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Year: 2017

‘Brilliant’ firefighters quickly temper blaze in Northern Quarter

A fire has torn through the ninth floor of a twelve-storey building in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Manchester Fire and Rescue were called to the fire, which consumed apartments on several floors on Saturday, the 30th of December. One individual was taken to hospital, suffering from smoke inhalation.

Twelve fire engines were called to the scene at around 4:15P.M. The incident was dialled down, reported to be “well under control,” by 8:00P.M.

Greater Manchester Fire Service stated publicly that the fire spread via the wooden balconies. External cladding — which was key in the exacerbation of the Grenfell Tower fire in West London — was apparently not involved, but a full investigation is still underway.

An eyewitness’ footage of the fire appears to show one remarkable individual breaking down a partition between two balconies in order to free their neighbour. The neighbour looks as if they were trapped in their apartment, one of the several to be affected by the fire. They both appear to escape the blaze together.

Central Manchester MP Lucy Powell (@LucyMPowell) praised Manchester emergency services on Twitter: “I have spoken with the Manchester fire service. The #manchesterfire is under control and the building is being safely evacuated.

“Paramedics & others are at the scene to triage all those affected but no serious injuries known. Thank you our brilliant firefighters & paramedics.” She also promised help from the council for those affected.

The Greater Manchester Fire Department (@manchesterfire) also tweeted in appreciation of their colleagues: “The fire had spread to multiple floors but we have things well under control here. Firefighters along with colleagues from the Police and Ambulance service have done an amazing job to tackle this difficult incident! More updates to follow…”

The Village Angels: The everyday heroes of Manchester’s Village star in new documentary

A community safety initiative set up by a Mancunian charity is now the focus of a new documentary and national initiative to make UK nightlife more LGBT inclusive.

The Village Angels are a group of volunteers who keep nightlife revellers safe in Manchester’s Village; it might be that someone has had a bit too much fun and needs help ordering a cab home. Maybe someone has been made homeless and doesn’t know where to turn. Maybe someone needs a shoulder to cry on. Whatever the problem, the Angels are the everyday heroes on hand to provide this support.

Set-up by LGBT Foundation in 2011 — the charity that supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in the UK — the Angels have offered a non-judgemental street service for visitors to Canal Street and the surrounding areas of Manchester for six years. Following the success of the initiative, the Angels has expanded into the Village Haven. This is a newly opened space in the Village, that offers support and a safe space for those who are unable to stay safe or get home without coming to harm. It operates each Friday and Saturday until 5am.

In 2018, the ambition is to expand the operation across the LGBT community, working with Smirnoff to make nightlife a safer, more inclusive and understanding space for everyone.


The work of the Angels can now be seen first hand, in a new documentary made in conjunction with LADbible. The documentary follows Josh, who got involved with the Angels after a member of his rugby team was punched in a homophobic attack and the Village Angels helped him. He now leads a group of volunteers every Friday night – allowing him to absorb the fun and energy of the Village without having a hangover on the rugby pitch the following afternoon.

It’s not an easy job, but as you see in the film, the volunteers remain upbeat and positive and are always full of compassion for those they encounter having a bad time. One minute they’re an information service for tourists to this LGBT mecca, the next they’re responding to an assault in a nightclub.

The team’s hard work and dedication to helping others is inspirational. But their goodwill can span further with more volunteers and donations, allowing for growth of the street teams, development of the Haven and expansion outside of Manchester.
Josh Sanderson-Kirk, the star of the documentary and Village Angels shift lead said “We need as many people as possible to volunteer with us. And obviously, of course, it also comes down to money.

“We need money for equipment, we need money for the things we hand out – the plasters, the foil blankets and those big ticket items like the defibrillator. We need more of those to make sure we can do the job that we want to be able to do.”

“I’d love to see the Angels in London, in Birmingham and other big cities with gay and LGBT quarters. If they ever want any help [in setting up the scheme] I’m sure the Angels would be more than happy to help.”

Jessica White, Community Safety Coordinator at LGBT Foundation, said: “Our volunteers are at the heart of our work and are the lifeblood of our organisation. Many of our vital services would not exist without the support of our amazing volunteers. This is especially true of the Village Angels and Village Haven programmes”

“In the New Year we’re hoping to make new additions to our amazing team to continue and expand the work we do. We need as many people who are willing and who are able – and also enthusiastic – to do the role that our brilliant volunteers do”.

Following the release of the documentary LGBT Foundation are on a recruitment drive to add more people to the Village Angels team, they are particularly interested in recruiting students onto their team. The details of this can be found here.

Live Review: PVRIS

US electropop band PVRIS, pronounced Paris, came to the O2 Apollo Manchester on the 28th of November during their brief tour of the UK.

Lead singer Lynn Gunn announced that the show was the biggest of their career: the anticipation and buzz around the venue from the crowd was to match. The show came after the recent release of their new album, All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell, the band playing all the biggest songs from their new record for their new record crowd.

After a meaty opening set from Nashville pop rockers COIN, which was well-received by the crowd, PVRIS entered onto stage to an explosion of cheers and screams. Their opening song ‘Heaven’, from the new album, was an enormous hit and completely set the tone for the rest of the night. This was closely followed by their debut album killer single ‘St. Patrick’, a combination of songs which allowed Gunn to race out of the blocks straight into bold, powerful vocals from the off.

Photo: Jack Greeney @ The Mancunion

In fact, every song the Massachusetts three-piece played seem to be a popular one, recent releases received just as jubilantly as established hits. This is an incredibly encouraging sign for a band always on the rise. Perhaps the energy of the crowd was drawn from the energy of the band onstage themselves, particularly Gunn who, silhouetted over a backdrop of dazzling lighting, leapt and bounded around stage with confidence and enthusiasm. This enthusiasm was equalled by sheer ability: Gunn recently won Best Vocalist at the 2017 Alternative Press Music Awards and that talent shone through here with ease. It’s not just her voice either: on multiple occasions throughout the show Gunn leapt onto a secondary drum kit during instrumentals and thrashed along impeccably.

Putting an interesting twist on the studio recordings, PVRIS included some highly stripped down versions of their songs, with only guitarist Alex Babinski and Gunn onstage. Here, particularly during the performance of ‘Same Soul’, that strong voice reached its very pique. This was an impressive and mature selection, a welcome refrain from the otherwise relentless pop rock on display and further enhancing the more widely involved songs to come. The whole band leapt back into energetic performance for a version of ‘What’s Wrong’, markedly heavier than its album track: some great variation, with great balance.

Photo: Jack Greeney @ The Mancunion

‘My House’, the finale of their set, had the whole crowd jumping, cheering and, immediately afterwards, crying out for encore. These shouts were gladly obliged with the band returning to stage for ‘No Mercy’, during which Gunn paraded around the stage draped in an enormous LGBT flag thrown up from fans in the crowd: a particularly powerful way to end a powerful performance. If they put on a show anywhere near this one whenever they’re on a stage, PVRIS will be well on their way to becoming a huge headline act.

