoland to a Sea Life location, multiple bowling alleys and countless other forms of entertainment beyond just rows of shops and restaurants – hence why it remains busy pretty much year-round.
Back then, British celebrities, popular local names of note, politicians, dignitaries and prominent figures from the retail industry got to visit as part of exclusive preview events in the days before its launch date.
You can see the spectacle and fascination surrounding the official opening event here:
Seems surreal watching this today but the construction of the Trafford Centre was a huge moment not just for 0161 but all of the North.
But of course, the entire complex itself has seen multiple extensions over the years, including massive developments such as Barton Square and The Great Hall.
At the outset, it cost more than £600 million to build The Trafford Centre; the major renovations mentioned above which took place in 2008 cost another £100m and the Trafford Palazzo revamp around a decade later came in at around £75m.
There has and always will be lots of money put behind this intruguing monument to modern consumerism, and big brands will continue to flock to open units within the huge expanse whenever they can: some of the most recent being Archie’s, Flying Tiger, Sephora, Tiffany, Gymshark and more.
We’ll admit the aesthetic still makes us double-take from time to time (though not as much as confused Londoners visiting for the first time), but it’s not like this part of the world hasn’t boasted plenty of other curiosities in the past…
Emily Sergeant -
25th November 2020 
