Dear readers, today we bring you something a little different.
There’s this phrase, courtesy of Henry du Montherlant, no less, and it goes like this: happiness writes in white ink on a white page. You can’t see it; it carries no life. The text from a friend telling you how excellently their date went? Not interested. What you want to hear is that it was all going well until he split his bouillabaisse all over his new shirt then wound up wrestling with the waiter. The postcard arriving from foreign soils telling you the holiday was a smashing success and the kids loved it? Don’t care. You want to read about lost passports, exotic lurgies and how one of the kids was unfortunately kidnapped by pirates.
Well, how about the edition of The Mill that drops into your inbox on a Friday morning carrying news of all that good stuff that is happening in Manchester? As it happens, this is indeed what you want. Back in October, we asked you how to make Manchester a better place. After gathering ideas at Mill HQ, you cast your ballots to whittle our longlist down to six pledges we’d fulfil if we gained 1,000 new members. We sailed past that milestone, which means 2026 is the year you get to hold us to them.
One clear favourite was a Good News edition. There’s so much in this city worth celebrating and for once, that’s exactly what we’re here to do. The news, and we’re guilty of this at times ourselves, can have a habit of drifting naturally towards the dramatic: political scandals, dodgy landlords or other dread-inducing tales. That’s important stuff, but what about the unsung heroes: the much-loved lollipop ladies; the booming businesses; the upstart environmental schemers; the times the council gets it right; the ginnel rewilders and the conversationists who have dedicated four decades of their lives to a rare breed of parakeet.
Dozens of you got in touch to tell us your good news in preparation for this edition, and now is the time to share it. All you need to do is sit back, enjoy the ride and bask in some long-overdue civic pride.
Higher Folds was known for two things: flooding and divorce. Then its residents created a new story
Meet Karl Astbury. He’s a 43-year-old (who valiantly fought to resist the temptation to tell me he was 33 when I asked his age) with a thick head of hair and a warm, open demeanour. When he first visited Higher Folds, a council estate in Wigan, he was scoping out potential communities to work with as part of his role with a climate change non-profit. The long road up to the estate is surrounded by trees, and he was struck by the feeling that he was entering a place cut off from the world.
It was a balmy summer’s day in August 2023, but the blue skies were deceiving; the fallout of severe flooding just two months prior was still being felt, and he could see sandbags strewn across entryways. Higher Folds is a former coal-mining estate, and it leaves behind a legacy of subsidence that makes it prone to flooding. But beyond tough environmental conditions, it’s also one of England’s most deprived areas. If you look it up online you won’t find a great deal of good news stories. In fact, you won’t find a great deal of stories full stop (save a 2004 MEN report about its erstwhile reputation as the divorce capital of the UK).
Karl, 43, had been warned that he might find it difficult to partner with Higher Folds; it was a tight-knit community, and they rarely trusted outsiders. But then he met Liz Twigge, a 45-year-old with an infectious laugh and tireless ambition, who lives locally and runs a community-interest company (CIC) called HF Works. It’s a supportive hub that aims to break a cycle of low expectations for residents, offering training opportunities that lead to greater employability.
Alongside locals, the pair are now writing a different kind of story about life on a council estate. One, in the words of both Karl and Liz, that’s rooted in its “magic”. Liz’s motivation is simple: “I just like people. I find them inspiring and I believe in them”.
Together, they devised a series of programmes. At Higher Folds, young people are now receiving employment opportunities through paid grounds maintenance and environmental work, volunteers come together to improve neglected green spaces, there are youth clubs, drop-ins and tutoring support. While I’m chatting to Liz, she passes the phone to Lizzie Lloyd, a 26-year-old volunteer at the company. Liz funded a grief course to help Lizzie cope with a loss, and now Lizzie plans to utilise what she’s learnt on the course to help others on the estate.
So what are the plans for the future of Higher Folds? Well, Liz says there are no signs of things slowing down: “We’re just shaking shit up, man. We’re gonna show everyone how it’s done, Higher Folds style.”
Miller of the Month
Readers, please meet your first-ever Miller of the Month: Alex Timperley. On New Year’s Day 2020, Alex set up Manchester City Football Club (MCFC) Fans Foodbank, and he’s since helped fans set up their own foodbanks across the country. Now he’s here to tell you all about it.
What is the MCFC Fans Foodbank?
“We’re a charity and our main work is organising foodbank collections for Manchester Central Foodbank outside men’s and women’s games on weekends. We’ve collected 1.25 tonnes of food this season already.”
Which areas are these donations reaching?
“United fans collect for Manchester South Central Foodbank which covers Hulme over to Trafford. Manchester Central, for City fans, covers East Manchester, Rusholme, the city centre and round to Harpurhey and Moston. It also covers the area directly around the Etihad Stadium, which are some of the poorest areas of Europe.”
Football rivalries are famously intense. How have you managed to cross club lines with your work?
“It works because we make it work: we bridge the differences and we come together, and football supporters are working across club lines now more than ever before. The thing is, after the match we’re all the same people. We live near each other — City and United fans pick our kids up and drop them off at school together. We aren’t actually separate and once you start working together it's impossible to stop it.”