Tuesday 28th November, O2 Apollo

8/10

Live Review: Liam Gallagher

Saturday 16th December, Manchester Academy

Shakers in hand, anorak looking cool as ever in the throbbing rumble of the arena, Liam Gallagher sauntered into the limelight with no doubt that he was about to blow minds. His unmistakable presence was a treat for the eyes and ears. Liam has done this long enough to know all he needed to do was give the people exactly what they want, and a surprise appearance from Bonehead for a touching encore rounded off the night with some nostalgic clout.

The set list delivered to a tee. An eclectic mix of sentimental Oasis tracks and well-received solo material saw Gallagher evoke an overwhelming sense of awe. The whole affair was commanded by his effortless cool. That all-too-familiar hands-behind-back trademark lean, interspersed with that unrivalled Manchester strut was just as much part of his performance as it was twenty years ago.

His voice was raw and as powerful as ever, and there were noticeable injections of passion into new tracks to balance the signature quality of older tunes. It was clear he strained to reach the challenging vocals from the solo album, and minor technical issues meant the performance sometimes lacked cohesion, but would it be a Liam gig if it wasn’t tainted with unpredictability?

Opening with Oasis classics ‘Rock’n’Roll Star’ and ‘Morning Glory’ plunged the audience straight back to 1995, rowdy and crude as ever intended, whilst unexpected tracks from the band’s discography proved how versatile Liam is. ‘I’m Outta Time’ was a mellow note of reflection, whilst initial closing track ‘Be Here Now’ was met with punchy support.

Hood up for more assertive tracks, despite looking like he was about the enter the ring, the lyric ‘I just want you to know, it’s my time’ sprung to mind. Solo LG means business; banter with United fans and a genuine lump-in-the-throat appreciation left the audience feeling proud of their beloved Mancunian treasure.

Bonehead’s contribution to the encore for Oasis hits ‘Cigarettes & Alcohol’, ‘Wonderwall’, and ‘Live Forever’ was beautifully sentimental. The two brought a freshness to the reworked tracks whilst maintaining that special magic the tunes emit for the fans’ sake. The Oasis guitarist ignited tangible excitement in fans, as an understated tribute to the 22 killed in the Manchester bombing shone behind himself and Liam.

When your first steps on to the stage are enough to make dreams come true, you know you’re doing something right. Gallagher’s performance was an unforced, emotional, nostalgic moment, which passed by far too suddenly, was by no means flawless, but lay firmly cemented in the remarkable.

8/10

Mohamed El Shorbagy wins five game thriller against his brother to secure first PSA World Championship

Mohamed El Shorbagy defeated his brother Marwan 11-5, 9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6 in the final of the 2017 PSA Men’s Squash World Championship held in Manchester. The 2017 event was Mohamed’s third appearance in a World Championship final but his first triumph having previously lost in 2012 and 2014. Meanwhile, this was Marwan’s first appearance in the final.

The match started with heavy favourite Mohamed on top. The older brother raced away to a 6-1 lead, but a few down shots allowed Marwan back in, and the score reached 7-4. The resurgence was short-lived though, as Mohamed took the first game 11-5.

Despite being an outsider, Marwan was showing no signs of it and started strongly in the second game. His intensity brought a few tetchy moments between him and Welsh referee Roy Gingell as they argued over let/stroke calls. The brief loss of composure allowed Mohamed to build a lead in the second game but the older brother was also clashing with the referee. First asking for a let call and then for the court to be cleaned, a request Marwan had been denied minutes earlier.

The game pushed towards the 11 mark with both players picking up points. After wresting the game back to 9-9, Marwan went on to win 11-9 and tie the games in the match. The high-intensity tempo sparked new life into an already energetic Manchester crowd.

The players return for the third game and it was again a case of let/stoke calls taking the headlines. A video review gifted a stroke call to Mohamed which allowed him a 4-1 lead. Marwan did pull closer, but after some sloppy play, he sacrificed the game to his brother giving Mohamed a 2-1 lead in the match.

The crowds’ hopes of a five-game thriller were looking ever more likely as Marwan raced away in the opening of the fourth game. Gaining a 6-2 lead, a controversial down call allowed Mohamed a route back into the game but despite clawing it back to 8-7, Mohamed could not overtake his brother and Marwan took the fourth game 11-9.

With fatigue beginning to set in, Marwan looked tired compared to his older sibling. He wasn’t reaching some of the shots he had been earlier in the match and Mohamed took a 3-1 lead in the opening. Marwan rallied to tie the game at 6-6 but Mohamed showed his class to win the game 11-6, and the championship.

An emotional Mohamed hugged his brother as he finally secured the trophy that had eluded him throughout his career. In his post-match speech, he praised his brother and said it was a special experience for the pair of them.

Earlier in the day, it was another all Egyptian affair, as Nour El Sherbini and Raheem El Welily contested the women’s final. El Welily came from a game down to win the final 3-1 to secure her first World Championship.

The number one ranked player in the world El Sherbini started the match in dominating form. Making short work of her opponent she quickly raced to an 11-3 scoreline. A combination of smart movement and pinpoint low shots made it looked like the final would over very quickly, however, El Welily rallied.

She started the second game well and found herself 6-2 ahead. El Sherbini did manage to bring it back to 9-8 but El Welily held firm to win the game 12-10 and tie the match at 1-1.

El Welily proceeded to race through the gears and quickly put to bed the third game of the tie. El Sherbini was making plenty of mistakes and her opponent capitalised to win the game 11-1.

The momentum was with El Welily now and El Sherbini seemed powerless to stop her. After initially going 2-2 in the final game, El Welily stepped it up and won 11-5 to seal the championship.

An emotional El Welily was in tears after the match as she thanked friends and family, saying, “it was a great week for me. I hope to carry this form into the rest of the season.”

The two winners posed together with their respective trophies as the Manchester crowd applauded. For those fans, they could have hardly asked for a better final day.

Interview: Gorgon City

Zoe: Hi, it’s Zoe and Qasim. We are here with Kye Gibbon and Matt Robson Scott, a.k.a Gorgon City. We are at the Albert Hall for their sold out Warehouse Project gig. So firstly, what are your main music influences?

Kye: We both grew up on all kinds of UK underground stuff. We grew up on jungle, drum’n’bass, garage. I was into grime music, we were both into garage and then house and techno. I guess what we do now, we make house music but it kinda has all those influences in it, all the music we’ve grown up on.

Qasim: How would you define your genre to our readers?

Matt: House music, bass heavy house music, with vocals occasionally.

K: It does have a UK twist. We play a lot in America and they like us out there because we bring something different because they have the whole EDM scene, they have house music and techno music but we have our own UK version on it, inspired a little bit by garage, jungle, drum’n’bass and I guess that’s why we get booked out there because we bring a new twist on the genre

Q: You do collaborate with a lot of different artists. Do you create the lyrics and the backing and then get a vocalist in or do you get the artist to make the lyrics separately

M: The best way we’ve ever written when it comes to writing songs with singers is to basically get in a room, us two and the singer and then just start from scratch. Play some random chords or a play bassline and a beat or whatever and then write it together and then develop it from there. That’s how we’ve written all of our best tracks. Some times we might get sent an accapella or a demo of a song and we might work on it and turn it into something that sounds more like us but generally the best way to make Gorgon City music is from scratch, with the singer in the room.

Z: So it’s very much a collaboration?

M: Yeah, exactly, rather than a feature. Rather than us writing a song, sending it to a random topliner then writing something to it.

