A new partnership of four charities has been selected to provide domestic abuse services in Salford from April 2022, following a competitive tender process.

Salford Foundation, Pankhurst Trust, TLC: Talk, Listen, Change and Trafford Domestic Abuse Service (TDAS) have come together to create the 'Safe in Salford' service.

Their collective aim is to transform and improve how domestic abuse services are designed, delivered and evaluated in Salford - to improve outcomes for those impacted and affected.

Services have previously been delivered separately for victims and survivors, children and young people and perpetrators. The new model of delivery will involve a 'one front door' approach, so that support and challenge is coordinated seamlessly.

This will enable a significant shift in how domestic abuse is tackled in the city.

The partnership will provide a range of complementary services including individual support, group activities, safety planning and training for professionals from a range of venues across Salford.

Collectively, the four charities have over 140 years' experience of delivering services to people in Salford and the surrounding boroughs. At the heart of their partnership lies a commitment to listening and responding to the experiences of victims and to working collaboratively to create sustainable change with individuals, families and communities.

Phil East, CEO of Salford Foundation said:

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"I am delighted that we have been able to form such a great partnership, building on the different strengths and specialisms of our individual charities.

Domestic abuse continues to be a significant issue in Salford, affecting people from all backgrounds and contributing to a wide range of harms, disadvantages and poor outcomes.

Collectively, we are determined to create a step-change in tackling domestic abuse in Salford."

 

Sam Fisher, CEO of TDAS said:

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We have designed 'Safe in Salford' to be flexible and accessible, offering person-centred, trauma-informed safety and support.

We will achieve this by working collaboratively with all our partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors. After a successful two years' of supporting children and young People in Salford, we look forward to continuing to deliver the Harbour project and strengthening our relationships within the city to actively address domestic abuse, enabling survivors to break free."

 

Salford much loved Museum & Art Gallery has opened a zero-waste shop this February.

Supported by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund “Steps to Sustainability” programme, the shop has been set up with the support and guidance of Salford’s first zero-waste shop, The Dispensary, in Walkden Shopping Centre, who selected and sourced the products on behalf of the Museum.

The zero-waste shop features well-known ethical brands such as Alter/Native, Upcircle and Miniml toiletries & cosmetics, as well as easy zero waste accessory swap items such as linen bags, bamboo cloths and reusable containers. There is also a dedicated range of eco reading materials to help support people wanting to make wider changes in their life to be more sustainable.

A key feature of the new pop up shop is a dedicated refill station, where people can bring empty 500ml bottles and containers and refill with ethical toiletries and cleaning products priced from £3.00-5.00.

Jennifer Holland, Commercial Manager for Salford Museums & Galleries, said:

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“We hope this initiative will encourage our visitors to think more sustainably about how they shop and enable them to make easy changes to their consumer habits to be more eco-friendly. The shop is located at the centre of the University of Salford Campus and on a busy Manchester commuter route and we hope this initiative will allow both students, university staff and people working in the city centre to have easy access to the very best ethical products on the UK market.

“The Dispensary is the leading zero-waste organisation in Salford, with a successful shop in operation, and we are honoured to be working alongside them on this progressive project.”

 

Profits made from the zero-waste shop will go directly back into the purchase of more ethically sourced products for the museum shop, with the longer term aim of widening the product range, as well as, helping with the upkeep of the 172-year-old year building.

The Salford Museum & Gallery Museum Shop and zero-waste pop up is open 9.30am-4.00pm daily as well as the museum’s café at Peel Park, The Crescent, Salford.

More than £4 million is to be invested in services in Salford to prevent and tackle domestic abuse over the next five years.

Salford City Council, Salford NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Greater Manchester Police, which jointly fund the service, have awarded a five-year,£4.165 million contract to Salford Foundation to lead the new service. The decision was made after detailed analysis of existing services and an open market tender process.

