Festive bin collection changes - Trafford
Trafford Bin Collections Over the Festive Period
As the festive season approaches, One Trafford are reminding residents of temporary changes to bin collections over Christmas and New Year. There will be no collections on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, or New Year’s Day, so residents should check their new 2025-26 bin collection calendar, or visit: www.trafford.gov.uk/christmasbincollections for details.
Christmas Week (22 - 27 December)
Collections on Monday 22, Tuesday 23, and Wednesday 24 December will remain unchanged. Bins normally collected on Thursday 25 (Christmas Day), and Friday 26 (Boxing Day) will instead be collected on Saturday 27 December. Please note that green bins and garden waste will not be collected during this week, and the service will resume on Monday 29 December.
New Year’s Week (29 December - 3 January)
Collections on Monday 29, Tuesday 30, and Wednesday 31 December will remain unchanged, while from Thursday 1 January, all collections will take place one day later than usual, e.g. Thursday collections will move to Friday, and Friday collections to Saturday. Green bin collections will resume as normal, and regular schedules return from Monday 5 January 2026.
Recycling over Christmas
With more time at home, residents are producing more household waste, and recycling correctly is essential. Trafford Council’s Executive Member for Highways, Environmental, and Traded Services, Cllr Stephen Adshead, said: "Our aim this Christmas is to make recycling easy. We’ll collect extra cardboard placed next to your blue bin on the first collection after Christmas. Remember you can put plastic pots, tubs and trays in the black recycling bin - items like chocolate tubs, meat and fruit trays and yogurt pots.
For excess waste, visit recycling centres at Chester Road, Stretford or Woodhouse Lane, Altrincham (open 8am - 6pm daily, except Christmas Day and New Year’s Day). More info: www.recycleforgreatermanchester.com.”
Christmas tree recycling
Real trees can be placed in the green bin (without a garden waste permit) once the decorations and support blocks have been removed. Please chop the tree up and ensure the lid closes.
Trees left beside bins will not be collected.
Alternatively, you can take your tree to a collection centre in the new year (details will be available on our website).
Residents can also support charity through Just Helping, which last year recycled 5,309 trees, saved 84,944 kg of CO₂, and raised £117,675.20 for St Ann’s Hospice, Francis House Children’s Hospice, and other vital local charities. To arrange a collection, residents can register their tree online at: https://just-helping.org.uk/.
For further information please visit: www.trafford.gov.uk/christmasbincollections.
For more details about Christmas tree recycling visit: www.trafford.gov.uk/christmastrees.
Residents rally behind food bank drive at Stockport care home
Residents and staff at Cheadle Grange in Stockport have teamed up with Stockport Foodbank to collect food and essential items for local people in need this winter.
Cheadle Grange resident Carol next to the home's donation basket
Residents and staff at Cheadle Grange in Stockport have teamed up with Stockport Foodbank to collect food and essential items for local people in need this winter.
A new donation point has been set up in the home’s reception on Edgeley Road, where families, visitors and members of the public can drop off non-perishable goods and household essentials. The collection box was delivered to the home mid-December.
Cheadle Grange provides high-quality residential and dementia care for up to 75 residents in a modern, purpose-built setting. The home includes landscaped gardens, bright communal spaces and on-site amenities such as a cinema, café area and hairdressing salon to make day-to-day life enjoyable and engaging. Its residents are regularly involved in local community projects, from school partnerships to seasonal fundraising.
Laura McLeod, Home Manager at Cheadle Grange, said: “Everyone here knows how tough this time of year can be for families, especially with the cost of living still biting. We wanted to do something practical that would make a difference close to home, and supporting the local food bank felt like the right thing to do. It’s something our residents, their families and our team have really got behind – people have been turning up with tins, toiletries and treats for children, which has been lovely to see.
“Many of our residents have lived in Stockport all their lives, so staying involved in the community really matters to them. Taking part in something that helps others gives them a real sense of purpose, and it’s brought a lovely buzz to the home.”
The home’s new collection point will support Stockport Foodbank, part of the Trussell network, which provides emergency food and support to people experiencing hardship. As demand continues to rise, donations of long-life and everyday items are essential to keeping services running.
Gilda Preziosi, Operations Manager at Stockport Foodbank, said: “Whilst it is always our hope that the need for Foodbank help may start to decline, the need for food support in Stockport and the wider area continues to grow, particularly as we move into winter. Partnerships like this make a real difference, not only in keeping our shelves stocked but also in reminding people that their community is behind them. The generosity shown by everyone at Cheadle Grange will help us reach more local families when they need it most.”
Donations can be dropped off at Cheadle Grange Care Home, 263a Edgeley Road, Stockport SK3 0TR, between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Sunday.
Priority items currently needed include tinned vegetables, tinned meat and fish, pasta sauce, tinned puddings, long-life milk and fruit juice, and toiletries.