Q: What do you reckon is your best collaboration?

K: That’s a difficult one.

M: Maverick Sabre is always good to work with.

K: He’s an amazing song writer. I think just everytime the best songs we’ve ever done have always been with him in a day or even less than a day, half a day. We write the song in one day in a studio session and then when the singer leaves, we’ll have a really basic skeleton of the track and then me and Matt will build the track around that. That could take a couple of weeks, but the actual songwriting phase of it, that just takes a day. Its just like get in that zone and write whatever comes out.

Z: A lot of our readers are young DJ’s themselves. When you’re on stage, what is the actual gear you are playing?

M: Pioneer.

K: When we DJ like tonight, its just Pioneer, just the standard club set up. Pioneer, mixer and CD DJ’s but when we play live we want to do it as far away from that as possible. So when we play live its almost like a proper band. We have a live drummer with us, we have two vocalists and me and Matt play everything live so we have keyboards, synthesisers, drum machines, controllers…

M: Drum pads.

K: Yeah, its quite a complex set up. We have about three keyboards each and then about three or four other devices. We like to keep it busy. We like to keep it as far away from our DJ set up as possible.

Z: How do you find audiences react to that?

M: Maybe when we play live are maybe the people that come to see us aren’t the people who might not go out raving until six in the morning every weekend. The people that come see us DJ are those kind of people. And we like both, but we like raving until six in the morning as well (laughs). That’s why we’re here tonight, that’s what tonight is all about.

Q: Nightlife is generally dying around the country, you know the whole Fabric situation, but why is it you think Manchester has still managed to stay so diverse? Warehouse Project wouldn’t really exist in any other city than Manchester…

K: For dance music, it is the legendary city. Hacienda days, all kinds of stuff, Sankeys…

Z: Its closed now!

K: That’s a shame.

M: But its one of those cities that’s got dance music culture in its history…

K: In its DNA.

M: You’re right, Warehouse Project would not exist in any other city apart from Manchester. People come from all over the country to Warehouse Project. People come from London to come to Warehouse Project.

K: We’ve done it before.

M: Yeah, I’ve come to Manchester just to go to a Warehouse Project loads of times. I live in London which is meant to be the biggest dance capital of even Europe but now its not because there’s no fucking clubs. People from London, people from Bristol, Birmingham, come to Warehouse Project because it’s the daddy of all clubbing.

Z: We’ve got a lot of young musicians, young DJ’s who read the Mancunion. Any final tips before they head into the industry?

K: One thing is have patience because it takes years to get something that you’re into. The other thing is try not to follow trends because with dance music, especially these days there are a lot of trends that go around. We hear it all the time when we get sent demo’s, sent songs where you can tell someone is following a trend. And when someone makes a tune that is true to them, true to their influences and what they want to do. It stands out. You notice it. There are micro-genres. Every year or two there’s a trend that everyone jumps on and every song suddenly sounds the same but then when you get something that sounds different, that’s when you take notice. That’s how people get their breaks, by not following trends.

M: Yeah, be original. It sounds cheesy but stay true to what you love. Stay true to your own passions.

Z: Thanks very much guys, good luck tonight.

M: I might just use the toilet quickly.

Manchester University praise continuation of Erasmus+ until 2020

The University of Manchester has welcomed the announcement that the UK will continue to take part in student exchange programme Erasmus until at least 2020.

Whether or not the UK would continue to participate in the scheme was unclear until now. This was despite Prime Minister Theresa May’s pledge to “fulfil our responsibilities as a member state while we remain a member of the European Union” following the triggering of Article 50 in March of 2017, formally beginning Brexit negotiations.

Students have also praised the announcement which will allow students to continue to study in another European country for three to twelve months as part of their degree.

Though it is not certain that the UK will continue to be part of the scheme long-term, Theresa May announced that participation will continue until at least 2020, despite Brexit negotiations continuing until a proposed deadline of March 2019.

A University of Manchester spokesman said: “We welcome this announcement, and will be studying it in more detail in the coming weeks.”

Matt Varco, a University of Manchester Geography student currently doing studying for a year at Universität Osnabrück in Germany as part of the Erasmus+ programme, also praised the announcement.

Speaking to The Mancunion, Matt said: “My first few months in Germany have given me first hand experience of the value in European initiatives like Erasmus. In self-interested terms I was pleased by the announcement to remain part of Erasmus for the medium term, since I would like to do a masters in German-speaking Europe in the future, but I also see it as a good omen for a ‘softer’ style of Brexit, in which we remain part of collaborative schemes like Erasmus.

“Even if you object to the European political project on grounds of national sovereignty and self-determination, you cannot deny the inherent (and practical) value in the international cooperation that projects like Erasmus enable.”

Sam Honey, a first year Politics and Modern History student who is interested taking part in the Erasmus+ programme next year, added that he was “pleased by the news” and described the scheme as “vital.”

Established in 1987, the Erasmus programme was incorporated into the Erasmus+ in 2014.

Erasmus+ combined all the EU’s then existing schemes for education, training, youth and sport.

It supports students of participatory member countries who wish to student abroad for up to 12 months and can offer students grants to help with living costs abroad, as well as significant contributions towards tuition fees, though these vary country to country.

All 27 other European Union member states are part of the programme as well the UK, along with five other countries: Iceland, Macedonia, Norway, Turkey and Liechtenstein.

In the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2016, there were 137, 590 participants in the scheme, 2913 projects were supported and €364 million was awarded in funding.

The announcement to continue Erasmus+ until at least 2020 follows the agreement of a draft Brexit deal allowing Brexit negotiations to move onto “phrase two”, though EU leaders have reportedly called for “further clarity” from the UK about its future intentions.

Speaking at a discussion on education and culture during the Brussels summit where the draft deal was agreed, UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, said:  “I welcome the opportunity to provide clarity to young people and the education sector and reaffirm our commitment to the deep and special relationship we want to build with the EU.”

Live Review: Yung Lean

Trying to describe what Yung Lean is about to anyone who has never heard of him — most of the world, approximately — proves to be practically impossible. The 21 year old Swede has a unique hip hop style that blends melodic singing akin to emo rock of the early 2000s with the deep, punchy beats of modern trap production.

His style is also attributed to his partners in crime, the $adboy$, a collective that is still very underground in the world of hip hop.

The venue, Albert Hall, is stunning. A high ceiling with stained glass windows and an organ serving as a backdrop for the stage make for the perfect scene for the event. I can only describe the crowd as the biggest gathering of Hypebeasts I have ever seen — it’s a movement, look it up and be amazed — with face masks and kanji-embroidered clothing.

Lean came on to the stage looking — I kid you not — like a stereotypical “school shooter” with his black leather trench coat to an energetic reception from the young crowd. The concert was apt for people of ages 14 and up and they instantly started a huge mosh pit during the first song, a sign of amateur gig-goers and trying too hard to fit in.

The mass of bodies came scarily close to a stampede when one side of the room thought it’d be a good idea to push the pit, crushing the other end of the room and provoking a back-and-forth game of ‘push the sweaty moshing teenagers away from you to not die’.

This brings me to a side note that I believe is important to mention — if you’re going to attend a hip hop gig with a 14+ age restriction, be prepared to deal with a crowd that will mostly be under that limit or just pushing it and worryingly, over half the show-goers will be on ketamine, MDMA, or some other substance that makes them aggressive, rude — and on a functional level — zombies.

