It's time to say goodbye to single-use plastic for good.
We all love a takeaway coffee, but you're about to love it even more when you hear about Delete.
Delete is a revolutionary new system determined to help decrease the environmental implications of disposable cups across Sheffield.
The mission is simple, to ‘Delete’ the need for single-use plastics, one cup at a time.
Eleven coffee shops and cafes in Sheffield have joined an alliance to take part in the Delete system reusable cup trial.
Together, forming a network which will keep reusable Delete Cups circulating throughout the city centre, instead of immediately contributing to landfill.
So, how does it work?
Image: The Sheff
Any hot or cold drink purchased from a participating venue can be served in a Delete Cup – a reusable option made from polypropylene.
Each cup has a microchip on the base which is scanned to ‘activate’ it and when this occurs a refundable £1 deposit will be added to the sale, and the process begins.
When taking the cup away, customers have two weeks to return it to any of the locations in the trial by dropping it into one of the special Delete collection points. Cups are then collected by the baristas to re-scan it back into the system for the £1 deposit to be refunded. The cups are then cleaned and put back into circulation.
It really is that simple.
If 1,000 plastic-lined paper cups are substituted for the Delete option, an estimated carbon emissions saving of 110 kg CO₂e can potentially be made, which is the equivalent of driving 350km in a petrol car. How mega is that?
Owner, Ali Hood, says: “We’re a nation of hot drink lovers and coffee and café culture is growing rapidly in the UK but 2.5bn single-use cups are being thrown away each year. The purpose of Delete is to introduce a solution that’s easier than ever for all to get involved in and ultimately make throwaway cups obsolete.
"We believe the trial here in Sheffield will demonstrate how easily Delete Cups can be scaled throughout the UK, and beyond. The software collects lots of fantastic, real-time data, showing the locations each cup has been to and how many times it has been scanned, meaning each shop can engage customers in unique, ever-evolving stories of how the local community is making a difference. Crucially the software does not collect any data on customers, including bank details."
The list of participating coffee shops are:
Café 420
Cloud Coffee
Curiositea Sheffield
Marmadukes
Mesters Market
South Street Kitchen
TA
The Chakra Lounge
Union Street
To find your nearest coffee shop and more about Delete, take a look at their website here.
Yard Act are back as they announce first round of UK headline dates since 2024.
We are so, so back.
It's been a few years, but Yard Act have just announced a small selection of UK gigs for later in the year including a homecoming gig at the O2 Academy on Friday 6 November.
The dates follow the band’s first show of the year at the 6Music Festival this Friday across The Pennines in Manchester.
After Leeds, the lads will be performing shows at the O2 Victoria Warehouse on Friday 13 November before making their way down south to the O2 Academy in Brixton on Thursday 26 November.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
Yard Act completed the touring for their critically acclaimed second album Where’s My Utopia? with a victory lap back home at the 5000 capacity Millennium Square in Leeds in August 2024.
It was a record that brought a stark change of pace to the acerbic, post-punk of their debut, embracing something altogether more playful and bringing a different energy. It shifted the dynamic on stage too, with the addition of dancing backing singers and additional musicians and openly challenged listeners to reconsider who they thought Yard Act were.
Since then, the band have remained active, whether writing Where’s My Utopia’s follow-up on scratching the itch to get back on stage, heading out across the UK and Europe with The Hives, which was preceded by an intimate one-off show at Blackpool Tower last May.
Following a lengthy stint in the studio, the band now look to the Autumn for three big UK dates and we cannot wait.
Tickets go on artist presale from 10am on Wednesday 25 March before hitting general sale at 10am on Friday 27 March. Sign up here.
Estimated to be worth around £45 million, the Grade II-listed structure renovations won't begin for a little while just yet, but it is set to increase the capacity of the space by more than 50%.
Announced on Tuesday, 24 March, the major refurb will be partly funded by public money and topped up by the private sector and "philanthropic partners".
The UK government and Sheffield City Council will be pumping in approximately £35m, with a further £10m being added through the investment mentioned above.
Soon to allow the theatre to scale up or down in size, the hope is that the new 'in the round' format will enable the Crucible to serve its arts and sporting audiences for decades to come, as well as opening the big Northern stage up to new opportunities.
Due to start in the summer of 2028, it's still unclear as to the exact completion date, but the plans are in support of confirmation that the annual snooker tournament will stay put.
A fresh agreement with the WSC will see them stay in Sheff until at least 2045, with the Crucible's number of seats set to jump from just under 1,000 to 1,480.
It's also said there is an option in the deal to extend the contract until 2050, and as one of the biggest competitive events that comes to the city year in and year out, you would expect them to push hard for the Council and partners to push hard for this, too.
Credit: Bread and Butter PR (supplied)
Dan Walker, Chair of Sheffield Theatres Trust, said in a statement: "The Crucible is a wonderful theatre with a brilliant reputation, and the positive impact of this investment will be seen for years to come.
"As a proud resident of Sheffield, I know the importance of snooker to our city, but this isn’t only good news for Sheffield: this is amazing news for the north of England and the whole of the UK."
If all goes to plan, the overhaul should take around 18 months, with productions being hosted in the Lyceium and the newest room, the Montgomery.
All the while, the Sheffield Theatres will continue to present new work both domestically and around the globe over this period, with more details coming this autumn 2026.
Clementine Hall -
27th October 2025 
