Alton Towers vows to make accessibility changes after disabled woman was taken off rideBecky Cheetham
Alton Towers has confirmed that a woman with cerebral palsy is to be involved in the resort’s updated disability training after she was left in tears over treatment by staff.
Hannah Cheetham – who requires the use of a wheelchair – was “embarrassed” and distraught after a visit to Alton Towers with her sister Becky last week, where she was publicly removed from one of the resort’s rides and was left “angry and fed up due to the ignorance of staff”.
Despite being in her thirties, Hannah was only allowed to ride children’s rides.
During the trip on 28th September, Hannah – who visits the park annually as an “adrenaline junkie”, and has previously gone on every ride she wished – obtained a disability access band and then headed for the Smiler, but her sister Becky spotted a sign by the rollercoaster which said that users must be able to walk 25 metres unaided.
She mentioned it to a member of staff.
Becky said: “The lady then turned to her co-worker and shouted across, ‘She can’t walk’, and shut the door behind us. My issues with this situation is Hannah is a human. Please speak to her directly. Do not embarrass her by shouting out her insecurities across the ride for a crowd of people to hear.
“We passed three lots of workers, and not one of them thought to explain the rules of the ride before we got up there and had to turn around.”
Then they headed to Rita – where Becky lifted Hannah into a seat and workers strapped her in – but just as the ride was about to start, a member of staff asked if Hannah could walk unaided in case the ride broke down and she was told to get off the ride in front of everyone else.
They were later offered a refund after spending £40 per ticket.
A petition started by the pair online – who are both from Greater Manchester – now has close to 50,000 signatures.
The petition calls for: “All public facing staff should therefore undergo disability awareness training to prevent the distress we experienced yesterday and to enable all people, including wheelchair users, to have the same wonderful experience and fun day out.
“If disability awareness training already exists, this needs to be significantly improved.”
Now, Alton Towers has issued a public apology and has invited Hannah and Becky to contribute to improving staff disability training going forward.
Katie McBirnie – Head of Product Excellence at Alton Towers – said: “We are deeply sorry for this incident, which falls well below the high expectations we have for our employees. At Alton Towers Resort, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive resort and we really value the feedback that Hannah and Becky have given us.
“We have certainly listened and we want to do better.”
Alton Towers
A spokesperson for the park added: “We have invited Hannah and Becky back to discuss the changes we can make, and we look forward to showing them how committed we are to making sure that their experience is not repeated.”
In response to the invitation – which has been accepted by the pair – Becky Cheetham said: “We feel excited about the prospect of changing attractions for the better [and] we hope to help public facing roles improve their disability training and give disabled people a better experience.”
Becky also said that she had been told her YouTube video about the ordeal would form part of staff training.
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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 -
7th October 2020 