Coming back to the main subject at hand, Yung Lean’s performance was strange. Vocally he was on par with his studio recordings. However, it felt as if there was an invisible veil between us and him, making the star seem distant despite his physical proximity to the audience.

Another factor that hindered his performance was the overabundance of smoke. Someone backstage was going absolutely mad on the smoke machine, making the Swede disappear in a dream-like mist for most of his performance.

His only attempt at interaction with the crowd, aside from mumbling a few words between some of his songs, occurred when he gingerly climbed down from the stage to crowd surf, a short-lived experience that was unsurprisingly cut short by security who dragged him out of the vile conglomerate of sweaty, ketted-out adolescents, a smart move if you ask me.

Once the lights dimmed at the end of the hour-long set, the zombies stumbled down the stairs onto the damp streets of central Manchester while I gathered my thoughts. Yung Lean has a very niche, very juvenile audience that ten years ago would have been emo-rock fans but due to the current predominance of the urban sensation that is hip hop, a strange sub-genre has manifested. Taking into account the smoke, the minimal crowd interaction, and the hostile mob of youngsters, the night was just average. Maybe, in the words of Roger Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon, ”I’m getting too old for this shit”.

5/10

Live review: Alex Cameron

Australian performer Alex Cameron is hard to get your head around at first. For the uninitiated he comes across as a greasy haired loser, crooning sexist lyrics on stage while executing questionable dance moves. Yet, for those in the know his show makes perfect sense: Cameron adopts the persona of a failing musician while on stage. Yet as the atmosphere in the packed venue Gorilla on a dreary Wednesday evening shows, he is far from that.

His two albums are conceptual. In his first Jumping the Shark he develops his persona, while Forced Witness, the more complex of the two, is a humorous confrontation of toxic masculinity, hence the sexist lyrics.

He starts the set with ‘Happy Ending’, a poignant, if repetitive, track from his first album. The track belongs in the end credits of a John Hughes film, but is by no means dated, Cameron’s vocals are fresh and the crowd needs no time to get excited.

Cameron introduces his “dear friend and business partner Roy Molloy,” who sits watching the devoted crowd bemusedly, occasionally picking up his saxophone. His fans are devoted, cheering rapturously and shouting “go on Roy” every time he goes to play a note.

A highlight of the event is Molloy’s “stool review”. He gives a full description of his seat to rowdy roars and laughter. “Tell us about the legs Roy” one over-enthusiastic audience member shouts. His reply: “please do not sexualise the stool”. The bizarre segment culminates in his verdict. “This stool weighs as much as three house bricks. Elegant, attractive, 3.5 out of 5!” Queue riotous applause.

‘Stranger’s Kiss’, originally a duet with American singer-songwriter Angel Olsen, is performed with charismatic Holiday Sidewinder, who plays keyboard for the rest of the set. Her vocals are less distinctive and moving than Olsen’s beautiful Lana Del Rey-esque twang. Nevertheless Sidewinder’s are powerful and the rendition is spine tingling. Molloy’s saxophone paired with some powerful drumming completes the track.

‘Marlon Brando’ gives Cameron a chance to truly show off his atrociously brilliant dance moves. He describes the song as their “contribution to the investigation of the condition of the straight white male”. Indeed, the track is a brash display of male aggression, bravado and competition: “I want her to know that I bench what he is”. The track culminates in an epic blend of bongos, 80s synth, guitar and saxophone.

Cameron recently toured with The Killers as well as co-writing five songs from their newest album Wonderful Wonderful. He enthusiastically tells the crowd of his first contact with Brandon Flowers — the receipt of an anonymous email and then a month writing in Nevada.

He goes on to perform ‘Politics of Love’, another refreshingly 80s track which originally featured Flowers on backing vocals, as well as ‘True Lies’, a witty track about internet scammers.

The evening is tinted with tongue in cheek humour both from Cameron and the crowd: the crowning moment is a bra flying onto the stage, much to everyone’s amusement. If you like saxophone, Bruce Springsteen or Mac Demarco’s sense of humour, be sure to check out Alex Cameron and Roy Molloy.

8/10

Student strips down to swimwear for final week

George Malim is fundraising for East African Playgrounds and the Ugandan Wildlife Authority by stripping down to his swimwear for the entire final week of this semester.

He told The Mancunion, “I chose to go in swimming trunks to go for a summery vibe. So cycling to uni in them is going to be pretty grim since it’s winter. I felt the grimmer the challenge the more likely people would be to donate. I’ll also be posting a picture of me in my trunks with a copy of the day’s paper each day to prove I’ve been doing it.”

The fourth year Chemistry student is aiming to raise £2000. East African Playground provide safe and fun play areas for disadvantaged children. Volunteers like George will not only work alongside builders to construct the playground but will also work towards introducing interactive play and creative learning into the curriculum.

“Playing and interacting  with other children is an integral and important part of early social development, which is why EAP are doing such an important job and is why I chose this organisation to raise money for,” George said.

“A portion of the money will also go to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority, who focus on the conservation of Uganda’s native wildlife, such as the silverback gorillas still native to the area.”

This won’t be George’s only fundraising activity. He’s hoping to host a couple of pub quizzes in either Fallowfield or Withington.
If you see George around campus, make sure you head to his donation page.

Review: Pomona

On the tiny stage above a pub, The Kings Arms in Salford, Pomona was brought to life. A deeply complex play and plot, the programme didn’t lie when it stated that it would ‘f*ck with your head’.

Pomona follows the story of the protagonist, Ollie, who comes to Manchester in search of her twin sister who is missing. The advice given to Ollie by Zeppo, the man who ‘owns’ Manchester, is that Ollie should head to Pomona, an isolated stretch of land in Manchester where there is a hole the ground. Her sister could be there.

The story then begins following a series of non-linear events. It went from Ollie (or possibly her sister) working in a brothel, to a game of Dungeons and Dragons, to finally, Ollie making it Pomona — which turns out to be a room filled with rows of girls in hospital gowns who are pregnant.

The very complex plot which was tackled brilliantly by the talented directors, Kwame Owusu and Tom Thacker. The used the little space they had in their theatre remarkably well and had a fantastic use of music and lighting. The speed of the play was great with each scene change being swift and efficient.

The acting was of a very high standard. In particular, Christopher Stoops, who played Charlie, and Joseph Conway, who played Zeppo, gave two incredible performances. Christopher really developed his character well and embodied the awkward, lovable nerd while delivering both the characters humorous and dark side really well. Joseph managed to grab the audience’s attention through his very lengthy beginning monologue, being both greatly amusing as well as very weird.

My favourite parts of Pomona were when the cast worked as an ensemble. It made for very powerful moments which swept the audience up in the intensity of the scene. In particular, the scene where Ollie made it into Pomona, the powerful back-and-forth dialogue between the ensemble mixed with the quick movement of Ollie as cast members became doors, walls and obstacles making her move all around the stage made the scene quick, interesting to watch and full of emotion.

Overall, a really fantastic show of Fresher talent.

