Well after a glorious weekend in France, I certainly think we brought the good weather back with us, what a lovely week!

As you will have read in my last Blog, Monday was taken up with the journey home from Montigny but I was pleased to get straight back into work on Tuesday when I welcomed to the Mayor’s Parlour representatives of The Gideons International. My guests presented me with a lovely presentation Bible as a keepsake of my year in office and explained a little to me about The Gideons and their work.

Francoise and I had an early start on Wednesday morning when we attended the annual ceremonial hanging of the High Sheriff’s portrait at the Law Courts in Manchester. From here, Francoise went into work and I travelled over to Hyde for the official opening of The Grafton Centre – the new Active Aging Centre. The Grafton Centre may be better known to some of you as Pensioners House. The building has undergone some improvement works and has taken on a new persona to become the Borough’s very first Active Aging Centre for people 55 and over. The programme for the centre is now run by the Council and volunteers from local voluntary groups. It was especially nice to see the children from Godley Primary School taking part in the launch event and working alongside some of the older people. It was a great honour for me to officially open the centre and also to present two benches for the garden. One bench had been donated in honour of our Honorary Alderman of the Borough, Mr Joe Fitzpatrick and the second bench had been dedicated in memory of the late Mrs Ena Threlfall MBE. Both Joe and Ena are renowned for their work at Pensioners House. The benches are a tribute to them both and a thank you for their dedication to the centre over the years.

On Wednesday evening, Francoise and I were invited to attend a ‘Redeeming our Communities’ event at Wythenshawe Forum. The event was jointly hosted by Greater Manchester Police and City Links and brought together leaders from the Police, Local Authorities, Government and faith organisations to discuss how we can develop meaningful partnerships that can transform our communities. The Keynote Speakers included Mr Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and Louise Casey, the former head of the Government’s Respect Unit and the author of ‘Engaging Communities in Fighting Crime’. It was a very interesting and inspiring event and hopefully all delegates will now help to take this initiative forward and work together to reduce crime and disorder within our local communities.

On Thursday I spent a lovely morning with a group of children from Chernobyl. The young people were visiting this area as guests of The Chernobyl Children Lifeline Appeal. They had a wonderful time and were very excited about visiting the Mayor’s Parlour. Hopefully they will take home with them some happy memories of their visit.

Later, I attended an Open Day at Denton West End Primary School where I was given the opportunity of having a look around the classrooms and meeting both children and staff. Children from Nursery to Year 5 were taking part in maths activities and the older children in Year 6 had organised an extremely enterprising mini-industry sale. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and was made to feel very welcome by the Headteacher and her team.

On Thursday evening, Francoise and I headed over to St Paul’s Church in Stalybridge as guests of the local Brownie Pack. It was a social event for the Brownies and their parents but during the course of the evening, Francoise and I were asked to help judge a poster-making competition that the girls had been involved in as part of the Girlguiding Changing the World Challenge. The challenge aims to inspire young people to make a difference to their world by raising both funds and awareness and by taking direct action. From a number of projects on offer, the Brownies had chosen two, one of which was ‘The Railway Children’ – an association who seek to help children who run away from home putting themselves in danger on the streets. The girls had worked extremely hard on their posters to highlight the dangers to these young people, Francoise and I had the difficult task of helping to choose a winner who will now go forward to the regional finals. We really enjoyed taking part and were pleased to see how much effort and understanding the Brownies had put into the project.

On Friday morning, I was given the great honour of officially opening the Freedom Club in Hyde. The Freedom Club is a brand new social and activity group for disabled people and now meets each Friday morning at the Zion Congregational Church. The club already has 70 members signed up from across the Borough. This is a magnificent start and I really do wish them every success.

Later, Francoise and I joined the ladies of our local Soroptimst Group for their Annual Dinner at Audenshaw Masonic Hall. It was a lovely evening with wonderful food and excellent company and we were delighted to be able to support the occasion.

On Saturday, the weather stayed glorious for the Borough’s Armed Forces Day Celebration in Victoria Park. Tameside joined the rest of the nation in giving thanks for past and continuing contributions made by all those who serve or have served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. The event was very well attended by people of all ages and included a short service at the park’s War Memorial and performances from The Adamson Military Band and a wartime tribute singer. There was even a huge temporary dance floor erected in the park where people could enjoy the performances and take the opportunity to join in with swing jive dancing. It was a fantastic day and my thanks and congratulations go to the Council’s Arts and Events Team and indeed to everybody who helped make the occasion so successful.

