Contents:
- Editor's welcome
- Stunning replica of planet Earth comes to Rochdale
- Cycling Without Age: Connecting with the great outdoors
- GEM Appeal funds Tecan machine for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
- Keep your festive shopping local this Christmas
- Hairdressing Trend - Smoky Charcoal
- Do you speak ‘Manc’, ‘Lancashire’ or ‘posh’? Findings from largest ever study of Greater Manchester accents and dialects revealed
- New exhibitions at Touchstones explore Rochdale heritage and identities
- Gym owner’s World Record »
- Make a difference this Christmas by choosing Fairtrade
- Toad Lane Concerts: Music at Lunchtime
- Busy Beans Coffee celebrates Good Food award
- Russell’s Café moves to Yorkshire Street
- Rochdale Riverside: Award-winning flagship shopping & leisure development transforms town centre
- Little Amal visits Rochdale
- Barton Kendal wins The British Property Lettings Award for Rochdale
- Step-by-step guide to buying a new house
- Rochdale powerlifter wins bronze at International World Championships
- Chocolate Orange Yule Log recipe
- Beauty Feature: Skin supplements; working from the inside out
- Independent optician Stephen Holt celebrates 50 years of business
- Beware the coming winter of discontent
Winter 2021Gym owner’s World Record
Ben Bate sets new Guinness World Record running the London Marathon for Sarcoma UK in memory of friend Tom Makin.
Local personal trainer Ben Bate ran the London Marathon on 3 October 2021 and set a new Guinness World Record for Fastest Marathon Dressed as a Body Part (male runner), with a time of 03:49:14.
Ben, owner of The BodyPro Personal Training Studio based on Bury Road, completed the challenge in a large bone costume to help raise awareness of sarcoma - a rare cancer that develops in the muscle, bone and soft tissue - in memory of his late friend and client, Tom Makin.
Tom was 29 years old when he sadly passed away from osteosarcoma in 2019, leaving behind two daughters aged just three, and eight-weeks-old.
As part of ‘Team Tom’, Ben ran with six others including Tom’s wife, Kirsty Makin. Together, the team collectively raised over £100,000 for the Sarcoma UK charity.
Ben also raised more than £21,000 for Sarcoma UK in July when he completed four marathons - including 26 laps around Bamford and Norden - in under 24 hours.
Richard Davidson, chief executive of Sarcoma UK, said: “The charity was overwhelmed by the response to Ben and the team at the London Marathon 2021. Not only have they raised a transformative amount to support people affected by this relatively rare cancer, but Ben’s eye-catching costume has brought awareness of sarcoma in such a high-profile way.”