Under this new way of working, which will start from 1 April 2022, the 30-year-old social inclusion charity will work with the Pankhurst Trust, TLC: Talk, Listen Change, which supports children and young people, and Trafford Domestic Abuse Services (TDAS) to provide and co-ordinate a wide range of services for adult and child survivors and perpetrators who want to change their behaviour. All services will be based in Salford.

Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods and community safety, said the service will make it easier for people to reach out for help, avoid having to repeat their story to different organisations and provide more specialist and holistic support. 

He said:

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“All four organisations have decades of experience and will work closely together to make sure survivors and their families get the confidential, personalised emotional and practical support they need for as long as they need it,”

“There will be specialist services for children and young people who live with domestic abuse or who, as a result of their experiences, are starting to harm others.

“An early help service will try to prevent domestic abuse starting or escalating and there will be separate specialist services to work with perpetrators to help them understand and change their behaviour.

“Domestic abuse can happen to anyone, men or women, of any age and any background but there is help to overcome it.”

 

Dr Tom Tasker, Chair of NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

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‘’NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, alongside our partner agencies, remain committed to working towards eliminating domestic abuse in Salford.

‘’We recognise the considerable impact of domestic abuse on health and wellbeing and will continue to invest where required to improve our integrated offer to individuals and families across Salford.

‘’This supports our partnerships vision for Salford to be a better place to live and grow up and grow old.’’

 

Chief Superintendent Shaun Donnellan from GMP’s Salford District, said:

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“Domestic abuse remains one of the highest priorities for Greater Manchester Police (GMP), and I would like to reassure all victims that help and support is available.

“The city of Salford has a strong and established partnership committed to providing excellent services, and this new approach reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that people who need help get it swiftly by an innovative, holistic approach. Any action we can take to protect victims of domestic abuse is welcomed and will play a significant part in keeping the people of Salford safe.

“GMP, alongside partners, continue to drive forward research and adapt our approaches to ensure we are providing the best possible service for victims. We are committed to working together to make sure people have the confidence to speak out and know where to go for help and support, as well as working to reduce instances of domestic abuse through prevention and rehabilitative programmes.”

 

Construction is set to get underway to refurbish a former family centre in Little Hulton into apartments for Salford residents at risk of homelessness.

Councillors on Salford City Council’s Procurement Board today (Wednesday 16 February) greenlit the awarding of a contract to deliver four one-bedroom apartments at the site in Wingate Road. The apartments are the first four of 28 to be delivered in 2022 with the council undertaking wider work in partnership with organisations to create a range of affordable homes to address homelessness in the city.

The apartments are self-contained supported housing and will help the council meet the city's acute needs by providing essential move-on accommodation units for those looking to move out of emergency housing.

Deputy City Mayor Councillor Tracy Kelly, Lead Member for Housing, Property and Regeneration said:

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“We continue to face a critical shortage of affordable housing in Salford and amongst this, we have very few move-on options available to those who are without a home of their own.

“These apartments will therefore provide a real lifeline to those who are struggling. They will ensure they are able to have a roof above their head, an opportunity to live independently and get access to intensive onsite support to help them permanently move away from homelessness.”

 

The council currently houses 314 people who have slept rough or remain at risk of rough sleeping which underlines the need for this type of housing.

The refurbishment will ensure the homes are delivered to a good green standard, producing less carbon than before and the two ground floor apartments will also be accessible for wheelchair users. The building was previously used by the council’s children services and following decommission, it was decided it would be better utilised as a property for move-on accommodation.

Eccles-based building contractor Schofield and Sons was awarded the contract with work on the new homes expected to start later this month and finish in May. The £190k project is being funded from a successful bid to the government’s Rough Sleepers Accommodation Programme.

According to a study undertaken by Admiral Car Insurance, Salford is the fifth least stressful place to park based on tweets related to parking.

Driving can be stressful, whether you’re stuck in traffic or looking for a parking spot. Admiral Car Insurance analysed more than 157,000 tweets about parking by UK motorists to find out where the most stressful London boroughs are to find a parking spot.