It was another full day on Sunday and once again the weather helped the events go well.

We started off with a photocall and book signing event on Ashton Market Ground. Authors, Philip and David Williams were on site to sign copies of the updated edition of their book ‘To Market To Market’ which tells the history of Ashton Market. The revised book includes more photos and information to the original chapters and also carries a new chapter which details events from the last decade including of course the fire and subsequent re-opening. I can highly recommend the book for anyone who, like myself, is interested in local history.

Francoise and I then travelled over to Stalybridge for the town’s annual Carnival Parade. It was good to see so many people getting involved in the day and it was particularly nice to see groups of families lined up along the route and seeing them taking the time together to enjoy the event.

As the procession made its way into Cheethams Park, we had to make a quick exit to proceed to our next engagement at the War Memorial on top of Werneth Low.

Each year, the Hyde War Memorial Trust and the Country Park Rangers host a Peace Day Service at the cenotaph to remember those men and women who have given their lives in all conflicts in order to bring freedom for us and for future generations. It was a very emotive service as together we remembered and gave thanks.

The afternoon ended with light refreshments in the Visitor Centre and this brought to a close our Mayoral engagements for the week.

It has been another busy but enjoyable and exciting week and Francoise and I are having a wonderful time. We have much to look forward to over the coming months including my Mayoral Procession and Civic Service and a visit to Buckingham Palace for a Royal Garden Party. I hope you can join us again to see how we go on.

Bye for now.

Best wishes.

I’m actually writing this week’s Blog on my journey home from France after spending a wonderful weekend in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, Denton’s twin town.

Francoise, Ben and myself were accompanied on the visit by Peter and David, two of the Mayoral Attendants. We left home in the Mayoral car on Friday morning and arrived in Montigny late the same evening.

Over the weekend we attended a Festival of Music and Art hosted by the town of Montigny and attended by representatives of all its twin towns of Denton, Kierspe in Germany, Marostica in Italy, San Fernando in Spain, Lunca in Romania and Wicklow in Ireland. As you can see there was a real international feel to the event and it was fantastic to see people from Denton getting involved.

The whole weekend was very well organised and we made some lovely new friends.

We felt especially privileged to be given a very comprehensive guided tour of Montigny by the Mayor and his wife, Michel and Agnes Laugier. This included a visit to his office in the 'Hotel de Ville' where we saw the original Twinning Charter between Denton and Montigny. There was a poignant moment when we saw the late Cllr Martin Wareing's name on the Charter, as the then President of Denton's Twinning Committee.

We were all treated with great respect and affection by the Mayor and indeed everyone we met, and I was delighted to be asked to release hundreds of celebratory helium filled balloons into the air at the closing ceremony.

The Members of the Denton Town Twinning Association obviously take their friendship with Montigny very seriously. They give their time and energies freely and are passionate about creating opportunities for people of all ages but particularly for young people who wish to broaden their outlook and realise ambitions. There is a happy working relationship between Denton and Montigny and it has been both an honour and a pleasure for me and my family to support them over the weekend, long may this friendship continue.

Looking back to the start of the week, on Tuesday afternoon I was pleased to welcome the School Council from Russell Scott Primary School in Denton to the Town Hall. The children and I had a lovely afternoon together. They were all very well behaved and were interested to learn about my role as Civic Mayor. I gave them a short guided tour of the Mayor’s Parlour and the Council Chamber and we finished the day off with some orange juice and biscuits.

I had a really busy day on Wednesday. The car collected me from home shortly after 8am and we travelled over to Ashton Moss to help wave off this year’s Convoy of Happiness. It was quite something to see all the limousines lined up and it was a pleasure to chat to the children and their families. It was all very exciting and everybody was geared up for a fantastic day in Blackpool.

From here, I visited Bradley Green Primary School in Hyde. The school has recently been awarded an Eco Flag and I was delighted to be asked to make the formal presentation and to offer a few words of congratulations during morning assembly. The children and staff have worked extremely hard to achieve Eco status and I know everybody at the school is very proud of their success. Well done Bradley Green.

