Leslie Kerwin

Not Really Here Group • 4th July 2025

Mossley murderer John Belfield sentenced to life after killing Thomas Campbell

A drug dealer who tortured and murdered a man in his home in Mossley has been sentenced.

John Belfield, 31, has been sentenced to life in prison after killing Thomas Campbell on July 2, 2022.

Belfield was alleged to be the 'mastermind' behind a plot to rob, torture, and murder Mr Campbell after he got into a relationship with Belfield's ex-partner, Demi-Lee Driver.

Manchester Crown Court heard this week that the killing followed a week of hostile surveillance, which involved planting a tracki...

Not Really Here Group • 4th July 2025

Tameside water to see millions in investment

United Utilities has promised to invest £215 million into improving water quality across Tameside across the next five years.

The plan comes as United Utilities is set to spend more than £13 billion over the next five years to improve water across the UK, covering over 500 kilometres of rivers and lakes to protect areas and improve drinking water for customers.

The company is set to upgrade three of its treatment works and reduce the number of times that up to 20 storm overflows in the area op...

Not Really Here Group • 24th June 2025

Hundreds of historic child grooming gang cases to be re-examined

A national task force is expected to reopen 287 closed cases relating to child sexual abuse.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper made the comment to a committee of MPs on Tuesday, months after vowing for a local inquiry to take place in Oldham, where she says work is "well under way".

Five suspects were arrested this morning (04/06/2025) in Oldham and Tameside as part of an investigation into historic child sexual exploitation.

GMP has confirmed the men are being held in connection with alleged offe...

Not Really Here Group • 24th June 2025

Residents urged to avoid Errwood Reservoir as Goyt Valley fire continues

The Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service has issued an urgent warning for residents to keep all doors and windows closed as wildfires tear through the Goyt Valley.

The Derbyshire Bridge has been closed, though the Cat and Fiddle route has reopened as crews from Derbyshire and Cheshire continue to tackle the blaze, next to the Errwood Rervoir.

While the fire has not been completely put out, it has significantly decreased overnight, according to the Buxton Weather Watch.

In a social media stateme...

Not Really Here Group • 24th June 2025

Tameside and Morecambe boxers unite after death of young champion

Two boxing clubs from Morecambe and Tameside have joined together to fundraise after a young boxer was killed on Easter Sunday.

Members of the Coastal Amateur Boxing Club were left in shock after one of their members, Leo Mountain, was fatally struck by an HGV on Sunday morning.

Emergency services were called just after 3am following the incident on the Bay Gateway, with investigations still ongoing.

Leo, who was 18 years old, was described by members of the club as ‘a fantastic young man’....

Not Really Here Group • 9th April 2025

Free bus travel for care leavers in Greater Manchester

Manchester City Council has announced that care leavers can now access free bus travel across Greater Manchester.

The free bus travel scheme will see the age limit raised from 21 to 25, and will be available for any Greater Manchester residents who have experienced care at some point in their lives.

Similar to the Our Pass ticket available to college and sixth-form students, the updated pass will also give access to other benefits including discounts, events, and activities.

The decision come...

Not Really Here Group • 2nd April 2025

Adoption podcast reaches new highs

Local adoption agency Adoption Now is celebrating this week as its podcast reaches 30,000 listens.

The agency manages adoption services across Tameside and the wider North-West region, and launched their podcast Adopter Stories four years ago this April.

Hosted by Ian Schofield, the show aims to tell the real-life stories of adoptees as they discuss the highs and lows of the adoption process for people looking to get involved in adoption themselves.

After joining the Adoption Now team, Ian he...

Not Really Here Group • 2nd April 2025

Bag a Vivienne Westwood

The Willow Wood Hospice has announced a raffle at a charity shop in Glossop – with an original Vivienne Westwood handbag as the top prize.

The bag was originally given by Westwood’s company to Sara Scott-Rivers, the Executive Assistant to Willow Wood’s CEO.

A fan of Westwood for both her fashion and her environmentally-friendly stance, Sara has now offered the bag as the first prize in a charity raffle to help raise funds for the Hospice, which provides specialist palliative care to patients w...