For each tweet, they applied the academic tool called TensiStrength to measure the stress levels and rank each location as having the highest percentage of stressed-out parking-related tweets.

Their analysis revealed that Salford is the 5th least stressful city in the UK to find a parking spot with only 21.7% of tweets about parking in Salford scoring as stressful on the TensiStrength scale. 

40% of the bottom 10 list is made up of North West cities (Carlisle, Salford, Preston, and Blackpool) meaning the North West is the least stressful region to find parking.

Glasgow is the UK city with the lowest proportion of stressed tweets related to parking (13.9%), making it the least stressful city for drivers to find a parking spot.

A stark contrast to the South which featured among the highest, with Plymouth taking the top spot as the worst place to find a parking space.

The tool 'TensiStrength' was used to estimate the stress levels in tweets, by analysing them on a scale of -1 to -5 (very highly stressed), based on the classification of words related to stress, frustration, anxiety, anger and negativity.   

The final rankings are based on the locations with the highest proportion of tweets that are classified as ‘mild stressed’ or higher (-2 to -5 on the TensiStrength scale). 

All cities within the UK were included within the analysis.

Data Source: https://www.admiral.com/car-insurance

Vigilant police in Eccles have removed yet another illegal driver from the roads.

The Ford Transit was intercepted after being seen driving on Wellington Road, with no driving licence and no insurance.

The vehicle has now been seized and taken away on the back of a recovery vehicle.

The driver will be summonsed to court.

The auction of the Edison Cavani painting kindly donated by artist, Brian Gorman has resulted in several winners I'm happy to report.

Brian gave me the painting last week to auction off to the highest bidder to raise much needed funds for local charity, The Mustard Tree, more specifically it's emergency food store which helps weekend referrals.

Bidding was brisk for the painting and at one stage it looked like John Brierley would take it home with his bid of £80, however a last minute bid of £100 was offered by big hearted John Mottershead, the final whistle blew and it was his.

We took it to his, and it has to be said, marvellous house in Swinton and presented it to him, where he told us,

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"I am a Salford lad, a massive Manchester United fan but for me. more importantly it was helping out a local charity, and I was more than happy to help out"

I did say I would give John's company a mention, you never know when you might need them, so a big shout out to, Salford Engineering Solutions!

Next we went to the Mustard Tree shop in Eccles and presented the shop Manager, Georgia Breen with the money.

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"We are delighted to receive this much needed cash donation and I would like to thank, Brian Gorman, John Mottershead and salford.media for making this possible.

"Sadly we are always in need of donations be it, food, clothing, furniture etc and we can collect if you contact us on, 0161 228 7331.

"Since June last year when we serving 30 people a day with food, we have seen that figure double, this is due to cuts in Universal Credit, Covid outbreak, rise in unemployment, rent rises etc and we do struggle to help, which is why we are grateful for any donations, once again, thank you"

 

So if you can help out in any way please give generously to help those less fortunate, it doesn't have to be Mustard Tree, there are numerous Foodbanks springing up all over the city, sad to say, so, do your best to make someone else happy. You know it makes sense..

For more info on Brian Gorman's artwork follow this link  https://www.facebook.com/briangormanartwork

Police in Irlam & Cadishead have arrested two juveniles this morning on suspicion of committing Arson, following the large fire at the derelict Railway Pub on Liverpool Road, Irlam.

Both have been released on bail pending further enquiries and targeted intervention work from Youth Justice and Fire Service.

At around 4pm on Saturday (12th Feb) five fire engines from Eccles, Irlam, Birchwood, Lymm and Salford Central fire stations along with a Hydraulic Platform from Leigh were called to reports of a building fire involving a derelict pub on Liverpool Road, Irlam.

Reportedly two youths were seen entering the derelict pub shortly before the fire began.

Around 25 firefighters wearing breathing apparatuses and using two main jets and a hose reel worked to extinguish the fire and make the area safe. 

