A charity set up in the memory of a Bury teenager killed in the Manchester Arena bombing has been chosen as The Rock’s new charity of choice.

Liv’s Trust CIO, created in memory of 15-year-old Olivia Campbell Hardy, was the charity which received the most votes in the shopping centre’s bid to find a new charity of choice for 2023/24.

Olivia was a talented ballroom and Latin dancer and singer who wanted to teach. The charity is her living legacy. It provides help for young people in higher education in performing arts, music and dance.

The Rock’s Centre Director, Arnold Wilcox-Wood said: “Over the past few weeks we held a public vote via our website. Almost 1,000 votes were cast and Liv’s Trust CIO is the cause which received the highest number of public votes.

“Our new partnership with the charity will begin from July 1^st and we’re very much looking forward to working together to raise funds in Olvia’s memory.”

The charity was launched by Olivia’s grandfather, Steven Goodman, he said: “We are delighted to be chosen as The Rock’s charity of choice. Music and dance are so good for young people’s wellbeing.

“We hope the exposure we get from being The Rock’s charity of choice will help us support more young people across the borough. To Olivia music was her everything.”

The Rock’s partnership with Jigsaw Bury will conclude at the end of June.

Arnold added: “We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Jigsaw over the past year, thank you also to our shoppers who have been so generous with their donations to the cause over this time and to our retailers for getting on board with any fundraising events we have held. We wish Jigsaw the best of luck going forward.”

A MAJOR lingerie retailer is set to open at The Rock Shopping Centre in Bury this summer.

Ann Summers will open on Thursday 6^th July at the shopping and leisure destination.

The retailer, which specialises in lingerie and adult toys, will occupy the former Paperchase unit on Central Street.

An Ann Summers spokesperson said: “We’re excited to open our new store at The Rock Shopping Centre in Bury and to expand our portfolio of locations in the Greater Manchester area. We are so proud of our fantastic summer product ranges and we’re looking forward to sharing them with Bury shoppers.”

The chain is the latest of a number of brands to join the tenant mix at The Rock in recent months. The centre has recently welcomed Vanilla, Skechers, Kaspa’s Desserts, Shoezone and Urban Radiance.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “Ann Summers will be a great addition to our tenant mix, it’s the sixth new store to open at The Rock in as many months and we wish the new team every success here.”

A clinic specialising in face, hand, hair and body rejuvenation has opened its doors at The Rock Shopping Centre.

Urban Radiance, at 114 The Rock, has been opened by Teresa Solarczyk Burke, with a focus on helping clients slow down the ageing process.

The clinic officially opened on Friday (26^th May) and is running a number of special opening offers across its facials, vitamin injections and anti-wrinkle treatments.

Teresa said: “I am so excited to see my dream of opening my own clinic become a reality, I have always been so interested in skin care and I have worked hard to learn and understand exactly what my clients need. I am proud to be working with and stocking Million Dollar Facial products.”

The 57-year-old from Bury worked in customer service for a number of years before retraining in this field. The clinic will be open seven days a week and is appointment only.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Urban Radiance to The Rock and wish Teresa well in her new venture.”

Hair care brand Wella has researched the links between your zodiac sign and hair habits. You read that right!

Astrology not only guides you on relationships and careers, but it can steer you towards the hairstyle for you. In this study, Wella focused on Sun signs as well as Moon and Rising signs, to cover your entire chart. Find out more below. And once inspired, check out Wella’s products in our Superdrug store next time you visit The Rock Shopping Centre.

Stellar Hair Advice

Firstly, grab a pen and paper, so you can jot down the ideas and products for your hair based on your zodiacs below! If you’re unsure about your full zodiac chart – find out your Sun, Moon and Rising signs with this handy calculator.

Some star-studded stats surfaced from Wella’s study. 55% of Virgos credit their hair for attracting romantic partners, for instance, while 45% of Libras admitted that dirty hair gave them the “ick”.

One thing was for sure, Aries are the most influenced by social media when it comes to their hair – with one in ten reporting they love to try TikTok trends.

Did you know that people with a Sagittarius Sun sign place a high value on their hair appearance? So much so, that it’s advised for them to experiment with different hairstyles and colours to enhance their natural beauty and captivating nature.

While if your sun is in Gemini, and you hate making decisions, Wella has made things easier for you. This sign is known for loving things that come in pair, so Wella suggests you treat your tresses to the Elements Renewing Mask and Leave-In Spray! Both available in our Superdrug store, when you shop at The Rock.

Discover all the style tips and advice based on your zodiac chart on Wella’s Hair-Horoscope page.

Expert astrologer, Lisa Stardust, commented:

“The correlation between astrology and hair habits, as revealed by Wella, comes as no surprise,” comments Lisa, “Our zodiac signs encompass not only our personality traits but also our overall demeanour and self-presentation. Hence, it is only natural to observe Scorpios devoting additional time and attention to perfecting their styles, Leos striving to make their hair stand out as a bold statement, and Cancers bravely venturing beyond their comfort zones to embrace transformative changes. This harmonious fusion of astrology and hair care serves as a powerful reminder that our zodiac signs play a significant role in shaping not just our behaviour, but also how we confidently present ourselves to the world.”

