Over a thousand Mancunians, including myself, braved the rain to clean up the streets of Manchester this morning following last night’s riots and looting. The majority of the clean up took place in the early hours when police and council workers took to the streets to sweep up glass, bricks and bottles.
All volunteers met in Piccadilly Gardens at 9am, where one youth involved in last nights antics was being escorted through by police who also confiscated the litre bottle of WKD that he was still drinking. Crowds cheered as police marched the youth through and took his details. Volunteers were from all racial backgrounds, religions and age groups. Many of the volunteers were students and young people, hopefully proving that at least some of us respect our city.
The rain may have been pouring but it certainly didn’t dampen the Mancunian community spirit. All the volunteers rallied together with people making hot drinks, face painting ‘I <3 MCR’ and sweeping the city. There was a heavy police presence in the City centre today with lots of people congratulating and thanking individual officers for their work both last night and today.
The atmosphere was a strange one however. There was a great sense of tension, anger and disgust at the wreckage of shops and businesses. Commuters and shoppers were stopping to take pictures of smashed windows and the burnt Miss Selfridge store. It’s hard to put into words the feeling in Manchester today, a mix of anger, disbelief and pride.
Despite difference in musical taste, football teams or backgrounds Manchester has always been a city that stood united in pride for our city. There was a definite sadness in the air today that a group of people could do such mindless damage.
See more Photos of the cleanup here...
10
Aug
2011
2011
issue
#32
#32
by Grace Sinclair
Dawn Raid Q and A 
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