Image: GMP

Manchester’s favourite Irish venue O’Shea’s has announced a two-week Irish festival, with celebrations kicking off on St Patrick’s Day 2022

This year, O’Shea’s Irish Festival will put an end to the two-year celebratory drought, topped off with pint after pint of ice-cold Guinness on tap.  

Held on the site of O’Shea’s famous Beer Garden, where many magical nights of Mancunian silliness were had last summer, this is the place to bring your best craic, with smiles and laughs aplenty. 

The now indoor venue, a stone’s throw from Piccadilly Station, has been beautifully re-designed, draped in the colours of the Emerald Isle. 

The brand-new food menu is brought to you by the tasty Eat New York team, featuring an Irish American twist with free flowing cocktails featuring espresso and passionfruit martinis. Tickets are VERY limited and are expected to fly out fast. 

Paul Mackey, Co-Owner of O’Sheas said:

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“Once again this is for the people and for the city. We celebrate a return for the long awaited St Patrick’s Day celebration and we promise to fit that 2 year wait into a fun packed 2 weeks. The beers are cold and the welcome is warm. We have missed you all dearly and we can’t wait to see you at the festival!”

Music calendars include a fixture of bands & local performers including; Green Hot Clover, The Joe Keegan Band, Live Lounge, Culainn, Nicky Mc Callan, Quare Craic, Harry James and the Irish Ramblers, Mollys, Chambers featuring Richard Sanderson on fiddle, The Last Drop.

O’Shea’s has held a legacy in the city since it opened way back in 1994. They’re built a reputation for pouring some of the best Guinness outside of Ireland, alongside their brilliant live shows and heart-stopping sports.

The new site at Piccadilly is bound to encapsulate even more of the true Irish tradition of downing pints of delicious stout, gobby, guitar-led live music and loads of laughs! You’re guaranteed to have the best craic at Manchester’s biggest Irish celebration.

https://www.osheasbeergarden.co.uk/

At The Lowry From Tuesday 22 - Sunday 27 February 2022

Tickets on sale Wednesday 16 February at 10am only available at thelowry.com

Acclaimed singer, songwriter, composer and producer, Gary Barlow today announces a host of new dates for A Different Stage, his theatrical one man stage show telling his story, in his words.

A Different Stage premiered at The Brindley, the award winning theatre in Runcorn, Cheshire, last week and received a rapturous reception from audiences.

Gary will perform 17 dates in 3 cities throughout February and March:

A Different Stage performance dates

The Lowry Quays Theatre, Salford - 22nd - 27th February

Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool - 15th - 19th March

Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh - 22nd - 27th March

Tickets are on sale Wednesday 16 February at 10am. Tickets for The Lowry are only available at thelowry.com.

Created by Gary and his long-time friend and collaborator Tim Firth, A Different Stage sees Gary narrate the journey of his life alongside the music from his incredible discography. In a project unlike anything he’s ever done before, Gary will take the audience behind the curtain, with nothing off limits in this special performance.

Gary said:

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“Now I've done shows where it has just been me and a keyboard. I've done shows where I sit and talk to people. I've done shows where I've performed as part of a group. But this one, well, it’s like all of those, but none of them. When I walk out this time, it's going to be a very different stage altogether.”

Gary Barlow is one of Britain’s most successful songwriters and record producers. As part of the group Take That, he has won eight BRIT Awards and sold over 45 million records. Aside from his achievements with Take That, he has also co-written and produced music for other renowned artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Elton John and Robbie Williams.

In more recent years, Gary has also turned his attention to the world of theatre, composing the score for the hugely successful production of ‘Finding Neverland’; working alongside Tim Firth on ‘Calendar Girls The Musical’; and collaborating with Tim and his Take That bandmates on ‘The Band’, a record-breaking stage musical currently being adapted into a feature film.

A Salford shop owner who dumped rubbish in the street said she would complain to the council if someone did the same near her premises.

Ramila Sanghani (dob: 25/12/1961) of Premier Food News and Wine, Eccles Road, Swinton, was caught by Salford City Council’s CCTV cameras unloading bags of rubbish from a Mercedes car and dumping them in the street.

