The Mancunian Way: A collective voice

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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:

Hello,

A year on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there are many Ukrainians who have made a new home in Greater Manchester. Our reporters have been speaking to them about how life has changed and their hopes for their future.

We’ll be concentrating on that in today’s newsletter, but we’ll also be looking at why the mayor is calling for a rent freeze, criticism levelled at a rail company and why working out until sweat ‘soaks the floor’ in a big red room in Spinningfields is good for you.

Let’s begin.

We watched in horror as the first air strikes hit major cities and military bases across Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Footage and images of desperate civilians piling onto trains and into cars filled news bulletins as the death toll increased day by day.

The war led to the displacement of millions of Ukrainians, a large number of whom now thankfully call Greater Manchester their home. Reporter Paul Britton has been looking at how our region wrapped its arms around the people of Ukraine.

As he writes: “The region has always stood firm with Ukraine and its people. And within just 24 hours of the first Russian missiles falling - many indiscriminately hitting schools and hospitals - Manchester found its collective voice and has continued to shout loudly in support of the war-torn country and against the Russian government ever since.”

At the time, Manchester City footballer and Ukrainian international Oleksandr Zinchenko joined hundreds of young Ukrainians at a candlelit vigil at St