Live Review: Dave

Monday 27th November, Academy 2

A bane of everyone’s existence is the narrow corridor between the building site that is the Student Union and the Ali G. The slim path presses everyone together in a claustrophobic fashion, however there are some who profit from the seclusion of this shady alley.

I was walking up this path of desolation, from the library to the SU, when I saw a boy of about 14-15 years of age taking a piss on the wall of the Ali G. Two passing girls head’s turned and delivered semi-scolding looks to said boy, who, upon noticing the chastising eyes of the student’s remarked, “that was the best piss I ever had.”

I saw this scene unfurl, and the boy head back to the queue for Dave outside the Academy and thought, has this just set the tone for the whole night?

A lot of people have jumped on the grime appreciation band wagon of the last couple of years, people who were never particularly into hip hop but liked the grime aesthetic, the beats, the whole image. But for a number of people in the UK who love hip hop, grime never quite clicked with them. So when groups like Section Boys and 67 emerged to forever change the landscape of hip hop in Britain, there were others, like myself, who breathed a sigh of relief.

The UK has a funny relationship with the current state of hip hop in the US. I may be wrong, but it feels like the average Mancunian student doesn’t have a lot of time for the Futures, 21 Savages, and Kodak Blacks of the world. So when this kind of rap music started to emerge in London that was reminiscent of the drill sounds of Chicago, I think it was a point of recognition for a lot of hip hop fans across the UK. Recognition that there were other people in Britain who appreciated and took notes from what was currently happening in America.

Dave however, seems to exist in his own category, and his performance at the Academy 2 on the 27th of November was a testament to that statement.

Dave, also known as Santan Dave, is one of the UK rappers you can count on one hand to have been featured on titanic New York hip hop radio station Hot 97. He has been remixed by Drake, his Academy 2 show was a sell out, and the man is only 19.

His performance was encouraging, affirming, intelligent, dance-able, generous, and compelling. He gave fans all the hits across his current and previous EPs, and there were people at the back of the room as well as moshing at the front singing along to every word. But the Dave fan crown unambiguously went to this young lad he called up on stage, who proceeded to rap every word of one of Dave’s tunes, duet style, arm in arm with Dave himself. When the kid finished, grinning ear to ear, he gasped, “pheeewf, I gotta go college tomorrow!” The whole placed giggled in unison.

Hip hop shows can so often leave you feeling disappointed. Tired former greats can come on stage, and half rap over the full version of their own tracks, not even bothering to spit over instrumentals. They try to get the crowd going with tired cat calls.

Dave needed no gimmicks — you could hear every word that he spat over the eclectic yet coherent swathe of beats he uses. The sound is electronic, trappy, with a hint of classic grime synth.

But the rapper is far from a grime artist, he is something different, representing a new wave of MC’s coming out of the UK who can be simultaneously melodic and aggressive, people like J Hus or Manchester’s very own Just Banco.

Dave has an old head on young shoulders, and it will be fascinating to follow his career.

Live review: Aminé

A small tour with a small crew made big waves across Europe in early December of this year. Adam Aminé Daniel broke onto the contemporary hip hop scene with single ‘Caroline’ that eventually went triple platinum. His debut album, Good For You was received positively by critics in mid-2017.

The European leg of his “Tour for You” was extremely hyped up in the hip hop fan base with many fans taking to social media asking him to extend his ten-day tour beyond the seven shows.

Before Aminé’s arrival onstage, the small, cozy venue, Academy 3 at the top floor of the Student’s Union, was sold out to its maximum capacity of just over 200 people. Aminé’s DJ, Madison, took to the stage and warmed the crowd up to current hip hop hits, street classics like Soulja Boy’s ‘Crank Dat’ and soul legends akin to ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’.

It’s safe to say that most of the room were dancing and cheering, making the main star’s entrance seamless after a PSA instructing all of us to put our phones away and live in the moment, carpe diem being the motto for many.

The “Tour For You” setlist was, essentially, a playthrough of Good For You in a shuffled order, with the exception of the single ‘REDMERCEDES’. Between every song, Aminé would address the audience in different ways, either thanking us for being at the show or asking us how we were. At one point we were taught a call-and-response that was charming: “When I say ‘You’re beautiful’, you gotta respond ‘I know’, OK, Manchester?” From that point onwards we were questioned threefold each time.

Intimacy is almost inevitable in a small venue and Aminé embraced the space with his humble and bubbly personality. During the tour, he wore a pair of jeans that gained an extra patch at each performance that would be signed by a member of the audience. A lad by the name of Joe was the chosen one and, of course, when asked what should be engraved in the artefact, we started a chant of “0161 Manny on the map”.

Impressively, ‘Caroline’ was performed acapella and mostly by the audience as Aminé stared in bewilderment at our love for him. The single gave way to the most anticipated track: ‘Spice Girl’. It felt as if the whole room was one giant mosh pit with the crowd exploding energetically to the track. As if one play of the song wasn’t enough, the track was the encore, played twice in a row, to everyone’s delight.

There are a certain qualities that I really appreciate in artists and, I’m sure, most of you agree: being down-to-earth and self-aware. Aminé is both of those, and much more. The show at Academy 3 was wonderfully fun and felt much bigger than it was thanks to the audience that may as well have been triple the size it was. Mark my words, Aminé is destined for greatness with his bouncy tunes and energetic shows.

8/10

Lemn Sissay’s Christmas dinner

As first semester draws to a close, many students will be travelling home for Christmas to spend time with loved ones. We’re bombarded with this narrative as soon as December begins and every shopping centre around the country is garishly decorated with tinsel and giant baubles.

On TV you’ll find this year’s John Lewis ad reminding you that Christmas is a special time for friends and family and buying overpriced tree decorations. But for many people, Christmas can be a lonely time, especially when they are faced with constant reminders that they should be spending it with family. Care-leavers — those who after the age of eighteen have officially left the care of the state — are one of these marginalised populations.

I talked to Emma Lewis-Kalubowila. Emma is involved with Lemn Sissay’s ‘Manchester Christmas Dinner’ project for care-leavers as a Steering Group Member. As a care-leaver himself, the University of Manchester Chancellor Lemn Sissay wanted to set up a project that would make Christmas day one of happiness, luxury and fun for the fifty guests they seat in Manchester.

“One of the really difficult things about state care” Emma explains, “is that you are only looked after till you are 18, but I didn’t stop getting looked after by my parents when I was 18. Working at a uni you realise that the vast majority of people are supported still well into their 20s.” For care-leavers, it’s different. Some are supported by friends and other networks, but for many, they find themselves completely self-reliant.

“Some will be on their own on Christmas day, we even work with some care-leavers who are unfortunately homeless. It’s not an ideal situation any time of the year, but around Christmas it becomes more apparent.”

Perhaps it’s the Christmas spirit everyone tries to get into, with the giving and receiving of presents on Christmas day we are astutely aware of what we are financially capable to buy, and how lucky we are. This Christmas spirit in many cases gets carried into charitable work. The Christmas Dinner is completely donation funded. Right from the taxi rides, to the activities available such as a nail bar and gaming station, to the three-course meal itself and after dinner film.

“The Man United Foundation kindly donates football shirts for the guests, as well as L’oreal and the Co-Operative donating goodies,” Emma explains. “There’s even an Amazon wish-list available that anyone can purchase presents for the guests from.”

