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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:
Hello,
A year on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there are many Ukrainians who have made a new home in Greater Manchester. Our reporters have been speaking to them about how life has changed and their hopes for their future.
We’ll be concentrating on that in today’s newsletter, but we’ll also be looking at why the mayor is calling for a rent freeze, criticism levelled at a rail company and why working out until sweat ‘soaks the floor’ in a big red room in Spinningfields is good for you.
Let’s begin.
A year ago today, the world woke up to war
We watched in horror as the first air strikes hit major cities and military bases across Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Footage and images of desperate civilians piling onto trains and into cars filled news bulletins as the death toll increased day by day.
The war led to the displacement of millions of Ukrainians, a large number of whom now thankfully call Greater Manchester their home. Reporter Paul Britton has been looking at how our region wrapped its arms around the people of Ukraine.
As he writes: “The region has always stood firm with Ukraine and its people. And within just 24 hours of the first Russian missiles falling - many indiscriminately hitting schools and hospitals - Manchester found its collective voice and has continued to shout loudly in support of the war-torn country and against the Russian government ever since.”
At the time, Manchester City footballer and Ukrainian international Oleksandr Zinchenko joined hundreds of young Ukrainians at a candlelit vigil at St Peter's Square. Manchester's central library was lit up in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag. Members of Greater Manchester's many Ukrainian communities gathered at churches and social clubs to offer prayers.
Then, in the weeks that followed, families threw open their doors to welcome refugees into their homes as the Government announced its Homes for Ukraine scheme. Data shows that more than 180,000 Ukrainians have come to the UK since the invasion began, with 30,000 arriving since last September alone.
Meanwhile, aid workers from across our region have travelled to Ukraine to help deliver medical aid to innocent victims of the war.
You can read more about how Greater Mancunians have supported Ukraine here.
The sound of sirens
"We were almost the first who understood that trouble was near. That war was here. I remember explosions all the time. Alarms,” says Masha Semeniuk.
"At the building we had an [underground] floor without any communication. It was just a room without anything, but we hid there. The alarm went off every two hours - in the daytime, at night, all the time. Lots of explosions. It was really scary, especially the first night because Russia came to Kyiv.
"They started to walk through, not near my house but still it was very scary. I had friends that lived closer and they saw everything by their eyes."
Masha, 34, had made her life in Kyiv, but she was forced to hunker down and hide in the Ukrainian capital when Russian forces invaded.
It was the start of a journey that would eventually bring her to Manchester - to a childhood friend in Chorlton who had moved to the UK in the 1990s. They sponsored Mahsa for the UK’s refugee scheme and, 12 months on, she says she is happy here - though she still struggles with the accent at times.
"I like the people here," she told reporter Stephen Topping. "They're very polite and smiley, it's a nice place. Every place is nice if there's no explosions and alarms."
Masha has made friends through the Dnipro Centre, in Cheetham Hill. But her parents remain in Kyiv and she worries for their safety. And she has found life in the UK expensive.
"If there was a possibility to return, if the war was to end in spring, I would return. My parents are there, my friends are there. But I understand that war doesn't just end,” she says.
Like Masha, Maria Romanenko thought she would need to flee Ukraine. But by February last year, she had already been warned that central Kyiv might not be safe - encouraged by her dad to stay with him on the outskirts of the city.
When she woke on the night of February 24, her Mancunian partner Jez Myers told her bombs were dropping. "I couldn't really grasp what was happening. I went on Twitter and saw multiple reports,” she says.
Jez wanted to cross the border to Poland before returning to England - but for Maria it was a tougher decision. "My life was in Ukraine," she says. "I was choosing between my life and my partner. I didn't know if I would see the other one again."
The couple eventually arrived in Manchester, but not before facing huge traffic jams as they tried to flee to the Polish border, witnessing a dangerous 'crushing' along the way.
"We saw mothers leaving their husbands in cars," she says. "They were leaving with whatever they could carry, with loads of bags to walk 19km to the border. We ended up queueing for 23 hours on our feet at the border. We saw some of the worst crushing I've ever seen. We had no water, no food, no toilet facilities."
Maria now lives with Jez in Reddish and runs walking tours of Manchester, talks at events and works as an interpreter to help those settling in the UK.
"I try to project it to other people and make sure that Ukrainians feel happy here - or as happy as that they can be," she says.
A devastating and deadly legacy
In May last year, we published some extraordinary images by photographer Sean Sutton following his recent visit to Ukraine.
Sean works for the Mines Advisory Group - a Manchester-based charity which works to clear landmines and munitions from conflict zones. The photographer, from Whalley Range, travelled to Ukraine not long after war broke out and captured these striking images of the destruction and the people left behind.
Among those Sean met was Valera, who was caring for his beloved, shell-shocked dog Bars following the bombardment of his town by Russian forces.
He also met two women in Irpin who showed him an unusual booby trap - a hand grenade perched precariously atop a large water bottle, which you can see in the image below.
MAG was recently awarded an $8 million grant by the United States Government to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance in Ukraine. They will also use the funding to deliver risk education to communities caught up in the conflict.
But the charity has been active in the country since last April, delivering risk education to communities at risk from landmines and unexploded ordnance through a partnership with the Ukrainian Deminers’ Association.
