1. The prolonged period of roadworks in Manchester is coming to an end!

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/mancunian-way-hole-initial-work-9926966

As well as that whacking great hole on the Mancunian Way being repaired, direct trams are running through the city again from Friday. NO MORE REPLACEMENT BUSES!!

2. Manchester Pride is celebrating it's silver anniversary. 

It may have changed a lot over the years and people can have polarising opinions of it, but the fact that this event is now 25 years old is definitely something to celebrate! I hope that everyone attending has a great time and bucket loads of cash are raised for a great cause.

3. Jess Glynne 

4. Antony Murphy on Gaydio

Most radio now has become very safe and generic with no sense of fun anymore, so it's always pleasing whenever I hear this guy with his 90s show on Sunday nights. 

http://uk.gaydio.co.uk/on-air/antony-murphy/

So many great songs from the best decade of music! It really has been a perfect way to close the week :)

5. Pixar has got its mojo back!

The last few years for Pixar haven't really been the best. There have been too many sequals not really reaching the high standar set by film like Up and Wall-E. So when I saw Inside Out for the first time I was absolutely elated! It already is a true classic and, for me, the best film of the year so far. 

6. Who's Back

 Do I need to say more? Like most Doctors, Mr Capaldi has had an uneven first series, but I have every faith that now he has settled in to the role that things are going to be marvellous!

 So these are so of my reasons to be cheerful at the moment. Is there anything else that deserves a mention? Please let me know and have a great Bank Holiday!

No Soggy Bottoms at the Great Village Bake Off

The Annual Village Bakers ‘Great Village Bakers’ returns to Manchester’s Pride Fringe Festival on Sunday 17^th August where Bakers will be working hard to drizzle that lemon and firming those buns to create a baking competition like no other.  The Village Bakers love to encourage new bakers and therefore all abilities and ages are welcome to participate no matter how skilled they are.

The format of the bake off is as easy as pie: sweet or savoury. Bake whatever you like, no limits (as long as you can fit it through the door), register online at the link below and turn up to the Molly House 1pm on Sunday 17^th August. Entry costs £5 per entry with all proceeds going to Manchester Pride which helps local charities and community organisations.

The ‘Great Village Bake Off’ judging panel will be led by the wonderful and amazingly talented Howard Middleton (finalist in 2013 BBC Great British Bake Off) who added

“I’m delighted to be part of this year’s Great Village Bake Off. It promises to be great fun and a fab fund raiser. Hopefully we’ll make it through the event without any baking puns and innuendo. Oh, who am I kidding? Come along and let me judge your buns!” 

With such a talented judge at the helm Kevin Sargent Chair of Village Bakers added 

“Village Bakers are proud to be hosting The Great Village Bake Off  in its second year at the Manchester Pride Fringe Festival. This is a real opportunity to bring the LGBT community together to share a slice of cake with new and old friends. We are also extremely pleased to have Howard Middleton the BBC Great British Bake Off Finalist on hand to be checking for soggy bottoms!!”

The Great Village Bake Off aims to bring the LGBT community together during the Manchester Pride season, and this has been possible with the support of Key Sponsors Queen of Cakes and The Molly House. 

Paul Duffy, Manager of The Molly House explained that “The Molly House is delighted once again to support The Great Village Bake Off which is a showcase for The Village Bakers, a hugely popular community and social group. I cannot wait to sample more ingenious baking creations at this year’s event!”

The Village Bakers LGBT social group aims to Bake it! Bring it! and Share it! in Manchester’s Gay Village and was inspired by the Great British Bake Off. A true sign of its success and popularity is its current nomination for ‘community group/organisation of the year’ in the Lesbian and Gay Foundations Homo Hero Awards 2014, with community at the heart of everything they do, they are sure win this award. 

The awards are an initiative promoted by the Lesbian & Gay Foundation (LGF) to acknowledge heroes within the LGBT community including businesses, volunteers, community groups & role models to name a few. 

The groups chairman and founder, Kevin Sargent has also been nominated for ‘volunteer of the year’ which reflects the impact the group has had in such short space of time. 

The success of this group doesn’t stop there with The Molly House the groups baking home also being nominated as Best LGBT Venue in the Homo Hero Awards, with all that cake on offer how could they fail to impress.