The six bags of waste she dumped in Cambridge Street, Salford contained building and decorating waste and plaster which came from her home.

Mrs Sanghani pleaded guilty to illegally dumping waste contrary to section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 when she appeared at Manchester and Salford magistrates court on Friday 11 February.  

She was fined £586, ordered to pay £1,194 costs and a victim surcharge of £59.  

The court heard that at 12.14pm on Friday August 14, 2020, Salford City Council’s CCTV team saw the driver of the Mercedes illegally dumping the rubbish. Mrs Sanghani was traced and admitted fly-tipping.

She was asked to explain why and claimed she went to Bury Road to buy clothes and someone there told her to dump the rubbish in Cambridge Street. She said she normally took it to the tip.

When asked how she would feel if someone had illegally dumped six bags of waste on land near her home she said: “I would complain to my council.”

Speaking after the case, Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods and community safety, said Mrs Sanghani’s comment had left him almost speechless.

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“It is incredible that someone can say they would complain if flytipping was dumped outside their home having done the very same thing a few miles away as though it doesn’t matter,” he said.

“This rubbish could and should have been properly disposed of at the tip.

“Salford City Council spends thousands of pounds of public money every year cleaning up after flytippers.  That is public money which could be better spent. There is no excuse for flytipping whatsoever. Greater Manchester tips now allow vans in, under a new permit scheme, or Salford City Council offers a bulky waste collection service at reasonable cost.”

 

Last week thanks to the wonderful Brian Gorman, the renowned artist, author, actor and good chap, who kindly donated a portrait of Manchester United footballer, Edison Cavani to be auctioned off to raise money for the Eccles Mustard Tree emergency foodbank, we have got a winner.

John Mottershead from Swinton, contacted us today with a wonderful £100 bid , which beat the nearest bid of £80 by John Brierley, close, but no cigar, John!

We shall be dropping the artwork off for John this week and hopefully posing for a cheesy photograph with him, as we collect the cash!

From there we shall call in at Mustard Tree, Eccles and hand the money over to staff at the foodbank, who I know will spend the money on essentials for the less fortunate.

Finally we shall be doing a live stream interview with Brian Gorman this Wednesday afternoon, when he will be chatting about his artwork, his acting and the forthcoming production of his play, New Dawn Fades - A Play About Joy Division and Manchester, which opens in September.

For further information on Brian's artwork which is all for sale click on this link https://www.facebook.com/briangormanartwork

Salford has welcomed 35 new street trees thanks to a dedicated fund created by Clear Channel UK.

The fund is part of a recent contract award by Salford City Council to media and infrastructure company Clear Channel UK, and is designed to add value to the city and improve its green spaces. 

The 35 semi-mature trees were planted on Light Oaks Road in Claremont, Salford, by City of Trees, along with some help from Salford City Council’s Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development, Councillor Mike McCusker.

Councillor Mike McCusker said:

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“We are delighted to receive this funding from Clear Channel and to be working in partnership with City of Trees to deliver these green improvements to the City of Salford.

“The extra tree cover will help reduce pollution in the local area and green projects such as this one are really important as we tackle the climate crisis and are of great benefit to the local community.”

 

Officers from Salford City Council’s Environment Team and representatives from Greater Manchester’s City of Trees worked in collaboration to develop an ambitious planting scheme which features five different tree species: Sorbus intermedia Brouwers, Prunus accolade, Acer campestre Elsrijk, Alnus incana Aurea and Liquidambar Worplesdon.

The tree species were all specifically chosen to ensure that the trees do not grow too tall or cause disruption to the surrounding area due to their root systems or droppings.

Local people have been involved in a consultation process to give their feedback and views on the project.

This project forms part of Salford City Council’s Great Eight priorities and the pledge to tackle the climate emergency by securing investment and development in green spaces and green infrastructure across the city.

Clear Channel’s Managing Director Will Ramage said:

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“It’s fantastic to be able to bring more street trees to Salford - a community that we’re really proud to be a part of – and to know that we’ve left a positive and lasting legacy for local residents.”