You’re looking to inspire others, so how can people get involved at their local clubs?
“The way to get involved is just to start. Find a local foodbank and give them a call. It doesn’t have to be just football, but getting started at your local thing is as easy as working with other fan groups, and there’s nothing more complicated than that. All you need is the willingness to do it. If anyone needs help setting up, they can contact me.”
What’s next for MCFC Fans Foodbank?
“Our motto is ‘close us down’. Ending food poverty is the main goal. It sounds kind of utopian, the idea that football supporters could end food poverty in the UK, but we’ve already done impossible things — the idea 10 years ago that football supporters could pull thousands out of food poverty would be absurd, but right now we have branches up and down the country doing exactly that.”
Think you have a story worthy of taking home February’s much-coveted title? Get in touch.
Quick hits
🎭 After years of late-night meetings, legal wrangling and sheer stubbornness, local campaign group Save Hulme Hippodrome (SHH) is celebrating its fifth birthday. The organisation has been met with positive responses from the council on its recent restoration plans for the Grade II listed theatre, which has sat derelict for years. They’re up against the current owner, Charles Gassell Gordon, who wants to sell it for redevelopment, but SHH has enlisted an angel investor who can help them buy the building. Mike Bath, one of the group’s directors, is as resolute as ever: “The longer it’s gone on the more frustrated and determined you are to overcome obstacles. I don’t think we’re going to fold anytime soon.”
🏠 Manchester has just had its best year for affordable housing in more than 15 years, with the council on track for 2025/26 to be the biggest building year since the mid-1990s. In 2025 alone, 2,993 new homes were completed — hitting 31% of the city’s 36,000 home target by 2032. That included 791 affordable homes, and 60% of those were capped at social rent, which is almost double the proportion at the start of the housing strategy.
🐟 If you’ve spent any time in the past 10 years stalking the rivers of north west England in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the Young Atlantic salmon, then, frankly, you’ve been wasting your time. But now, for the first time in over a decade, a young salmon has been found in the River Mersey. Quite something, given sections of the river were biologically dead a few decades back. There is a catch, mind (excuse the pun). Due to the Mode Wheel locks at Salford Quays, the fish are currently unable to migrate up the River Irwell. However, Mike Duddy, of the Salford Friendly Anglers Society, says now would be the perfect time to build a fish pass, letting them through and thus welcoming salmon into the Kingdoms of the Roch, the Irk and the rivers of Bolton. Either way, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency is “very excited” about the discovery, and it’s safe to say the feeling’s mutual.
From surviving cancer to bringing the world’s best flamenco artists to Manchester
It was March 2016, and Sarah Chambers was part of a group of women being scanned early for breast cancer. She had a slight ache but wasn’t particularly worried, travelling to the hospital alone. So when she saw the concern on the doctors’ faces as she was told she needed surgery to remove a cancerous tumour in her breast tissue, there was no emotional outburst. She was in a state of shock.
In her 40s, she was working in IT project roles for the NHS. Suddenly, life felt like it was on hold.
Doctors told Sarah the tumour was small, meaning she could go home after surgery. A day or two after the operation, as she lay in bed foggy from pain killers, Sarah, a lover of flamenco dance, played the music to get her through the hours. One song made her pause. “Who is he?” she said aloud, stumbling out of bed to find the singer’s name. The verse that caught her attention was about pain — though she didn’t yet know Spanish.
Four weeks of radiotherapy followed, which Sarah sat through with headphones on, listening to flamenco music. When treatment ended and she was given the all-clear, she began to grapple with her mortality. The sense that she was living on “borrowed time” brought about a new attitude: “What am I waiting for? I’m not waiting for anything so I’m just going to do it.”
Alongside her NHS work, she began organising flamenco shows. In 2018, she set up Espíritu Flamenco, a dance company in Stockport. Since then, she’s built a thriving business, bringing elite flamenco teachers and singers to Manchester from across the UK and Spain, alongside her role at the NHS. The company hosts workshops, performances and community events, with plans to expand further.
One standout moment was bringing Miguel Pérez, an internationally renowned flamenco artist, to Manchester for the Manchester Guitar Festival in 2023. He died a year later, so Sarah describes it as a "privilege" to have brought him to the city one last time. Friends often question her in disbelief, wondering how she manages to convince artists to travel here to perform. “I tell them, ‘I just ask,’” Sarah laughs.
On the 10-year anniversary of her operation, Sarah will attend the Festival of Jerez, performing with Miguel Lavi — the very singer she once searched for in a post-surgery daze.
What to get involved in
🌳Join the City of Trees and become a Citizen Forester, where you can spend the day planting trees and helping with grounds maintenance. They have an event in Bolton on Monday, and will be in Trafford on Wednesday.
📽️Stretford’s Friday film club is back for the autumn, offering you a weekly dose of films, great company and free soup. Just make sure you book in advance so they know how many people they’re catering for.
🎶Drop by the Royal Northern College of Music on Mondays and Thursdays during your lunch break to enjoy free performances. They showcase a diverse range of music each week, with some shows performed by student groups.
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