So grab your rolling pin, prove that bread, and squeeze your buns the village bakers are looking forward to judging your entry!  Enter online at the address below and come along with your tasty entry at the Molly House, Richmond Street, Manchester on 17^th August 1pm

Ticket details: tickets available at www.greatvillagebakeoff2014.eventbrite.co.uk

Price: £5 individual entry (+ 95p booking fee)

No charge for spectators

Check out Village Bakers on facebook: www.facebook.com/villagebakers

Twitter: @villagebakers 

E-mail: villagebakersmanchester@gmail.com

Venue address: The Molly House, Richmond Street, Manchester, M1 3NB

Event Date: 17^th August, Time: 1pm

Homo Heroes: https://www.lgf.org.uk/surveys

The Molly House: Richmond Street, Manchester http://www.themollyhouse.com/ 

Manchester Pride is to distribute £34,000 to local LGBT charities following its events staged in 2013 including the August Bank Holiday Big Weekend.

The amount, which includes 100% of direct donations from the ring-fenced Community Fund, is lower than in previous years. The charity described it as "disappointing" confirming that it has launched a plan to boost future fundraising.

A small decline in ticket sales and a move towards buying one-day rather than full four-day wristbands were the main reasons behind the reduced fundraising.

To counter this trend, which began in 2012, the Board began a programme of measures including reducing costs that delivered savings of over £60,000 in the delivery of Big Weekend event compared to 2011. Vicken Couligian, Chair of Manchester Pride said

As a charity, we exist to campaign for, promote and celebrate LGBT life.

Our Parade, Pride Fringe arts festival and the Big Weekend successfully achieve this but over the last two years, fundraising levels have been disappointing.

That's why we are taking action to boost fundraising next year and beyond. We have a clear plan in place that will provide a bright future for the festival.

Preparations for the 2014 festival have already started. It will take place on August bank holiday in Manchester’s Gay Village.

The three part plan to boost fundraising focuses on:

- Reviewing the existing events to reduce costs significantly without compromising the quality of our events

- Accelerating the introduction of additional fundraising activity throughout the year

- Consulting with all our stakeholders, from the community to the City Council to Village businesses to shape Manchester Pride’s future direction together.

Work has already started and a full financial review is being carried out by one of Manchester Pride’s new trustees with relevant, specialist skills.

Manchester Pride has also launched Supersonic: Mach 2, a fundraising event that will be held underneath the wings of Concorde at Manchester Airport on Friday 11th April.

Other new events are also planned during 2014. The charity has also confirmed that it will hold listening groups from January across a variety of locations including in the City Centre.

It will also launch an online survey that will be promoted when the Supersonic: Mach 2 fundraiser tickets go on sale on 22 November. 

Press release by Geoff Stafford

Protest will hit the city centre offices of Manchester Pride at 12:15 this Monday lunchtime (November 11).

Pride was expected to announce this year's charity figure last Friday, but didn't. It is rumoured to be below £29,000, making it the lowest amount since 1990 when the August event was little more than a jumble sale on the cobbles on Canal Street.

38,000 tickets were sold this year, despite the recession. In 2012 the registered charity had income of £991,656 and announced £52,000 for good causes. But it has since emerged that only £36,100 of that was raised during the financial year and the publicised amount had been topped up out of reserves.

Now concerned members of the public, charity workers, gay village business owners and their staff will stage a protest outside Pride HQ.
Their offices are in the Manchester One building on the corner of Portland Street and Sackville Street. The peaceful action starts at
12:15 and later will move to outside the town hall.

Manchester City Council gave Pride just £11,796 in 2012 and despite boasting that the Big Weekend brings in as much as £22 million of business across the city. In comparison, a recent concert by Alicia Keys received Council funding of £425,000.

Manager of VIA on Canal Street Tony Cooper is also a former Deputy chair of the Village Business Association (VBA). In a public statement this week he writes that he will "remove all my support for Manchester Pride until I see appointments on the board that represent business and the community."

"I have had dialogue with Manchester Pride for several weeks and I have not seen any change in the way they deal with issues and I find myself believing that they do not want to engage with the community at large and certainly not the businesses who support them to the tune of £40-60k every year."

Geoff Stafford the co-founder of the Facebook campaign group "Facts About Manchester Pride" points out that the planned protest isn't tied to any particular group. "This feels like a turning point," he says.

"We've been campaigning for two-and-a-half years, but now Pride has upset a lot of the LGBT community right across the board. From low-paid people who feel excluded by high ticket prices, to gay business owners and charity workers. In the current climate smaller charities in particular depend on this funding.

"We expect many of those people will join in the protest. Personally I think the board of trustees should resign."