Pictured: Councillor Mike McCusker (Salford City Council’s Lead Member for Planning and Sustainable Development) and Nigel Godfrey (Clear Channel’s Partnerships Manager)

At around 11pm on Sunday 6th February 2022, police received a report of a stabbing on Manchester Road, Worsley. 

Emergency services attended.

A 21-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were taken to hospital. They have both been released.

A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and assault. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries. 

Detective inspector Chris Horsfield, of GMP's Salford district, said:

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"This was a violent assault which resulted in two people being taken to hospital with serious injuries.

"I would like to reassure the community that, although we made an arrest, our investigation is going and moving quickly, as our team of detectives follow all lines of enquiry.

"I would encourage anyone who witnessed this assault or has any other information to contact us as soon as possible"

 

Anyone with information should contact police on 0161 856 5194 quoting 2859 of 06/02/22. Alternatively, the independent charity - Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

A budget to protect local services and make crucial investments in priorities has been unveiled by Salford City Council. It will go to a special Council meeting on Wednesday 23 February to be agreed.

The budget factors in key priorities such as the promised investment announced last year on a large-scale Skills and Work programme, providing £1.5 million per annum by 2023/24 to connect Salford residents with the economic growth opportunities within the city region - and act as a lever for further investment.

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said:

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“Our future focus on training and jobs in the city is aimed at ensuring we deliver a better future for many of our residents and young people with better access to opportunities to all, jobs with decent wages.”

The council followed the skills and work investment announcement with agreement to fund the Real Living Wage through the city’s integrated care fund arrangements to all our care workers.

There is also welcome news for the city with a major allocation in the capital programme to extend the commitment to new social housing and expand the council’s Dérive programme which will build houses at truly affordable rents for Salford residents. Plans have also been agreed to bring the historic Buile Hill Mansion back into use as a community and wedding venue, with further refurbishment works to be commissioned this year.

Mayor Dennett commented:

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“Residents have told us that they value local services and indeed specifically want to see services for young people protected as well as providing new social housing, and we’re protecting the former and focusing our capital programme investment on the latter”.

The investments are part of the council’s budget package for 2022/23.

Mayor Dennett explained the difficulty of budget planning following the pandemic:

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“The government’s financial settlement given this year to Salford has provided little comfort as it doesn’t give us the opportunity to plan ahead nor adequately address the budget pressures we face - the rising costs of goods and services, the increasing demand on services, nor does it address the budget cuts over the life of austerity since 2010 that has taken an incomprehensible £232 million from our budget.

“I have written to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities following their 2022/23 settlement consultation outlining the failure of Government to adequately deal with budgetary pressures facing local authorities currently, heightened as a consequence of the cost-of-living and inflationary crisis we’re facing in the UK. The Government’s national insurance changes will cost Salford City Council an extra £1.1 million, for Salford City Council staff plus a likely impact where we contract for services for example care services, in employer national insurance contributions for 2022/23 and the Government’s changes to the national minimum wage will cost an extra £1.4 million to integrated health and care fund for 2022/23. This is in addition to other additional pressures in 2022/23 such as an additional £0.4 million in employer pension contributions, £1.3 million in price inflation and £3.4 million to meet pay inflation”

 

Mayor Dennett stated:

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“Councils need the funding and the flexibility to invest where we can to make the biggest impact, to address the national cost of living crisis and to provide support to those who need it.

“Our deep concerns led the council’s Cabinet to propose a motion at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 19 January, which was unanimously supported by all parties, urgently asking the Government to increase the overall funding provided to all councils in England. The motion asked that funding allow councils in England to mitigate the impacts on local council taxpayers and ensure that all the additional funding made available in 2022/23 is mainstreamed into future settlements rather than providing one-off grants. It is deeply unfortunate that the Government have made their final announcement on the local government finance settlement for 2022/23 without responding to many of the issues that councils up and down the country have raised and we are still awaiting a response to the letter.