Not Really Here Group • 2nd April 2025

Local colleges to get Government boost

Colleges across Greater Manchester are set to receive new funding to fix a shortage in college places for students.

The £20 million boost will be spread between Greater Manchester and Leeds, and will allow colleges to afford to take on more students.

The announcement comes as the Department for Education also revealed even more funding for colleges across England, with over £302 million to be put towards improving and repairing buildings across the country.

According to the Government, the £3...

aAh! Magazine • 28th March 2025

Manchester Met student hosts new BBC Radio 4 podcast

Featured image: Ian Burke


A Manchester Met journalism student has found himself at the heart of a new episode of BBC Radio 4’s Illuminated, after two years broadcasting his unique journey across the UK’s bus networks on his own podcast, Slower Travel – Adventures by Bus.


Speaking to aAh! Magazine, Multimedia Journalism student Ian Burke opened up about experience as the star of Illuminated’s ‘Night Bus episode, where he explored Manchester’s night buses during a trip across the city. Refle...

The Northern Quota • 26th March 2025

Block the Block protest ahead of latest court battle over student accommodation

Members of Hulme campaign group Block the Block protested outside Manchester Civil Justice Centre on Monday ahead of their latest legal battle against the city council and proposals for a nine-storey student accommodation.


The campaign – first launched in 2020 – aims to overturn a council decision to build student accommodation on an abandoned site once home to the Gamecock pub.


Campaigners from Block the Block say the development will drive up house prices and drive out residents, and tha...

Tameside Reporter • 26th March 2025

Teachers Take the Leap for Charity: Headteacher and Colleague to Skydive for Sam's Gift

Two teachers from Audenshaw School will be doing a sponsored skydive to raise money for charity.

Miss Mason and headteacher Mr Taylor will be jumping out of a plane on Saturday in support of Sam’s Gift, which supports children and teenagers diagnosed with cancer across Greater Manchester.

“I just wanted to raise some money for the Year Elevens for their leavers’ do, and we're looking to do it for Sam’s Gift as well,” Miss Mason said.

“I thought the only way we’re going to get people to partic...

Glossop Chronicle • 18th March 2025

Help Reuben's Retreat build a LEGO wall

Glossop charity Reuben’s Retreat is launching a new campaign to build a LEGO community wall to celebrate fundraisers’ support for the charity.

The wall is set to be built in a new wing of the Retreat as the building undergoes redevelopment.

Reuben's Retreat supports families who have suffered the loss of a child, or who have children living with complex medical needs.

The charity was founded in 2012 by Nicola Graham, whose son Reuben died from a brain tumour whilst on holiday shortly before h...

Glossop Chronicle • 18th March 2025

Cash to bolster green energy

The High Peak Borough Council has received over half a million pounds in funding to bolster green energy within the borough.

The Council secured £587,000 from Sport England last week, which it hopes will see a reduction in carbon missions and a greener future for the borough.

The car park at MyActive New Mills closed on Monday (3rd March) as works are carried out. A range of solar panels are set to be installed onto the leisure centre roof, with equipment upgrades set to follow.

Following the...

Tameside Reporter • 18th March 2025

Stalybridge Street Fest announces 2025 return

Stalybridge Street Fest has announced it will be returning for its 4th year in early April.

The announcement followed a period of uncertainty for the festival’s future as the event faced issues securing funding.

Now, Stalybridge Street Fest has confirmed its return for 2025 after a successful grant application from Tameside Council.

In February, the Council submitted an application the Greater Manchester Combined Authority for £20,000, which has since been approved.

The money will come from...

Tameside Reporter • 18th March 2025

Funding for Ashton under Lyne

Ashton Under-Lyne has been named among the towns set to benefit from the Government’s £1.5 billion local area funding.

The funding comes as part of the Labour Government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods, announced in the House of Commons on Tuesday (4th March).

The Plan for Neighbourhoods will see local high streets, community hubs, and public services ‘transformed and strengthened’, and comes as a wider part of the already-existing Plan for Change.

£1.5 billion will be spread across 75 areas in the...

Tameside Reporter • 18th March 2025

Hyde fundraiser marks 40th Anniversary

A local charity group is continuing to celebrate its 40th anniversary – this time with a visit to Ashton from Davros.

