THE HULME TUNE

Man Jumps off Double Decker Bus

A man jumped off a double decker bus in Manchester city centre in front of crowds today. The man in his 20’s wasn’t injured. The incident left him a little shaken, though. He said he was doing it for Jesus.

I was able to capture his stunt on my mobile phone and now you can see it for yourselves. I decided to investigate further for mywebconnect.info.

It was all part of an array of performances put on by The Message Trust called the Eden Project, which uses 2 double decker buses to tour the North West with a message to transform young people’s lives.

The Eden Buses are two high-tech mobile youth centres wrapped in funky youth-themed vinyl graphics and armed with the latest in sound and visual technology. These amazing buses are designed to meet young people from all backgrounds who need someone to talk to.

This is an exciting way for both primary and secondary schools to deliver parts of their curriculum. The buses have excellent on-board presentation facilities, and are often called in when RE lessons need to have that extra dimension!

www.themessage.org.uk

 

The organisation started out in 1988 as Message to Schools then became the The World Wide Message Tribe, fronted by Andy Hawthorne, to impact young people with the Christian message of God’s love and forgiveness. This then went on to now what is called The Message and grew further to include the Eden Project.

We have been working in the city for 15 years and have developed a ‘knack’ for being able to get through to the hardest to reach young people. To enable this we operate a range of projects on the streets, in the community, in schools and in prisons, all with the aim of bringing hope, providing opportunities and releasing potential.

In brief, The Message…

• Runs 9 ‘Eden’ youth projects where over 100 volunteers live and work in tough urban contexts
• Delivers around 2000 hours of youth work every month through over 300 separate activities
• Is in contact with an average of 5,000 young people every month all over the city
• Provides a safe ‘off the street’ environment for 500 young people every week using 2 high-tech mobile youth centres
• Visits 20 high schools every year with inspirational pop group ‘Blush’
• Helps break the cycle of youth crime through innovative work in the region’s Young Offenders Institutions
• Operates a top-spec arts and music training centre in South Manchester

I am waiting to hear if they will come on my radio show.

The crowd were entertained by 4 gorgeous girls known as BLUSH, with more stunts from 3 guys known as Airborne.

Also, in the crowd, was a tea-time God TV youth presenter - but the God TV website doesn’t have the list of youth presenters or its programme. I said hello. Then she suddenly ran off chasing her son, before I could get her name, and disappeared in to the mixing tent.

Man Jumps off Stage

Buses were delayed yesterday from Piccadilly Bus Station as a young man lay collapsed on the zebra crossing, blocking the exit road. The Afro-Caribbean male was drifting in & out of consciousness on the floor as police officers tried to prevent any deterioration in his condition. This meant that all buses leaving the station were delayed for over 30 mins.

An ambulance was called, but it took awhile. Eventually, when one did arrive, the driver/medic of the hatch back saloon was on his way to another scene. Near the Arndale Centre someone was threatening to throw themselves of a building. Passengers on the station couldn’t understand why the driver was wanting to follow the tram lines and not see to the young man.

Finally, the ‘jumper’ was arrested and the driver of the small paramedic ambulance turned to help the casualty. If he was called to the ‘jumper’ then where was the second ambulance?

As the paramedic checked the casualty, members of the public formed a crowd. As they couldn’t now catch their bus. The police asked them to go away. Some of the crowd began to argue and complain to the police, with no thought of the injured man on the ground. 1 or 2 shouted to the officers to move the man, which could have risked further injury if something was broken. Eventually, the crowd dispersed and the police discovered a police ‘tag’ on the man’s ankle.

It looked like the man had been drinking all day and lacked sleep. 10mins after the paramedic checked his pulse and blood sugar the man was able to get up and walk to the coffee house to sit down.

To those people who showed a bad attitude - let’s hope its not you next time.

The Generate Generations Project tell me that they are having an African Liberation Day event at the Afewe Community Pub on Royce Road, Hulme, Sunday 25th May from 2 pm until late. There will be activities indoors and outdoors…

During the day: 2pm to 8pm FREE (soft drinks only until 7pm), then for over 18s a night of reggae, roots, funk - live and djs, and much more will continue until late (approx 1pm).

The event is organised by the Generate Generations Project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

For more information on Generation Generations

www.generateproject.org

Also:

It was reported to me that 3 women, celebrating a birthday, were drunk and singing and shouting at the top of their voices, as they walked down Royce Road in the early hours of Saturday morning. A man shouted from a house on the road and began threats of violence towards them. He then came out of his house and a heated argument ensued. Fortunately for all of them, other members of the house came out and dragged him back in before the police arrived.

It’s quieter on weekend nights in Hulme when it rains! If you do attend remember to respect the community and keep noise down to a minimum when leaving late. Many thanks!

If you’re shopping in one part of the Arndale Centre in Manchester, let’s hope that you’re not dying to go to the loo. If you suffered a heart attack then you could well be. I made a shocking discovery when I came out of the toilets (the new ones next to River Island), that the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) was missing.