Photo: Lemn Sissay

But the organisers want to steer away from the idea that the event is a “charity case”.

“Lemn is careful about the idea of the dinner, it’s not a soup kitchen, in fact, we don’t even have soup on the menu because of this. We make sure there is no bleach smell to the room, as we don’t want it to be like a care-home. It’s a day of luxury for the guests, we are recreating a special Christmas with a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

In 2015 we covered a similar story promoting the Christmas Dinner. I asked Emma how far the project has come in these two years, and what had changed.

“There is now about 10 projects across the country,” Emma tells me, “In February 2017, after last years Christmas dinner, a lot of people who were involved came together to write a ‘How To’ guide. Others have picked it up and run with it.” People have been inspired by the dinners and have started doing their own. The Oxford branch had to, unfortunately, stop running their event, but it was picked up by care-leavers in the area and reintroduced.

“There are about 450 guests now all across the country!” The growth in the two years is quite impressive. “I keep seeing on twitter other events that have been inspired by us. They’re popping up all over the country, as long as they follow the ethos it’s positive.”

So how do we get involved with such a worthwhile project?

Any way you can, advises Emma: “Anyone can get involved, we need people for fundraising, students have been great with Christmas socials in the past and have collected donations for the cause. We’ve got the Amazon gift list, you can volunteer in advance (however the day is now full) and volunteering for clean up afterwards.”

“We could do with help with social media as well- I’m in charge of the Twitter and Facebook for the event but I’m having a baby next year so we will need help! Even people making videos to get the message out there.” It just shows, even if you can’t donate, there is so much more you can bring to helping out.

To find out more, visit Twitter  or Facebook.

Further information can be found at http://blog.lemnsissay.com/.

To buy a care-leaver a christmas gift (prices start at £2), you can find the amazon wish list here.

Winter warmer: Steak and ale pie

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil — I used olive oil, but any will do

1 kg braising steak cut into large chunks

3 tbsp plain flour

2 onions, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

2 or 3 carrots, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

A few fresh thyme sprigs

200 ml beef stock

Salt

Ground black pepper

400 ml dark ale, Guinness works perfectly

1 teaspoon sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 pack ready to roll puff pastry (should be around 300 g)

Method:

1. Put the beef, flour, and some salt and pepper in a sealed sandwich bag and shake. This should coat the beef in a layer of flour without making too much of a mess.

2. Remove the beef, shaking off excess flour. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Brown the meat in batches, without crowding the pieces and ensuring that they are seared well on all sides. Once cooked, put the pieces in a bowl. Splash a bit of ale in the pan, removing the meaty bits stuck to the bottom. Pour the liquid into the bowl over the meat.

3. Add another tablespoon of oil and heat for a minute on a low to medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and herbs to the pan and stir. Cook until softened, around ten minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn. If it’s catching, turn down the heat.

4. Add the beef back into the pan along with the rest of the ale and beef stock. Make sure the beef is covered, adding a little more stock if you need. Cover and simmer at a low heat for an hour to an hour and a half, until the sauce has thickened. Add more salt and pepper to taste, and a teaspoon of sugar.  Let it cool slightly and fill your pie dish.

5. If using shop bought puff pastry, cut it to fit the top of your pie dish.

6. If you’ve made your own pastry, roll it to half an inch thickness and cut it to fit the top of your pie dish.

7. Brush the rim of the pie dish lightly with the beaten egg so that the pastry sticks to the dish. Add your pastry top, pressing down at the rim. Add any pastry decoration you wish. Brush the pastry with the egg wash and cut a couple of slits on the pie to allow steam to escape.

8. Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius/gas mark 6 for 30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed, golden brown and crisp, and the filling is beginning to bubble.

Photo: Esther Craven

Oi Oi! An interview with Franko Fraize

The UK music scene has become a force to be reckoned with. In the past five years, we’ve seen grime go from an American hip-hop offshoot, misunderstood and shunned by the mainstream media, to a genre in its own right. A breeding ground for musical creativity. I chatted with Franko Fraize, an underground rapper, to find out where he thinks he fits into the scene.

Fraize, originally from Thetford, has been in and around the UK music scene for nearly 6 years now. On the start of his career, he says “I wanted to do music because it gives you the ability to connect with people. When you have something to say it gives you the chance to say it and when I saw the music scene in this country start to blow up it caught my attention. When I saw people like Wiley and Dizzee Rascal doing stuff with an English voice, I realized people were beginning to break down the walls.”

More specifically, he says “it’s quite therapeutic. Most artists are crazy bastards and it’s a good way for them to voice their issues out loud you know, more and more people now are being open about things like depression and that shows in music. It’s definitely helping.”

He believes that the UK music scene is a unique experience, of the early days he says, “It felt new because you had things like Channel U before it was AKA and you had the ability to film yourself rapping and share it in ways you couldn’t before and I think that helped push my generation forward with it.

“It felt like a movement, like Punk or something, because it was cheap as chips to do it, you could film a low budget video easy, and people were really listening. The first tune I ever got played on Radio 1, I’d recorded in my mate’s bedroom with no soundproofing or anything. I think just being able to do it is what made me do it.”

His origins are crucial to his journey, describing his sound as “British rap” he tells me “every element of it is British. Whether it’s a 140bpm Grime thing or something with guitar on it, that’s what ties it all together — the Britishness.”

Citing Wiley, Mike Skinner, Wretch 32, and Skinnyman as his biggest inspirations, he’s adamant that the key to success as an artist is originality. He says “you’ve gotta be comfortable with who you are and what you do and you’ve gotta be happy with the grind. You know at first just making beats and performing to your friends, once you’re content with that, that’s when things really start to pick up.”

In November, he performed at The 27 Club in Liverpool. Of the show, he tells me “loads of people turned out for me and the promoter was buzzing because he didn’t expect it to be like that. Neither did I actually. It was nice to be able to go somewhere up north, somewhere I’d never been and to feel like I could pull a crowd.”

He’s excited for the coming year too. He says “I wanna put a lot more music out. I feel like music is moving so quickly and I’ve got a lot of stuff to put out but I’m just sitting on it. I’m trying to get more involved with things like GRMDaily and I wanna be playing 100 cap venues. I’d love to do a festival abroad as well.

“The scene is really blowing up in Europe, in places like Croatia and I’d love to get out there. I wanna get to America eventually as well. I’m working with a lot of people who move in those circles so it would make sense for that to be the next progression.”

“Ultimately” he reflects “I’d like to release an album and have it be on a Mercury Prize level”.

Readers can find Franko on twitter @frankofraize

Postgraduate students feel unrepresented by Students’ Union

Postgraduate students at Manchester University have told The Mancunion that they feel unrepresented, ignored and neglected by their Students’ Union.

A motion to change the composition of the Executive Officer team for the academic year 2018/2019 was proposed at the Students’ Union (SU) Senate on Thursday the 7th of December.

Two options were presented, the first of which would have seen the introduction of a Postgraduate Education Officer to represent the 8,490 postgraduate taught students and 3,575 postgraduate research students at Manchester University.

65 per cent of attendees voted in favour of option one but a two-thirds majority is needed for a motion to pass, with 76 per cent instead voting to approve “option two” of the officer role review proposals which will see the introduction of an International Students’ Union Officer but no role representing specifically postgraduate students.

