Meet Winderella: the wind turbine powering Manchester's ice rink

This Friday, Skate Manchester officially opens in the centre of Manchester. Our 15-metre tall, beautifully pink turbine will be partially powering the ice rink, proving that clean, green energy can be just as magical as any Christmas tree.

Onshore wind is one of the UK’s cheapest, greenest power sources, and what better way to show it off than helping to light up an ice rink? We built the turbine in just one day, proving renewable energy can be fun, easy and bring real benefits to local communities.

We held a competition to name the star of the show, and the entries absolutely blew us away (pun very much intended). After much deliberation, we crowned two finalists: ‘Spinilla Ice’ and ‘Winderella’, and the creative minds behind the names walked away with 10 VIP tickets to Skate Manchester. We put both names to a nail-biting public vote, and the people's choice is... Winderella!

But here's what we're really proud of: this partnership is all about community. We're helping over 100 community groups get on the ice, giving more than 5,000 people the chance to skate for free or at heavily discounted rates.

We'll also be inviting local recipients of our Octopus Kits for Kids programme for free skating sessions. Because if we're already kitting out grassroots football teams across the UK, why not get them on the ice too?

If you're already with Octopus, we've got a treat for you: Octoplus members can grab 2-for-1 skating tickets at both Skate Manchester and The Queen's House Ice Rink in Greenwich through the app. Plus, we'll be providing thousands of £5 community skate tickets for local groups throughout the season.