This summer, village workers were told they would be prevented from going into the main arena during Pride. Performer Penny Crayon is one who was turned away by security when the area was half empty and caught the moment on video. This caused discontent amongst bar staff who work long hours and try to grab a brief look at the acts during their breaks.

And in another development after a decade of the gay village being fenced off, City Council officials have confirmed in writing that the public has always had a legal right to walk through the streets during Manchester Pride whether they buy a ticket or not.

Businesswoman Julia Grant was a key figure behind the successful and free-to-enter GayFest in both 2000 and 2001. Amounts of £105,716.77 and
£87,666.63 were raised and published accounts show that 75% of this was distributed to the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, BodyPositive NorthWest and George House Trust. The remainder going to smaller charities.

Julia says simply "Manchester Pride and the lack of investment in the village has ripped the heart out of the LGBT community."

The August Bank Holiday event started at the end of the 1980s to produce funds for HIV and AIDS causes. The Village Charity was formed in 1991 and raised £29,291 that year. The figure from the weekend was
£40,000 in 1994 which is equivalent to £64,000 today.

Over 40 entries demonstrate baking talent of Manchester's Gay Village.

The Great Village Bake Off hosted by Manchester's Village Bakers and long-term supporters The Molly House on Sunday 18^th August as part of the Manchester Pride Fringe Festival, was a truly spectacular event. The culmination of a huge amount of baking endeavour and talent, from tartiest tart to camp cupcakes and firmest buns. Not to mention the spectacularly colourful array of magnificent Rainbow Cakes.

Judging the event was baking expert and winner of the 2012 series of BBC2's The Great British Bake Off, Mr John Whaite, with actress and Coronation Street star Jennie McAlpine and Manchester Pride Patron Claire Mooney, all keen to tickle their tastebuds with the fabulously creative edible entries.

John Whaite has had an obsession with baking and cooking since he was a tiny boy, and has developed this passion into a career. He was extremely excited to be leading the judging, and keen to share his baking knowledge with the Village Bakers and Manchester's LGBT community. Originally from Wigan, the local lad loved returning to his roots and supporting Manchester Pride, which is a cause close to his heart.

Manchester born-and-bred actress, comedian and owner of Annie’s restaurant in Manchester city centre, Jennie McAlpine joined John on the judging panel. She is best known for her long-running role as Fiona 'Fiz' Stape in ITV’s Coronation Street. Claire Mooney, foodie, singer-songwriter, and Patron of Manchester Pride completed the line-up.

The event attracted over 200 spectators, packed tightly into The Molly House Bar whilst the judges sampled and deliberated over 40 entries. The cakes themselves were truly awe-inspiring, thinking outside the box with a huge amount of effort from each competitor.

Kevin Sargent, chair of Village Bakers said 

The effort and ingenuity which had gone into the entries was immense. John Whaite, Jennie McAlpine & Claire Mooney were all extremely impressed with the quality and creativity involved. It was fantastic to see Manchester’s Gay Village come together from all walks of life to help raise money for Manchester Pride Fund.

Paul Duffy, a member of the Village Bakers and general manager of The Molly House continued

I was delighted that the first Great Village Bake Off was a tremendous success with a varied and astounding range of imaginative bakes on offer. The gay village demonstrated fantastic support and interest in this fundraising event, which showcased the work that The Village Bakers, as an inclusive community group, already do all year round . Roll on Great Village Bake Off 2014!

Manchester Pride chief executive John Stewart added

It was amazing to see so many people, and so much cake, squeezed in to the Molly House on Sunday.  I'm sure the Bake Off is going to become an established fixture on the Manchester Pride Fringe calendar.

 Entry categories and winners (winning prizes kindly donated by The Co-operative Food, The Co-operative Electricals, Stockport’s Little Underbank Tea Room and 151 products):

Best in Bake Off: Neill Duncan with an incredibly creative and technically challenging Stack of Rainbow Cake Polo Shirts.

Best Business Award Winner: The Molly House, presenting a tea-pot inspired Rainbow Cake by Molly House baker Robert Burgess.

Best Rainbow Cake: Neill Duncan (as above).

Campest Cupcakes: Scrumptious Pink Fizz Cupcakes by Lisa Duddington.

Tartiest Tart: Paul Dempsey with very tasty Chocolate Surprise Tart topped with leopard print 

Firmest Buns: Stephen Squires with light and fluffy Apple & Caramel Chelsea Buns.

The Great Village Bake Off raised in excess of £370 from ticket sales and collection buckets, all in aid of the Manchester Pride Community Fund, helping local LGBT charities and community groups.