So, never underestimate the role of the stars on your locks – whether your rising sign is in Pisces and you would go to drastic lengths to avoid a bad hair day, or your Moon is in Leo and you only need to spend 5 minutes on your hair as a result of your infectious confidence.

Find the right products for your hair with Wella when shopping at The Rock.

Families enjoyed a day of truly British fun as they joined The Rock Shopping Centre in celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III.

The shopping and leisure destination held a day of free family fun on Bank Holiday Monday (8^th May).

Visitors enjoyed traditional face painting, a treasure hunt around the centre and ceramic crown craft making.

The event was held in a marquee in front of The Range and also included royal stilt walkers and the king’s guards to oversee the activity.

Whilst the fun was free, donations in aid of The Rock’s partner charity were encouraged and £55 was raised for Jigsaw Bury.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We had a wonderful time celebrating this historic occasion with our customers, it was great to see so many families taking part in our treasure hunt around The Rock and those who completed the hunt were awarded with a handful of gold from the King’s treasury…of the chocolate variety! The crown craft station and face painting were busy for the whole day and our royal themed characters were hugely popular. Thank you to everyone who joined us.”

Children and parents visiting The Rock Shopping Centre have enjoyed bags of fun this Easter.

The shopping and leisure destination installed an Easter display featuring three giant shopping bags complete with bunny faces.

The installation, which is in situ until Wednesday (12^th April) has proved to be a big hit with shoppers and families posing for photos.

And on two dates, Wednesday 5^th April and Saturday 8^th April there was a special surprise as the large blue bunny bag came to life.

Children were able to experience the magic of chatting to and engaging with the bunny bag for a chance to win a prize.

Over the two days, hundreds of prizes were given out, including lots of chocolate treats as well as vouchers to spend at The Rock’s retailers.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We’ve had great fun this Easter and the installation has been very popular with children and adults alike. On our event days it was wonderful to see children get into the spirit of things – we saw lots of impressive bunny hops and heard lots of Easter jokes.

“If you’ve stopped by for a photo in front of the installation, we’d love to see it. You can share them with us on social media by tagging @therockbury.”

Hundreds of shoppers were surprised with a free bunch of flowers whilst visiting The Rock Shopping Centre ahead of Mother’s Day.

Over three days we handed out 900 bunches of tulips as part of our campaign celebrating Bury’s blooming marvellous mums.

Our floral-themed event team hosted a pop-up flower cart and gave out flowers as a way to thank mums for all they do.

The flowers were handed out to shoppers including mums, grandmas, daughters, aunties and children on Thursday 16^th, Friday 17^th and Saturday 18^th March.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “This Mother’s Day we wanted to do something special to celebrate mums and we were so pleased to be able to surprise so many of our shoppers over the three day period, it has been lovely to make so many people smile with such a small gesture. We hope it went a long way to brightening their day.”

Shoppers with a sweet tooth are in for a treat following the official opening of Kaspa’s Desserts in Bury.

The dessert house has now opened at The Rock Shopping Centre and offers a range of delicious desserts.

The brand officially opened on Friday 3^rd March and can be found in the block which is also home to Racconto Lounge and Bob and Bert’s.

The eatery has created 25 jobs in the town and sells a huge variety of hot and cold desserts. Their emphasis is on high quality desserts, good customer service and an amazing dining experience for their customers.

A spokesman for Kaspa’s Desserts said: “We are so excited to be open in Bury and we can’t wait to welcome our new customers and for them to try out our delicious desserts. Our menu includes a huge selection of ice creams, gelato, crepes, waffles, milkshakes, smoothies and sundaes.”

The retailer is the latest of a number of brands to join the tenant mix since the turn of the year. Vanilla official opened last week and Skechers is set to open later in March.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “It’s a really exciting time for The Rock Shopping Centre, with a host of new store openings and Kaspa’s is a great addition to our restaurant and leisure offering. We’re sure it will be a big hit with our visitors.”

Shoppers in Bury had to look twice when glitzy roller skaters roamed through The Rock Shopping Centre – all with the aim of spreading the love.

On Saturday 11th February, The Rock’s gameshow host donned the suit of love and hit the mall with two roller skating cherubs to surprise customers ahead of Valentine’s Day.

Visitors were asked some fun questions, or lyrics to classic love songs and if answered correctly they were rewarded with a token of love from The Rock and its retailers.

Throughout the day more than 80 prizes were handed out to customers, including vouchers from The Rock’s retailers.

Arnold Wilcox-Wood, Centre Director at The Rock, said: “We were so pleased to be able to surprise and delight so many shoppers in time for Valentine’s Day – our theatrical brand ambassadors certainly brightened up Bury and made a lot of people smile.

“This is the first of our events for 2023 and it kicked off the promotional calendar in style.’