The Manchester Weekly from The Mill The Mill

On Friday 22nd March, tents started gathering under the porticoes outside Manchester Town Hall in St Peter’s Square. An activist named Emma was protesting the government not halting arms sales to Israel, and seeing the sleeping bags under the porticoes gave her an idea. Within a few days, dozens of tents were outside the town hall and there was a waiting list of rough sleepers hoping to join the camp. Manchester’s most pressing social problem was playing out right in front of the council’s nose.
Now, Manchester City Council says the camp is over. 51 people from the camp have accepted a place in temporary accommodation, while five chose to remain. Deputy Council Leader Cllr Joanna Midgley said in a statement that “we cannot welcome an environment where vulnerable people are put at risk and others feel intimidated”, adding that “this camp is clearly untenable and not in the best interests of either the vulnerable people in it or the wider community who are impacted by it”, while the offer will remain open to those five people who initially refused temporary accommodation. Were the activists doing more harm than good? And what does this story tell us about the complexity of trying to help rough sleepers get off the streets?
With thanks to Manchester Museum for sponsoring this week's episode. Manchester wants to become a 'greener' city that embraces nature, but how can that be achieved given the scale of new development? That’s one of the many questions explored by a fascinating new exhibition called Wild, which opens at Manchester Museum on 5 June. Wild will explore how people are creating and repairing connections with nature, from post-industrial urban landscapes like Manchester to Aboriginal-led cultural revegetation projects in Western Australia and the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park in the US.
We’d love you to take part. Just email us a photo and a short description of your favourite “wild” space in the local area, whether it’s the site of an abandoned mill or a lovely spot in your local park. Our favourite ones will be published in future newsletters and you will get a free curator’s tour of the exhibition. Read more about Wild here.
Recommendations:
Manchester's new homeless camp has good intentions. Is that enough?, The Mill
Manchester has a homelessness crisis. But it's not the one you thought, The Mill
Months after a violent attack on a homeless man, the police are still trying to rebuild trust, The Mill

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In late 2021, a noise complaint filed to Manchester City Council about the iconic Northern Quarter venue Night & Day Cafe caused a city-wide row that lasted more than two years. In today's episode, Jack and Joshi discuss Jack's recent piece, that took a deeper look at what, until now, had been quite a simple story.
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When a video emerged of a Greater Manchester Police constable kicking and stamping on a homeless refugee, there was a huge public outcry. Andy Burnham demanded an internal investigation and homelessness charities called it "appalling, unacceptable and degrading". What does this incident tell us about the police's attitudes to the homeless community in Manchester, and what will it take for the authorities to regain the trust of some of society's most vulnerable? Mollie speaks about her reporting on this topic and reveals that Greater Manchester Police still haven't sent their review of their decision-making in the aftermath of this incident to the GMCA.
With thanks to The Hallé for sponsoring this week's episode. We're offering our listeners 25% off tickets to the world-class Hallé orchestra's performance of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra at Bridgewater Hall on Thursday 18 April. It's an opera built around intrigue and revenge, featuring abductions, murders in the palace and a plot to overthrow the aristocracy. They will be under the direction of the legendary Sir Mark Elder, providing one of the final chances to see Elder in action before he steps down as Music Director after 24 years. Click here to get your tickets, and make sure to enter themill18 in the promo code box to get 25% off.
Recommendations:
Months after a violent attack on a homeless man, the police are still trying to rebuild trust, The Mill
Jordan Neely’s Death and a Critical Moment in the Homelessness Crisis, The New Yorker

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In 2016, Caroline Dyer and Colette Burroughs-Rose shared frustrations with how the world was becoming more divided. They believed the political developments of the time — the election of Donald Trump and Brexit — had caused more friction in the world and there was a need for more nuanced conversations to help us reconnect. In the aftermath of this division, Heard Storytelling was born. It began with a series of live events in a pub in the Northern Quarter, where people were invited to share their personal stories in front of a live audience. Just last month, they launched their first podcast series, the Heard Storytelling podcast. They publish twice a week, with one long form episode on Monday which features a story and an interview with the storyteller, and on Fridays, they publish Briefly Heard, which offers behind-the-scenes insights into how a story was crafted.
In this special episode, Mollie sits down with Heard Storytelling's co-founder Caroline Dyer to discuss the inspirational Manchester stories that they discovered while making the podcast, the importance of being vulnerable with strangers and why storytelling matters.
Warning: this episode contains a mention of suicidal ideation.
Recommendations:
The Heard Storytelling Podcast
Sobriety's Wake-Up Call: Karl's Story
Follow Heard Storytelling on Instagram to keep up with their latest events, projects and announcements


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Earlier this week, our editor Joshi Herrmann sat down with US Senator Bernie Sanders to discuss the colossal decline of local news in the UK, how that impacts communities and how he imagines the crisis in local news might be resolved. "It is a disaster for democracy," Bernie Sanders told us, a powerful statement about something we all care about. In today's episode, Mollie and Joshi examine that interview and take a deep dive into the crisis in local news in the UK and why we're still optimistic about the future.
Many thanks to Manchester Museum for sponsoring this week's podcast episode. After its major reopening last year, Manchester Museum’s South Asia Gallery won headlines around the world. The New York Times noted that it was “the first permanent museum gallery in Britain to spotlight the South Asian diaspora,” in a new space that “focuses on the community’s lived experience: on what it means to be British and South Asian at the same time.” That gallery features everything from ancient Sri Lankan musical instruments to displays about the secret South Asian Daytimers raves of the 80s and 90s, as well as exploring garment manufacture and South Asian working lives in Manchester. Plan your visit now — and you can see the stunning Golden Mummies of Egypt show (ending in April) and Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex at the same time.
Recommendations:
Colossal decline of UK regional media since 2007 revealed, Press Gazette
Is this the future of local news?, Media Confidential
What Happens to Democracy When Local Journalism Dries Up?, The Washington Post
‘The Men Who Are Killing America’s Newspapers’, The Atlantic

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When Sir Tony Lloyd died last month, his seat in Rochdale looked like a relatively easy hold for Labour. Now, with the party’s candidate disowned for spreading a conspiracy theory about Israel and George Galloway picking up support over the war in Gaza, the by-election has entered uncharted territory. Under the glare of the national media, three former Labour members are on the ballot, but Labour has effectively suspended its campaign. And speaking to The Mill from his campaign HQ in a Suzuki garage, Galloway is feeling confident. Members of his team are even claiming that Labour’s now-expelled candidate Azhar Ali has left the country. In this week's episode, our reporter Jack Dulhanty takes us behind the scenes, and tries to find out what on earth is going on in Rochdale.
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