‘They think it’s going to be some woke snowflake rubbish’
Welcome to Unmissable, our weekly digest of stories we think you might have missed.
Mike Nicholson decided to set up a lunchtime club for boys to come and talk with no agenda.
“The teachers in my staff room laughed and said boys aren’t going to do that,” he told Nicole Wootton-Cane.
“But within a month we had a queue down the corridor.”
“It’s an absolute fallacy that boys and men don’t like to talk. We’ve just got to create the right space. If we create the right space, that’s when we feel safe enough to do it.”
What started as a lunchtime club is now a team working across the country to provide boys with safe spaces to reshape the meaning of masculinity.
Welcome to Unmissable, our weekly digest of the stories we think you might have missed.
The Progressive Masculinity Workshop we observed at Moorside High School provides an extraordinary and rare insight into the minds of young men in the age of Incels and Manosphere influencers like Andrew Tate.
The problems facing young men are brilliantly illustrated by the course convener Phil who at one point paints the picture for the teenagers with stark honesty: “So boys – we’re winning at homelessness. We’re winning at prison. We’re winning at suicide. And girls are smashing it at school. This isn’t just one year. This is every single year. So there has to be a reason for that.”
Our article on the subject is thought-provoking, emotional and ultimately quite positive.
They’re doing vital work and the article is well worth a read.
James Holt is one of those journalists who once he gets hold of a subject refuses to let go. His almost weekly reporting on the fake websites advertising on Facebook continues to grip readers. His latest dispatch is well worth a look.
Among other highlights over the weekend was veteran crime reporter John Scheerhout writing about the uncomfortable truths behind the grooming scandal and how a public inquiry is likely to leave blood on the carpet and reputations in tatters.
The highlight for me this weekend was Beth Abbit’s fantastically scathing comment piece about William Sitwell’s wimpy review of The Spärrows restaurant.
She writes: “It’s true that The Spärrows is located in a spot once populated by Victorian ne’er-do-wells and vagabonds, but its recent glow up means you’re more likely to trip over a discarded sourdough crust rather than the grave of a Dickensian orphan.”
And writing of her own visit to the restaurant she says: “Sure, I could see Strangeways tower from the front door, but I somehow managed not to soil myself in terror.”
That’s you told Mr Sitwell.
‘It wouldn’t be out of place coming from the mouth of Andrew Tate or an incel chatroom’
The Manchester Evening News observed a Progressive Masculinity workshop at Moorside High School, where boys are encouraged to explore who they want to be without judgement. Read it HERE.
She spent years living on a toilet floor – but Karen feels lucky
Karen Wallis says those who don’t understand homelessness need to realise it can happen to anyone. Beth Abbit spoke to her about her remarkable journey of resilience and hope. Read it HERE.
An uncomfortable truth that shames us all
A public inquiry into grooming gangs will leave blood on the carpet and reputations in tatters. John Scheerhout who has covered the scandal for more than a decade says it might be just what is needed. Read it HERE.
‘I thought for God’s sake, I can’t believe I’ve fallen for this’ – Warnings after ‘scam’ sites based in China flood UK
A Manchester Evening News investigation has in recent weeks revealed how cheaply-made items are being made in bulk and actually shipped from warehouses in China. James Holt reports on the people who are being scammed. Read it HERE.
Liam Gallagher’s primary teacher remembers what the Oasis frontman was really like
“He needed a bit of work but he did eventually become really good.” Read it HERE.
‘How many times are they going to peddle the idea you’ll be murdered if you venture past Watford Gap?’
“Remarkably, I didn’t leave The Spärrows feeling like I needed a police escort.” Read it HERE.