Speaking to The Mancunion, a first-year PhD student at Manchester University, Iqra Choudhry, said: “I think the postgrad community is ignored by the Students’ Union and so I do feel disappointed that the motion did not pass.

“All society-related stuff is aimed at undergraduates. I think that Masters and PhD students are often overlooked, even though we want to be a part of student life.

“We end up having to create our own socials etc. Apart from the odd fresher’s event aimed at Masters students, there really isn’t an effort from the Students’ Union to reach out to postgrads.”

28 Senate attendees voted in favour of the motion, 15 voted against and four abstained from the vote.

Students that spoke against the motion cited the low turnout of 1.3 per cent in the recently held ‘All Student Vote‘ as evidence of a lack of a mandate from the SU to implement the Executive Office role changes, criticised the clarity and transparency of the proposals and questioned the consultation and engagement with students.

General Secretary, Alex Tayler, insisted that the SU had engaged with “thousands of students” on the matter over the last three years while SU Education Officer, Emma Atkins, suggested that the proposals had been analysed with “excruciating detail”, adding that “we’ve had enough delay.”

Option one also involved the removal of a designated Students’ Union Campaigns Officer which many students criticised.

Tayler said that “as an exec team, we should all be campaigners” and pointed out that the only two similar institutions in the UK that have an SU Officer role specifically for the role of campaigns are the University of South Wales Students’ Union and the University of Central Lancashire Students’ Union.

Emma Atkins, SU Education Officer, said that she was “gutted” that the motion did not pass.

Atkins added: “Not only would it have allocated Students’ Union resources, time and funding to our underrepresented postgraduate students for their wellbeing, activities, employability, and their voice on things that matter to them – it would also have split the Education Officer’s 25 plus meetings and committees in half so they could spend more time focusing on what students care about.”

Majid Ahmed, a Medicine PhD student at Manchester University, attended Senate and told The Mancunion: “It was disappointing that today’s Senate voted to not bring the Postgraduate Executive role into fruition, despite the clear and obvious voice from the postgraduate community that the Students’ Union at the University of Manchester frankly neglects their needs and their well-being.

“The fact that the result was so close shows that a lot of students do recognise the need for an Executive Postgraduate Officer. Unfortunately, the issues surrounding the turnout of the recent referendum and the confusion around the way the changes were presented probably didn’t help the motion and was a reason why four students chose to abstain from this vote, due to not feeling well-informed enough to make a decision.”

Speaking more optimistically about the future, Majid Ahmed added: “Moving forward, it is exciting that we are launching a new cross-faculty University-wide ‘MCR postgraduate society’ in January of 2018 to re-engage postgraduate students into the Students’ Union and create a push to organise and run events and campaigns specifically aimed at postgraduate students.

“Additionally, we are thrilled to be launching our new postgraduate professional networking platform in 2018 to bring our postgraduate community together and incorporate the newest innovations in digital technology and cloud-based computing to modernise how postgraduates network and share information within and across faculties over our large campus.”

Of the 429 students who voted in the ‘All Student Vote’, 60.2 per cent voted to introduce both an International Students Executive Officer and Postgraduate Education Executive Officer, while 12.6 per cent voted to introduce of a Postgraduate Education Officer.

The decision on the passed Senate motion will have to be ratified by the Students’ Union trustee board but is likely to mean that there will be no Students’ Union Postgraduate Executive Officer until March of 2019, unless 600 students were to sign a petition triggering a referendum on the matter.

Subject to ratification, the eight Students’ Union Officer roles for the academic year 2018/2019 are likely to be: Activities and Development Officer, Campaigns, Community and Citizenship Officer, Education Officer, General Secretary, International Students Officer, Liberation and Access Officer, Welfare Officer and Women’s Officer.

The Students’ Union Executive Officer team cannot have more than eight roles as this would mean that more than 50 per cent of the trustee board are paid members of staff, which is not permitted in order to ensure decisions are not biased.

79 per cent of attendees voted in favour of a motion titled ‘Sex Worker Soliditary’ which will see the SU giving more support to students who privately come out as a sex worker to the Executive Officer team and supporting the campaign for full decriminalisation of sex work. 91 per cent also voted to pass on an amendment of this motion to ensure that male sex workers were also to be fully supported.

A motion to add a “+” to the two officer titles currently called “LGBQ”, standing for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Queer, was also passed with a majority of 91 per cent.

83 per cent of attendees also voted to pass a motion titled ‘Accessible Prayer Spaces Across Campus’, with the Union resolving “to expand the Students’ Union’s current prayer space to be more spacious and well equipped” and “to lobby the University to include prayer spaces in all buildings on campus.”

Several motions were not discussed at Senate due to the length of time spent discussing the officer role review and instead will be discussed at the next Senate on the 21st of January 2018.

One of these motions included a proposal to provide free menstrual products in Students’ Union bathrooms

Sara Heddi told The Mancunion that she is already working on a very similar policy proposal which is set to be announced in the near future.

Love For the Streets ends semester on a high

Love for the Streets (LFTS), a student led campaign to tackle homelessness, is ending the semester with two huge events.

The first, ‘Let’s talk homelessness: Looking at LGBTQ+ and Women’s Issues’, which took place on Monday the 4th of December, was used to inform students and the wider Manchester community about “niche topics” that affect the homeless.

The event page claimed these “sensitive topics” are rarely spoken about, so it hoped to encourage more candid conversation about the subject in a fun and relaxed setting.

24 per cent of homeless young people identify as LGBT, according to the Albert Kennedy Trust in Manchester. They also state that 77 per cent of these believed that coming out to their parents was the main factor in becoming homeless.

Research by Crisis, the homelessness charity, found 58 per cent of women sleeping rough had been intimidated or threatened with violence in the past 12 months.

The event had three guest speakers, all of whom have worked with organisations who combat homelessness, and there were 150 attendees. “The event was just the broad beginning of many future conferences. We are going to make Let’s Talk Homelessness a series to try and humanise homelessness,” said Jack Houghton, community officer at the Student’s Union.

In addition to the conference, LFTS will be hosting a Christmas Soundclash at Cubo in Fallowfield on Saturday 9th December.

Champions of the last event, Off Beat, will be going up against Riddim Division. The final spot of the clash has been opened up for fresh talent.

Donations made on the night will go towards homeless charities in Manchester. Jack told The Mancunion why he believed an alternative and creative approach was best to engage a young audience. He said, “Charities have a hard time reaching students and we want to bridge that gap between. The Soundclash event is about engaging with people through social media and music. We are trying to raise brand awareness, to spread the message of Love for the Streets among students.”

Money for the cause will also be raised through the sale of T-shirts branded with the LFTS logo.

The Mancunion spoke to Joe Rooney the designer of the shirts. When asked about how the design ties in with the message he said, “the typography has its roots in street art which permeates Manchester’s identity.”

He continued, “I’ve always struggled to figure out how I can help, now through fashion and design I can contribute in my own way, which is awesome. I think that’s why Love for the Streets is so exciting, it utilises people’s hobbies and skills to reach out to its audience.”

Ahead of the Christmas Soundclash, 3rd year American Studies student Whitney Burdett told The Mancunion why she would be attending. Whitney said, “I am going… because it is a cheap and local event with good music. I think Love for the streets is a great idea because not many students are encouraged to donate. This is a more accessible means of getting us involved. Going to events like this makes me feel like I’m doing my bit.”