“One year on from the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the needs in that country are huge,” MAG chief executive Darren Cormack says. “The use of heavy artillery, landmines and cluster munitions, both in rural and populated areas, is creating a devastating and deadly legacy that will threaten the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens for years to come. This funding will enable us to support communities facing the devastating consequences of war on a daily basis.”
Rent freeze
Andy Burnham has signed an open letter to the government calling for a freeze on private sector rents. The Greater Manchester mayor joined his counterparts in London and Liverpool, along with several unions and organisations across the country in signing the letter to housing secretary Michael Gove.
Rents have soared in Greater Manchester over the past year and campaigners say the move would help renters 'weather the worst of the cost of living crisis' while also preventing 'huge numbers' of tenants facing homelessness in the coming months.
The letter also calls for an immediate ban on evictions 'until the cost of living crisis is over' and for no-fault evictions to be banned. The open letter has also been signed by the Greater Manchester Tenants Union and Greater Manchester Law Centre, as well as the Green Party.
'Apologise for what you've done to the Northern economy’
TransPennine Express should be stripped of its contract immediately, Labour’s shadow transport secretary says.
Louise Haigh says passengers have ‘had enough of their behaviour and their poor management’ and TPE should be handed over to the nationalised 'operator of last resort' - which runs services like Northern and LNER.
TPE was one of the big topics for political and business leaders at the Northern Transport Summit yesterday in Liverpool, as Northern Agenda editor Rob Parsons reports. In the four weeks to February 4, TPE axed 1,048 services due to a shortage of train crew, far more than any operator. The firm blamed high sickness levels, a driver training programme and a lack of a 'rest day working' agreement where crews work on their days off to cover roster gaps.
But as Ms Haigh told the Northern Agenda podcast, the issues TPE faces are ‘no different than any other operator across the country has experienced’. "I would say the only people to blame for that are the management of TransPennine Express and we've just run out of road really, we've had enough of their behaviour and their poor management," she says.
Speaking earlier at the conference, government Rail Minister Huw Merriman said TPE services were not good enough but whoever took over services ‘is going to end up in the exact same situation because the situation is underlying reform’.
Later, a representative of the West Coast Partnership suggested the North spends too much time ‘talking down our infrastructure and complaining about how it's broken’ and asked panel members how we ‘get better at rebuilding public confidence and trust in transport’.
Rob reports that a furious Henri Murison, of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, fired back that West Coast Partnership - which sponsored the conference - should apologise for ‘what you've done to the Northern economy’ before talking about doing a repair job. He said the ‘disjointed relationship’ between rail bosses and the workforce ‘has led to a terrible situation, which has disproportionately affected Northern cities’. A West Coast Partnership official then apologised.
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Weather etc
- Saturday: Sunny intervals changing to overcast by lunchtime. 8C.
- Road closures: M67 Eastbound entry slip road closed due to long-term roadworks at J2 St Annes Road (Denton) until December 1, 2025.
- A627 Dowson Road Northbound, Hyde, closed due to water main work from Thornley Street to B6468 Market Street until March 3.
- A669 Lees Road, Oldham, in both directions closed due to emergency water main repairs between B6194 Cross Street and The Fire Station until March 2.
Manchester headlines
Strikes: Junior doctors will strike on March 13, 14 and 15, the British Medical Association (BMA) has announced. Union members in England have voted to strike over pay and conditions. They are asking for a pay increase to make up for 15 years of inflation. Nearly 37,000 voted to strike in the recent ballot, which follows historic industrial action from nurses and ambulance workers.
Homes: Controversial plans for hundreds of homes in the Saddleworth countryside have been approved again - despite concerns over the dangers of a former mineshaft and ‘ugly’ houses. Proposals to build a £3m road and up to 265 homes on land in Springhead were first refused in November 2018 by Oldham’s planning committee, but subsequently given approval in July 2019. Local campaign group Save Our Valleys launched a legal challenge, but a judge ruled against their bid for a judicial review. The road was given full planning approval in 2019 and work has now commenced, but the homes element of the plan for the Knowls Lane site requires further detailed permission. More here.
- Faulty: Hundreds of cars have been flashed by a speed camera on the East Lancs Road this week. Some drivers reported being flashed multiple times by the camera as they crawled towards the traffic lights, or even while waiting in traffic. Transport for Greater Manchester confirmed the camera had not been working properly and was fixed later on Tuesday morning and drivers who were flashed incorrectly will not face prosecution.
Worth a read
If workout classes that combine ‘high-intensity training, running and strength exercises’ are your bag, you might like to read Jenna Campbell’s review of Barry’s - the boutique fitness brand favoured by Kim Kardashian and the Beckhams.
If, however, the prospect of sweating to the point of knee-wobbling exhaustion fills you with dread, I would still recommend reading the piece, but perhaps with a cup of tea and a Hobnob from the comfort of your sofa.
“I find myself walking into a dark room just off Spinningfields. Illuminated only by red lights and decked out with mirrors at every turn, dance music pumps through the sound system, and I’m surrounded by a sea of muscles and midriffs jostling past one another, beads of sweat soaking the floor beneath us,” writes Jenna.
She continues: “If you’re anything like me, a workout isn’t effective if you don’t leave the gym - or red room in this case - red faced, drenched in sweat and legs uncontrollably shaking. That’s an accurate picture of how I walked out of most sessions, even as my stamina increased.”
Hmm. Pass the biscuits please…
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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