“The Government model for local councils assumes that we will either make a council tax increase or cut our services to fund the gap. in Salford’s case this is a 3.99% increase, an 87 pence per week increase for Band A households. Given the need for investment in Salford and a reduction in core funding of 52% since 2010, the council is reluctantly proposing to increase council tax to this level, in line with the Government’s funding assumptions, at the February meeting of full Council”.

 

Councillor Bill Hinds, Lead Member for Finance and Support added:

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“The pandemic and the cost of living increases have fuelled challenging times for everyone in the city. In taking decisions about the budget we recognise the impact on the lowest paid and using everything we have available to us to direct support to tackle poverty”

“We know that nearly 80% of all the households receiving council tax reduction support live in Band A properties, and a significant discount to council tax is provided to around a third of those households. We continue to work hard to continue support those on the lowest incomes to access all the other financial support they are entitled to, along with providing £0.75 million of crisis support to over 6,000 Salford residents through our ‘Salford Assist’ programme in the last 10 months.

“Our Welfare Right and Debt Advice service is also supporting over 4,000 Salford residents each year and over the past 12 months has put nearly an additional £5 million in the pockets of local people and into the local economy though activities such as identifying unclaimed benefits.”

 

A man who used a hired van to dump a fridge freezer in the middle of a Salford street told council officers: “Sorry, I didn’t know it was illegal.”

Benjamin Obejo (dob 08/10/1976) of Silsden Walk, Salford, pleaded guilty to illegally dumping a fridge freezer, black bin bags and other items on land at Harding Street, Salford, contrary to S33(1) and S33(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 when he appeared at Manchester and Salford magistrates court today (Thursday 10 February).

He was fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £1000 and a victim surcharge of £34.

The court heard that officers from Salford City Council’s CCTV team saw the driver and passenger of the liveried rented van dumping the fridge freezer, bin bags, and other waste, on land at Harding Street, Salford just after 11pm on Tuesday September 15, 2020.

Officers traced Mr Obejo as the person who had hired the van and he was interviewed under caution. He admitted hiring the van, dumping the household waste and, when asked to explain why he had not disposed of the waste properly at a household waste recycling centre,

He said:

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“It was late. Nowhere was open. Sorry.”

When asked how he would feel if someone illegally dumped waste on land where he lived he said he wouldn’t like it.

Speaking after the case, Councillor David Lancaster, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods and community safety, said:

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“How anyone can think it’s right to dump waste in the middle of the street when it could and should have been taken to a household recycling centre baffles me.

“I hope this case sends out a strong message that flytipping is not acceptable in Salford and we will not hesitate to prosecute offenders using CCTV evidence or information from the public.”

 

I mentioned that yesterday I met Brian Gorman, the award winning, artist, author, playwright, actor and all round good egg to pick up his painting of the final line up of the Busby Babes at Belgrade in 1958, and it is superb.

Brian has very kindly donated a stunning portrait of Manchester United striker, Edison Cavani to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, it would look a treat in a bar, a mancave (I hate that word) on your wall or the ideal gift for a Manchester United fan,

The added bonus is, that not only do you get this artwork, but you will have a warm inner glow, knowing that you have helped the less fortunate as the money raised will be given to the Mustard Tree, Emergency Food Store in Eccles.

I cannot praise the staff and volunteers at Mustard Tree highly enough who help feed the lower waged and less fortunate people in the area, they tell me that between their three hubs, over 1,200 food items a day are distributed through their food clubs.

The Emergency Food Bank does exactly that, people who are both hungry and have no money, can be referred there by a Social Worker, Doctor, Housing Officer etc and be helped, you just cannot turn up and expect to be fed as a lot of people think.

So please. please help out, and purchase the artwork which is A4 size, which translates to 11-3/4 x 16-1/2 inches or for you more modern readers, 297 x 420 mm.

It is painted on board and would look superb in a suitable frame, so then let's get bidding you generous people, I suggest we start at a modest £40, which is a snip, best offer takes it and we close the bidding on Monday morning at 11am.

