News in Macclesfield

A Macclesfield pub which has only had a few weeks of "normal trade" since opening has criticised the government's handling of the pandemic as England prepares to go into a second national lockdown.

The Shamrock Bar on Mill Street first opened their doors on 28 February and quickly built up a loyal customer base, only to be forced to shut weeks later as the Coronavirus spread across the world.

In her latest column, Cllr Sarah Bennet-Wake gives us another glimpse into the life of a mayor during the pandemic.

Half Term

Macclesfield Town Council has praised the efforts of charities and community groups that have worked to "ensure that no child goes hungry during school holidays".

The mayor, Cllr Sarah Bennett-Wake, paid a visit to St Paul's Church, who have distributed over 100 free packed lunches this week, as well as Cheshire Streetwise and CORE, who have also been joining in the effort.

Cheshire East Council has called on landlords to help meet the need for one-bedroom homes across the borough to help formerly homeless people into settled accommodation.

The council says since the national lockdown in March this year, their housing team has accommodated a "significant number" of homeless residents in supported accommodation.

Staff at M&S in Macclesfield are celebrating a bumper year of fundraising for The Christie - by doing it all over again for another year.

Staff at the store selected The Christie as their chosen charity for 2019/20 and set about raising as much money as possible to support the bid to build a new Christie centre in Macclesfield so local patients can receive as much of their cancer treatment as possible nearer to home.

The Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has created a video to warn against the dangers of fireworks ahead of Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Firefighter Ted Perry tells the fictional story of Matt who suffers loses his hand as a result of an accident while using fireworks to highlight the potential consequences.

Bollington's Remembrance Sunday event will be live-streamed this year with Coronavirus restrictions meaning the normal scenes of crowds paying their respects won't take place.

The town council announced that they will still hold a pared back service will be led by the mayor, Cllr John Cadman Stewart.

Doctors are encouraging the women of Cheshire to attend their breast cancer screening appointments.

The Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance are encouraging women who receive an invitation to attend a breast cancer appointment, to act on it as soon as they can.

The East Cheshire Hospice Christmas Tree Collection is still going ahead despite Covid-19.

Organisers are having to make changes for the service on the weekend of January 9-10 to comply with government guidelines.

Social distancing guidelines mean this year's Halloween will be different for many, but this isn't stopping Macclesfield residents adapting to ensure their kids have a frightfully good time.

Instead of the traditional trick or treating children are used to seeing, two mums from the Weston estate have organised a pumpkin trail that has inspired dozens more across the town.