“This is my city now till I die. I absolutely love it."

You will probably know Julie Hesmondhalgh as the legendary actor who took on the much-loved role of trans character Hayley Cropper on ITV’s Coronation Street. 

Julie and host Lisa Morton discuss everything from Julie’s beginnings in Accrington; how she became one of the UK's most cherished performers and how Manchester has now become ‘her city’. You’ll hear about Julie’s deep involvement in local theatre in Greater Manchester, including her key role in the efforts to save Oldham Coliseum theatre from closing forever.

This is a heartwarming conversation about the transformative power of the arts, the importance of activism, and the strength of community.

Julie speaks about the 500 Acts of Kindness project she set up for Greater Mancunians who need them. Click the link above to join the Facebook page and learn how you can help.

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Your host, Lisa Morton, started PR company Roland Dransfield in 1996, one month after the fateful IRA bomb that tore apart the city centre.  From that point, the business, and its team members, have been involved in helping to support the creation of Modern Manchester – across regeneration, business, charity, leisure and hospitality, sport and culture.

To celebrate the 26 years that Roland Dransfield has spent creating these bonds, Lisa is gathering together some of her Greater Mancunian ‘family’ and will be exploring how they have created their own purposeful relationships with the best place in the world.

Connect with Lisa and Roland Dransfield: 

Via our website

On Instagram

On X FKA Twitter

Connect with Julie 

On X

On Instagram

Mentioned in this episode:

We Built This City's partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University

On this episode, We Built This City has partnered with Manchester Metropolitan University.

Manchester Met