Just like Paris in November 2015, Nice on the 14 of July, Berlin last December, and Westminster in March – the streets of Manchester on Tuesday morning were covered in blood.
22 people, most of them children, with 60 or 70 years of life left in them were murdered in cold blood by a man, not much older than themselves, using a warped interpretation of a religion he hardly followed to justify his savagery. These are dark days we’re living in.
But out of the tragedy, the darkness, the upset and the heartbreak, the people of Manchester have come together in a way I have never seen anywhere before.
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On St Ann’s Square police armed with machine guns stroll up and down the road where there is a floral tribute to the 22 departed. A few hundred or so bouquets of flowers placed meticulously on the ground to mark this city’s respect and sorrow for those that were taken from us – and for what?
In the aftermath of the evil which took place on Monday evening, a JustGiving page set up by the Manchester Evening News to raise £2,000,000 for the families of those killed and injured in the attack, has reached almost £1,700,000.
The money has poured in from every corner of the globe from people just like me and you desperate to do whatever we can to help out – but that isn’t to say there aren’t a few familiar faces putting in a handful of money themselves.
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Marshall Matthers, also known as (you know it) Eminem, gave an undisclosed donation to the fundraiser while posting a link to the JustGiving page to his Twitter and to its 30 million disciples.
As well as Mathers, Manchester’s own Liam Gallagher announced a series of gigs in the wake of the attack with profits going to the same appeal.
Announcing his first solo tour on Twitter this morning, Gallagher revealed he would be playing the Manchester Ritz on Tuesday 30 May followed by gigs in London, Dublin, and Glasgow.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said:
I just knew I had to. I’m not in it for the money. The gig was going to happen anyway and we all have to do what we can.
I want to try and help pick people up. People like me, doing what we do, it’s our duty to give people a good time.
And yes, they will be playing Oasis songs.
Hopefully the donations from everybody will come as some consolation to those grieving and injured at this sad time.