You can message me on Facebook or at newsdesk@salford.media with your bid.

If you can't bid for the artwork, please consider dropping a few cans off at your local foodbank, they truly need it and it will help others less fortunate.

Finally you can see more of Brian's artwork at this link  https://www.facebook.com/briangormanartwork

Cheers, now rattle the money...

After 22 years of operation, the Metrolink Eccles line is set to close on several occasions this year for essential maintenance of the tracks.

A full closure of the line will take place for eight days over the February half term, between the 19 and 27 February. Further partial closures of the line are planned for the Easter and summer school holidays in order to minimise disruption to passengers.

The Eccles line was originally opened in 1999 and has supported millions of journeys since then. But now after more than two decades some of the track needs to be replaced.

Passengers will be able to visit a dedicated travel advice page to find information on alternative travel options to help plan their journey in advance. Metrolink staff will also be around at key locations, at busier times to help you to make your journey.

Danny Vaughan, Head of Metrolink at Transport for Greater Manchester, said:

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“In the past 10 years alone the Eccles line has supported 40 million journeys – providing a real alternative to using the car, helping people get around the region, reducing congestion and helping to cut air pollution.

“The Eccles Line, and the MediaCity spur, which was opened in 2010, have supported the local economy and been instrumental in the regeneration of the Quays area. It is therefore very important that we do these works now in order to help the area continue to grow and prosper.

“We know it’s going to cause some inconvenience for passengers so we are limiting the work to less busy times. Many passengers will be able to catch trams on the Trafford Park Line, and we will provide good alternatives to those who can’t.”

 

More details are available on the TfGM website and passengers are advised to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys.

The 6.37km Eccles line first opened as far as the Broadway stop in December 1999 as part of the phase two expansion of the network. It was opened by then Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Prime Minister at the time. The service was extended to Eccles Interchange in July 2000 and was officially opened by Princess Anne in July 2001. A short spur to MediaCityUK opened in 2010.

From Tuesday 2 - Sunday 14 August 2022

The multi award-winning musical phenomenon SIX, written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, today announces a new cast for the UK tour. The current company will play their final performance on Sunday 6 March with the new company taking over from Tuesday 8 March at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford.

The new touring Queens will be played by Chlöe Hart (Catherine of Aragon), Jennifer Caldwell (Anne Boleyn), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Jane Seymour), Aiesha Pease (Anna of Cleves), Jaina Brock-Patel (Katherine Howard) and Alana M Robinson (Catherine Parr). Grace Melville, Leesa Tulley and Natalie Pilkington (Dance Captain) will be joining the cast as Alternates, with Super Swing Harriet Caplan-Dean. The cast are backed by the show’s all-female band, The Ladies in Waiting.

SIX follows the six wives of Henry VIII as they take to the mic to tell their own personal tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. Since its early days as a student production in a 100-seat room at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the show has fast become a global musical phenomenon. SIX currently has productions playing on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and at the Sydney Opera House prior to an Australian and New Zealand tour, with a major US tour coming soon.

Meanwhile, back on home turf, the London production is now enjoying its third royal residence in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre and the

UK tour continues its nationwide sold-out reign, now booking through to 2023.

SIX was nominated for five Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. It won the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical at the Whatsonstage Awards and was invited to perform on the results show of ITV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and BBC’s ‘Children in Need Appeal Show’. Celebrating the global success of its songs with over 300 million streams and over 3 billion views on TikTok, the original studio album of SIX has officially turned Gold, marking over 100,000 sales in the UK and will be released on vinyl next month.

Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, SIX is co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, featuring choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille. The design team includes Emma Bailey (Set Design), Gabriella Slade (Costume Design), Tim Deiling (Lighting Design) and Paul Gatehouse (Sound Design). The score features orchestrations by Tom Curran with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Joe Beighton. Musical Director Jennifer Deacon and UK Musical Supervisor Katy Richardson. Casting is by Pearson Casting. SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles.