The tragedy of the Manchester bomb was met with an outpouring of human kindness. Here, the M.E.N looks at some of the many ways that good came from bad.
Many of the 22 who died were just children. They never got the chance to see their futures.
But that hasn’t stopped them from helping others to achieve their dreams and goals.
In the months following the bombing, several families launched charities and trusts in memory of those who lost their lives.
The Remembering Nell Foundation pays tribute to 14-year-old Nell Jones.
It aims to support disadvantaged children and young people in the north west, by helping them to achieve and giving them a better chance of a bright future.
The foundation raises money for three local charities – the Wingate Centre in Nantwich, Cheshire, Manchester-based Wood Street Mission, and Autism Cheshire.
The Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust was set up by the families of Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, to help aspiring performers and sportsmen and women achieve their dreams.
Chloe’s dad Mark Rutherford told the M.E.N when it was launched: “It would be amazing a few years down the line to see someone at the Olympics or on the West End, doing what they love because of Chloe and Liam, it’s given us something to focus on.”
Teenager Eilidh MacLeod, from the Scottish island of Barra, was a talented musician, and loved playing in her pipe band.
As well as fundraising for a permanent memorial to her in her hometown, her family have also been raising money to support Sgoil Lionacleit Pipe Band, so that other members can continue Eilidh’s passion.
Many other families – including that of Coronation Street superfan Martyn Hett and Olivia Campbell-Hardy – have also raised money in memory of their loved ones, with several others due to launch trusts over the coming months.
The artists covering Greater Manchester in bees
Several months ago illustrator Myro Coates set out on a mission to paint 22 bees on 22 shop windows to mark the anniversary of the attack and raise money for the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund.
Never did she expect that by May 21, she and two friends would be painting more than 200 bees for businesses across Greater Manchester, raising an incredible £5,000.
From restaurants to banks, schools to shops – everyone wanted their own window tribute.
The 28-year-old, from Prestwich, said: “I wanted to do something to mark the day, but also to do something that would still be there when the anniversary has come and gone.
“I love the idea of people walking to work and seeing bees all around them, the tribute lives on after the tragedy.”
The complete strangers who became friends for life
After the bombing, people from across the globe showed their solidarity with the city by getting bee tattoos.
Hundreds of people of all ages queued for hours on end to be inked with the city’s worker bee emblem, which became a symbol of unity and defiance in the wake of the attack.
Alison Deighton, 45, stood in line for almost 12 hours outside two different tattoo studios with her daughter and husband. In the first queue outside Sacred Art in Chorlton, they struck up conversations with seven other people, all wanting to support the Manchester Tattoo Appeal in aid of those affected by the blast. Understandably, artists at Sacred Art couldn’t tattoo everyone that day, so the group headed in convoy to Sharp Art Studios in Handforth.
One after another, they received their bees, which also signified the beginning of a new friendship.
The group – who have a Facebook group called ‘The Big Queue’ – met up over Christmas, and on May 27 will head back to the tattoo parlour for a new anniversary tattoo.
Alison, who works for the Red Cross, said: “It was a strange day, every now and then you’d have this moment of reflection of why you were there.
“But there were lots of brilliant moments and soul searching as we remembered those affected by the awful event that brought us all together.”
The Manchester Tattoo Appeal, set up by tattoo artist Sam Barber, raised over £500,000.
For more information visit www.manchestertattootrust.com .
The incredible families that offered their beds to the families of the injured children
When news of the Arena attack broke, the families of some of the region’s sickest children offered to give up their rooms at Ronald McDonald House in a bid to help those affected.
It was a selfless gesture, and one that touched the hearts of staff and volunteers at the charity.
Thankfully the House, which is next to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, was able to provide accommodation for every single family affected by the atrocity that wanted it.
It also offered support to those on the wards, ensuring they had everything they needed in the days, weeks and months following the blast.
In total RMH – which runs purely on donations – cared for 11 families whose children were injured at the Arena.
Staff and volunteers worked around the clock to ensure their relatives wanted for nothing, be it clothes, food, or simply a space to think.
They were also overwhelmed by donations from other families and members of the public.
The people that saved lives by giving blood
On the night of May 22 into May 23 last year, the Blood and Transplant team made 21 deliveries to hospitals across Greater Manchester, 15 of which were taken by emergency vehicles with flashing blue lights.
Isabelle Orford from Salford donated 10 days earlier. The 25-year-old’s rare O negative donation was ‘blue lighted’ to Salford Royal Hospital.
Simon Hedges, 48, from Chorlton, gave blood on May 18 – just days before the attack.
His O negative donation was also ‘blue lighted’ to Manchester Foundation Trust (MFT), which runs the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital.
Travel and Tourism student Beth Johnson, from Irlam, is also O negative. She donated blood less than a week before the bombing and it too was blue lighted to MFT.
Their blood saved lives.
In the days following the attack, the number of registered blood donors in Greater Manchester soared by an incredible 1180 per cent.
Desperate to help in whatever way they could, people flocked in their hundreds to give blood, some standing for hours in queues.
They were not asked to do this, there was no appeal from the NHSBT team, it was just the incredible reaction by the public to the atrocity.
Photographs shared on social media showed dozens of people waiting in line at the two donation centres in the city centre, and there were also sessions running in Stockport, Denton, and Bolton.
Thankfully there was no shortage of blood for those injured in the blast, in fact there was plenty, and many people wanting to donate were asked to come back in the weeks following.