Hyde Fundraisers was first launched in 1985, after a group of friends met in the Blackpool Dr Who Exhibition and bonded over a love of prop and costume making.

40 years later, the charity has since gone on to raise money for Children in Need, the NSPCC and The Dogs Trust, as well as a range of other charitable causes.

They have also fundraised for various local groups, includi...

Tameside Reporter • 18th March 2025

Fly Tipping IS a crime!

New research has revealed nearly a quarter of Brits do not know that fly tipping is a crime.

The number comes from a Network Rail study commissioned for Global Recycling Day (18th March), which further revealed that over half the population (55%) does not realise fly tipping can cause transport delays.

Alongside cable theft and graffiti, fly-tipping is considered a form of vandalism. On both the railways and in local areas, illegal dumping can be punished with a heavy fine or prison sentence....

Tameside Reporter • 18th March 2025

'Missed opportunities' to have safely delivered baby - coroner

A coroner has said there were ‘missed opportunities’ to have safely delivered a baby who died in the Royal Oldham Hospital in April.

Yahya Muhammad Hayat was born via emergency C-section in Tameside Hospital, more than thirty-five minutes after doctors realised he had no heartbeat.

During the operation, doctors also found a uterine rupture – a tear in the womb. It is not known when this happened.

Yahya was resuscitated after thirty minutes of CPR and drugs, before being transferred to Royal O...

Glossop Chronicle • 18th March 2025

Derbyshire Council Takes the Road to Better Mobile Coverage

Derbyshire County Council have said they will be using bin lorries to find the worst mobile signal spots in the area.

In a first for the county, the County Council will be working with refuse teams from neighbouring district and borough councils to locate the weakest areas for mobile phone signals.

Bin lorries will be fitted with mobile signal testing devices during bin collections, with the data mapped to improve coverage in worst-affected spots.

Councillor Carolyn Renwick, Cabinet Member fo...

The Northern Quota newsletter • 14th March 2025

Rusholme councillor shares vision for ‘strong and united’ Manchester

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter.Who could it be? Leslie again! Hope you’re all doing well. I’ll be honest, I’ve not got a clue what to ramble about this time, everything has been such a blur of activity in the newsroom. We’ve been working hard on the big, shiny new print edition coming this April, but since we have to keep the details a surprise for now, what else is there for me to yap about here? The weather? The sport? The four kilos of Greek yoghurt I’ve got in the fridge...

The Northern Quota newsletter • 6th March 2025

Told to ‘get on with it’: study reveals women with endometriosis experience lower earnings and irregular employment

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter.Leslie here, wishing you all a lovely day. Spring has finally sprung, at long last - now’s the time of sunshine, flowers, and new beginnings, though it’s still the same full steam ahead in the newsroom as usual. Yesterday we were joined by The Mirror’s very own Julia Banim, who gave some incredible insight and advice on her journalism career as an audience writer across both print and the web. No two days as a journalist are ever the same, it s...

The Northern Quota • 5th March 2025

Man Met journalism student hosts BBC radio show about taking the night bus around Manchester

A Man Met journalism student is featuring on his own podcast episode on BBC Radio 4 about his journeys on Manchester’s night buses.


Speaking exclusively to NQ, student Ian Burke shared his journey to becoming the latest voice of Radio 4’s Illuminated, where he celebrates Manchester’s night buses in a trip across the city.


“It’s like an experimental documentary, there’s all sorts of weird and wonderful things on there,” he said.


For his podcast, Ian travels on Manchester’s V1 bus from Ox...

The Northern Quota newsletter • 27th February 2025

New homeless camp emerges following the removal of tents from St. Peter’s Square by council bailiffs

Hello, and welcome to The Northern Quota newsletter.Leslie again, surprise surprise, and talk about a hectic week! Between the constant stream of new articles being written, the onslaught of emails to sift through, and running between what feels like every nook and cranny of Manchester, it can sometimes be difficult for all of us to remember to take a break somewhere in there, too. I’ve been trying to get back into reading lately, myself: Marianna Spring’s Conspiracyland left me with a lot to mu...