FINANCE COMMUNITY EXPERT: Claritas Wealth
Budget 2025 – sitting tight was a good option by Tim Walsham, Claritas Wealth.
Budget 2025 – sitting tight was a good option
by Tim Walsham, Claritas Wealth
Before the Autumn 2025 Budget we understandably had many clients concerned that they should be taking action in order to pre-empt changes that may be made by the Chancellor.
Our general stance was that if you were going to do something anyway in the very near future (e.g. making a large gift or taking the lump sum from a pension for a specific purpose) then it maybe made sense to do this before the Budget.
Otherwise the stance was to sit tight and wait. If we acted on every rumour before every Budget then financial planning would be an unstructured, chaotic business.
Yet again this proved to be the right course of action.
There have been some changes but we can now consider them calmy and carefully and continue to construct sensible, robust financial plans.
If you’d like to discuss how you might be affected by the Budget changes, please do get in touch. No charge for a chat.
Manchester Christmas Parade This Sunday 7 December - Everything You Need To Know!
The countdown is on to this year's iconic Manchester Christmas Parade - THE heartwarming event of the festive season for Mancunians and visitors alike, and taking place this weekend on Sunday 7 December.
Now in its fourth year, the annual parade - delivered this year in celebration with Quooker - has been a festive favourite since it was first held in December 2022 and three years on has become an unmissable highlight of the countdown to Christmas in the city.
With brand-new, never-before-seen content for this year and even more community groups taking part than ever, the free family-friendly parade promises smiles, laughter, and jingle bells all the way to help get Manchester in the Christmas spirit.
Led by the fabulous Reindeer Ensemble, the parade will burst into life with a Christmas cracker's worth of festive energy as the spectacular troupe of eight synchronised dancing reindeer with their polished moves and high-spirited performance style, engage the crowd and set the pace for a fun-filled parade through the city streets.
Also new for this year is the fantastic Festive Fantasy Candyland Castle - truly the stuff of fairytales and sugarplum dreams. Standing over four metres tall and surrounded by giant candy cane stilt walkers and dancers, the whimsical fairytale turreted castle slowly rotates as it glides along and is sure to have the youngsters in the crowd ooo-ing and ahh-ing and wide-eyed with wonder.
Hot on the heels of the Candyland Castle (but thankfully not breathing fire!) will be a giant mythical dragon, swooping its way through the parade on the lookout for young princes and princesses to say hello to.
Look out also for a beautiful gigantic Polar Bear visiting Manchester for the first time, a stunning Arctic Fox, a pair of gentle giant-sized reindeer escorted by elves, and the biggest Christmas Tree Fairy you've ever seen who stands over four metres tall, as well as Jack Frost himself accompanied by a troupe of frosty dancers.
Keep an eye out too for the sensational sparkling glitter belles, the biggest dancing sprouts you've ever seen, the naughtiest full-of-mischief roaming Christmas tree, and two grumpy Grandads on wheels who will be doing their best to spoil the Christmas fun.
And of course it wouldn't be the Manchester Christmas Parade without everyone's favourite, the enchanting Snow Queen, mesmerising all as she sits inside her giant snow globe, as it twists and turns its way through the streets.
Bringing up the rear of this year's magical parade will be Manchester's very own spectacular Elf Express, returning to the city once again complete with none other than VIP passenger Santa - hitching a ride to the North Pole, together with his trusty team of elves.
The parade also sees ten different community groups from across the city each playing their part in the parade as musicians, dancers, or performers, following a callout that went to community groups earlier in the year.
Backed from start to finish with a seasonal soundtrack that is sure to have everyone dancing, the parade will feature live music from the likes of the Bloco Band blasting out the Christmas classics, the Fianna Phadraig Pipe Band playing tunes with a Christmassy twist, and Fat Cat Brass with their four horn players and two stilt-walking drummers - as well as the chance to sing along with Elton Wrong piano man as he rides along on his portable stadium stage whilst playing the piano and crooning his way through his top ten of pop hits and show tunes.
Watch out also on the day for plenty of pop-up festive fun around the city.
The city council is working with a range of partners including outdoor arts organisations Global Grooves, Walk the Plank, Handmade Parade, and Fools' Paradise to help make sure that this year's Manchester Christmas Parade is the best yet.
This year's parade will set off at 1 pm from Manchester Cathedral, following a circular route that ends back at the cathedral:
Manchester Cathedral - Victoria Street - Deansgate - John Dalton Street - Cross Street - Market Street - St Mary's Gate - Deansgate - Victoria Street - Manchester Cathedral
There will be two accessible viewing areas available on a first-come basis - one on Cross Street (outside Boots) and one on Deansgate (outside House of Fraser).
People coming into the city centre for the parade should note the busiest sections of the parade route are likely to be Cross Street and St Mary's Gate.
For more information about Christmas in Manchester visit: manchester.gov.uk/christmas