It may have been used or taken away for repairs, but hasn’t been replaced. These are put in public places, like airports and shopping centres, to help save lives. These AED are used to shock the heart into restarting. How?

The AED checks the heart to see if there’s an irregular beat. This detects whether it is safe to administer an electric shock through the chest. If the heart is OK or stopped completely then the machine will not work as a safety precaution. When the machine says that is safe, then the qualified user can then push the button. This electric shock actually stops the heart, contrary to popular belief. The brain realises that the heart has stopped and then sends a signal to the heart to restart. Hopefully, it restarts and a normal beat is heard.

Being a British Red Cross member and a trained First Aider, with AED training, I found this really shocking that one of the Arndale Centre’s AED machines was in fact missing. There is another AED near Anne Summers. But, every second counts. Every second wasted looking for another could mean the difference between life or death - literally.

My message to the Managers of the Arndale is to please replace this AED asap.

Lets hope the only shock you get this weekend are the prices!

BPP Pro Bono Centre is a free legal advice clinic run by students of the BPP Law School in Manchester. I interviewed two of the students for the Hulme Tune radio show on ALL FM 96.9

All the details are in the video, so listen carefully and hopefully you’ll save loads on legal costs & messing about.

Video about a living room that was put in Hulme Park

- won’t need air fresheners.

Why?

Watch and see!

Home in Hulme Park

It’s a Labour victory in Hulme for Emily Lomax, pushing the Green Party off the ward. This makes all 3 councillors Labour representatives in Manchester City Council.

It looks like the Green Party tactics of having their party member, grey beard and clip board, stood in Hulme Library taking numbers or addresses, did not deter voters from wanting to see red for Hulme. Even so, Steven Durrant (Green Party) was a close second being only 50 votes behind Emily Lomax.

This is Emily’s first victory as a Labour Councillor candidate. In 2004 she was Labour candidate in Didsbury West but did not win. This time she joins her colleagues, Nigel Murphy and Mary Murphy, to represent our regenerated area.

In an interview for my ALL FM show last year, I did ask Emily if she thought of changing her surname to Murphy to see if that would help. Well, maybe not. Hulmers have now put their confidence in her. I may post the interview again or, better still, ask her for a new one!

Hulme Ward

Electorate: 10485 Turnout: 21.7

Meanwhile, the Lib Dems hold on to the City Centre seat and its another Labour victory in Moss Side. This, however, doesn’t reflect the country’s results as a whole. The Conservatives are relishing in a national majority overall win.

Let’s hope that Reds beat the Blues in Moscow on the 21st May. For many United fans, this could be the only result that counts.

Tesco Metro Manchester on Market Street closed its doors early today due to a fire alarm. Customers and staff were told to leave the building quickly. Shopping was dumped at the nearest till. Meanwhile we stood outside just in case we could check out what we had dropped.

Some bright spark said to me, “I can’t see any smoke..” It doesn’t matter! It’s a precaution and what if it was in the storeroom and not visible in the store?

Then we were informed that it would not re-open. So, I went to Aldi instead.

That is the question that has been on people’s minds - not another English Literature lesson, but what is the future of the Adult Learning Centre, Stretford Rd, Hulme (above the library)?

I’ve spoken to reliable sources and they have informed me that over the past few years there has been job loses at Hulme’s Adult Learning Centre, run by Manchester City Council. At the moment there are moderators from Ofsted checking that each department is functioning to the set standards for local adult education.

If you remember back in the 1990’s, Hulme people were promised that Chevassut Street Primary School would not close. In 1999, guess what.. it closed. So, can we believe what officials now tell us?

I spoke on the phone to Martin Hellewell, Press Officer - Manchester City Council, about the future of the ALC, Hulme. He asked me to reveal my sources. I did not and they remain confidentially anonymous. Mr Hellewell went on to say that the merger of MANCAT & City College Manchester doesn’t effect the ALC and that in the near future it will..

..and you’ll have to tune in to ALL FM 96.9 from 10-11am 24th April for the answer.

Don’t worry I’ll post a podcast after.. for all those that miss it.

Also on the show: how to see a lawyer for free and I interview artist Camilla Lyon who is exhibiting her architectural delights at Cube Gallery on Portland St. This would be a YouTube video on these pages this weekend.

Yesterday, regulars of Afflecks came and offered their support of this icon of cheaper fashionable alternative clothing. Each were given the chance to pen their opinion and petition to keep the Palace running.

This old city centre building with five floors of over 40 stalls had been a place where up & coming designers and entrepreneurs sold their wears to young fashionable peeps. It opened in 1982 and was the brainchild of James Walsh, a local hairdresser.

The future of Afflecks Palace is still unsure, maybe this celebration was to test to see if it’s still what young people want in fashion shopping 26 years on.

 www.thehulmetune.co.uk

Paul Ridyard