UPDATE: |Every street reminds her of a child she once knew News

Welcome to this week’s ‘Unmissable’, our digest of the stories we think you might have missed.

Every street reminds Ella of a child she once knew, and a situation where behind the locked front door, life’s toughest problems play out. She no longer sees roads and rows of houses when she walks around – she sees people and children and crises.Welcome to Unmissable, our digest of the stories we think you might have missed.

This week we’re leading with a powerful interview with a social worker in Greater Manchester.Nicole Wootton-Cane’s chat with Ella (not her real name) gives a rare insight into the challenges facing those tasked with protecting children.With typically around 15 children on her caseload at any one time, Ella’s days are busy. She has faced verbal abuse and also been threatened with physical violence.

“I’ve had threats to ‘end’ me or kill me or that they’ll get family members to beat me up,” she told Nicole.She also talks movingly about the worst fear any social worker has.“The biggest fear of any social worker is that a child will die,” Ella said. “It is the worst nightmare, missing something that you should have seen.“You are trained to have a rationale for everything, and you do have to think about covering your own back. Because you know if something happens you’ll have to deal with it emotionally, and you’ll also be held responsible.”It’s an eye-opening and worthwhile read about a much misunderstood profession.Among other stories, over the weekend we also published a read on the drug Ketamine, a story about a bitter love triangle and a coroner’s concerns over a GP surgery’s ‘missed opportunity’ in the tragic death of a toddler.On a lighter note Adam Maidment went to eat curry in a giant blue pyramid off the M60 and grabbed a kebab from a post-office.

He should get danger money.

‘My worst nightmare is that a child dies and I’m responsible’

The M.E.N. takes a look behind the scenes at the everyday life of those in our region tasked with protecting our children. Read it here.

‘It used to be niche, now it’s more socially acceptable than cocaine’

Over the last few months, staff at the Delamere addiction rehabilitation clinic have noticed an unmistakeable surge in admissions for a drug they labelled ‘insidious, cunning, baffling, and powerful’ – despite its street reputation as ‘safe’. Read it here.

The love triangle scrap which foreshadowed a beautician’s deadly thirst for revenge

It was a week that, like a ripple in a pond, continues to have repercussions to this day. It was June when those momentous seven days started with a shocking scrap in the street, and ended with a brutal murder. Read it here.

Coroner concerned over GP surgery’s ‘missed opportunity’ in tragic death of 22-month-old toddler

A coroner has written to a GP surgery to raise urgent concerns about the way it handled the case of a 22-month-old toddler who later died with Strep A. Read it here.

‘I ate at the Royal Nawaab at Stockport Pyramid and it was a bit of a manic experience’

The Stockport Pyramid is a Greater Manchester institution. It’s somewhere I always wanted to visit as a child, admiring its sheer scale. Read it here.

‘I tried the kebab served at a Manchester Post Office and discovered something quite special’

I’ll be honest, a takeaway in a Post Office with an outside seating area overlooking a busy Chorlton road isn’t the first place I’d think of to stop by for a lunchtime meal. Read it here.