Love for the Streets will have more events in Homelessness week from the 18th-25th March 2018.

Students outraged at Ofsted for schoolgirl hijab proposal

Ofsted has come under fire from students and academics for suggesting the hijab “sexualises” primary school girls.

The Office for Standards and Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) have proposed that inspectors should question primary school Muslim girls for wearing a headscarf or hijab.

Amanda Spielman, head of Ofsted, claimed that girls wearing the hijab before it is required by Islamic teaching, (which is approximately when they hit puberty) “could be interpreted as sexualisation”.

This announcement came as a verbal recommendation to Ofsted inspectors instead of a formal addition to their handbooks, and has sparked outrage among many. Over 1,000 teachers, academics and faith leaders penned a letter to the company, expressing their dismay.

The letter, written by Nadine El-Enany, a senior law lecturer at Birkbeck Law School, University of London, Waqas Tufail, a senior lecturer in criminology at Leeds Beckett University, and Shereen Fernandez, a PhD candidate at Queen Mary University of London, said: “We, the undersigned, ask that Ofsted immediately retract its instruction to inspectors to question primary school children wearing the hijab.

“It is a kneejerk, discriminatory and institutionally racist response that will violate civil liberties and create a climate of fear and mistrust in schools, and must be retracted immediately.”

The decision also received criticism from Muslim students at the University of Manchester, some of whom feared Ofsted’s decision would encourage Islamophobia on campus.

A second-year student, who chose to remain anonymous, called what Ofsted are doing a “shameful” abuse of power, and expressed her fears that the “extremely dangerous” decision would “lead to more attacks on the streets towards women and girls who observe the hijab.”

Non-Muslim students echoed this sentiment, with Jennifer Hewitt, a second year English Literature student commenting that “the general feeling I’ve gotten from many of my Muslim friends is that they are proud to wear the hijab, not ashamed or oppressed. This is England, for pity’s sake!

“This whole debacle is thinly veiled racism at best, and the beginnings of institutionalised religious persecution.” She continued, hoping for “An end to this ‘us vs. them’ dichotomy.”

The Mancunion also contacted the National Union of Students (NUS) Women’s Officer Hareem Ghani, for comment. Ghani, the first Muslim woman in NUS history elected to the position, whose manifesto includes fighting gendered Islamophobia, stated that “the sexualisation of young girls and women is a societal issue, not a Muslim issue.

“You cannot pick and choose when you will concern yourself with a particular issue” she continued, stating Ofsted “would do well to develop a rounded approach rather than singling out particular minority groups.”

Ghani also said it was “nothing more than a smokescreen intended to outsource issues of sexualisation and sexism to minority communities.” She pointed to the fact that other religious groups were not facing the same kind of questioning.

In response to a letter of complaint from a student from the University of Manchester, an Ofsted representative stated that “Inspectors will not be singling out individual children” and that they “have a responsibility to take seriously concerns about pressures children face in schools, and to ensure there is no detriment either to their learning or to their preparation for life in modern Britain.”

The letter also stated that they intended to discuss their decision with the Association of Muslim Schools, school leaders and individual MPs.

It also said that inspectors already spoke to children about “a range of issues, such as discrimination, bullying and their understanding of other cultures” adding that “exploring why primary age girls are wearing the hijab may be another theme they discuss along with other issues such as relationships, bullying and radicalisation.”

The Emma app with UoM graduate Edoardo Moreni

For many, university is a place to find lifelong friends and companions, for some, you could even meet your future business partners. This was the case for UoM graduates Edoardo Moreni and Antonio Marino, who in their final year of studies started a venture that would become the building blocks for “Emma”.

“Emma is a financial advocate,” Edoardo explains, “she can help people in avoiding overdrafts, finding and cancelling subscriptions, tracking debt and saving money.” Somewhat of a necessary evil in the bottomless pit of university expenses, especially when Emma could be saving you a good chunk of your student finance; “Our data shows she can save up to £600 every year!”

“We believe we are at the right time in history where we can democratize the figure of the private wealth manager”  Edoardo states, emphasising the inclusive nature of the app for customers. “We can build a technology whose only aim is to improve our users financial well being, regardless of who they are or where they come from.”

To be able to have a financial aid at your fingertips can be extremely beneficial and enriching (literally) to the lives of many. We don’t all learn how to keep our cheques in check at school, and having to navigate the world of taxes, debt and income can be a daunting task. But what makes the Emma app different to the rest?

“Emma is the only product that is able to provide a subscriptions tracker, a savings functionality and an aggregation tool all in one place.” Edoardo went on to explain that “there is no other product out there that can offer an all in one solution; that’s why people tend to have 3 or 4 different finance apps. We think they should have only one.”

Emma can also monitor events such as refunds, linked transactions, incoming salaries or budgets. “We use machine learning and data science to monitor the behaviour of our users and help them make adjustments to improve their finances.”

But where did it all begin? “Me and Antonio met in the first week of University. We were actually the only two Italians in our Computer Science course and so we ended up becoming friends.” Eduardo believes his experience at UoM helped him greatly with what was to come next:
“University is about what you experience and feel, rather than just textbooks. There is an immense background of events, friendships, emotions that have helped me in understanding others and also setting up a business.”

Manchester invites the likes of many successful people through its grand and gothic archways, and after entering the Techcrunch Disrupt London Hackathon and winning the William Hill Sponsor Prize in their final year, Edoardo and Antonio were set to be two of them.

“It was a two-day competition where teams build a concept, such as an app, and then win prizes,” Edoardo explains. With storming the competition and winning the William Hill Sponsor Prize, they began a world tour with their idea.

“After finishing our exams, we were able to travel around the world for a month, from Dubai to Las Vegas, and we realised we had to start a business together. That’s why we moved to Berlin in September 2016 and spent the next few months looking at the finance industry.”

Photo: Edoardo Moreni

“We soon understood that the many financial products and a banking world, which is not consumer-centric, were creating problems in the lives of many people. For this reason, we moved back to London with the aim to start building Emma.”

One thing I really wanted to know, was just who IS Emma? Was the app named after someone? Edoardo explained that actually, Emma is an acronym.

“While we were in Uni, we were part of several different “side projects”, which had different names. In our second year, we ran a web consulting business called Magna Ideas. Our original pick, for the name, was Emma. This comes from our initials: (E)dorado (M)oreni and (M)arino (A)ntonio.”

“In the end, we never used that name, but we knew, from the moment we started thinking about what we were going to build next, that this was the time for Emma.”

And it suits the app well, just like the draw of Siri, the app is almost like a companion, more personalised by being named, it really feels like you’ve got someone at hand to help you when you need it. And Emma — or more Edoardo — has aspirations for the future.

“We want to build an Artificial Intelligence that will be able to handle and monitor all your finances from anywhere. Wherever you go or whatever you are buying, Emma will be there to assist and help you.”

Emma is currently in closed beta, so the access is restricted. However, there is an exclusive link for Mancunion readers, with 200 invites, that you can find here.

Any reader can skip the queue of thousands and get exclusive access right away. If you are looking for more info regarding Emma, you can visit the website here.