And then from school I came into the Town Hall for a photocall and presentation ceremony on the Town Hall steps and boy did it rain! Despite the atrocious weather, I was pleased to take part in the presentation of a wheelchair adapted vehicle to the Volunteer Centre Tameside. The vehicle has been donated to the centre by Age Concern and Help The Aged for its ‘Miles of Smiles’ Project – a scheme where volunteer drivers collect people for medical appointments. Many people find it difficult to get to hospitals, dentists surgeries, chiropodists, health centres, or even their GP's surgery on time as they cannot use public transport easily, yet they do not qualify for the ambulance service. In order to meet this very real need, the Volunteer Centre Tameside was asked by the local Primary Care Trust to develop a Volunteer Car Scheme to ensure that appointments are met and patients receive the medical attention they desperately need. The scheme has been very successful and I’m sure the new fully adapted vehicle will be of great benefit in the future.

On Thursday afternoon, I was delighted to attend the first of this year’s Pupil Achievement Awards at Dukinfield Town Hall. Each year, the Council, supported by The Stamford Group, put on two ceremonies to recognise the achievements of young people attending the Borough’s schools. Each school in Tameside is asked to nominate two students to receive an outstanding achievement award. I was delighted to take part in the ceremony and was pleased to assist with the presentation of certificates. All the young people had worked really hard and their efforts deserved this recognition and success.

And that brings another Mayoral week to an end, I’ll sign off now as we continue on our journey home. I hope to see you again soon.

Best wishes.

Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the wonderful weather last week. It was certainly an added bonus for some of our events.

Our Mayoral engagements started on Tuesday evening when Francoise and I were invited to The Place in Manchester for a Reception hosted by the Consul of Italy to celebrate the Italian National Day.

On Wednesday night we attended the Annual Volunteer Awards Evening at Dukinfield Town Hall. It was an honour and privilege to meet some of Tameside’s unsung heroes and to help acknowledge their valuable work in the Borough. It was my pleasure to present certificates and special achievement awards in recognition of their service.

On Thursday evening we joined the Tame Valley Scout Association for their Annual General Meeting at St John’s Church Hall in Dukinfield. Once again, Francoise and I were pleased to be able to meet volunteers and to thank them for their hard work and their precious gift of time.

Friday was an incredibly busy day. In the morning I was invited to attend the Annual Walk of Witness in Mossley. The weather was perfect and the event was very well attended.

Later, Francoise, Ben and the Deputy Mayor and her Consort accompanied me to the funeral of our dear friend and colleague, Councillor Martin Wareing MBE JP.

It was a very sad occasion but the service was lovely and there were hundreds of people in attendance to say farewell to Martin, a true gentleman and a very popular and dedicated Councillor, we will all miss him greatly.

On Friday evening, Francoise and I travelled the Whit Friday circuit to visit as many brass band contests as possible. Here in Tameside we are extremely proud of the brass band tradition that exists within our Borough – a tradition that not only survives but which seems to flourish and grow year on year. For the 20th consecutive year, the Tameside Whit Friday Brass Band Contest once again provided an unrivalled evening of musical entertainment that provided the opportunity to hear some of Britain’s finest brass bands. It was a splendid evening and I would like to extend my personal thanks and congratulations to all eleven Tameside contests for their continued hard work and dedication. The time and effort given by the individual contest committees is a real achievement and without them the event wouldn’t happen at all.

On Saturday morning, I attended a charity coffee morning at the home of Dr Agarwal. The event had been organised to help raise money for the Tameside Blind Association and included a raffle, bring and buy sale and instrumental interludes. Sadly, Dr Agarwal passed away just a few days before but it was his wish that the event still go ahead and I am sure he would have been pleased.

On Sunday Francoise and I headed over to Longford Park Stadium in Stretford for the Greater Manchester Athletic Association’s Annual Track and Field Championship Meeting. There was an excellent turn out of both athletes and spectators and we really enjoyed the occasion. It was especially nice to be asked to present some of the medals and to watch some of the events organised for the younger age groups – undoubtedly our stars of the future.

And that wraps up another week, I’m not sure where the time is going but the days are just flying by.

I hope you can join me next time.

Bye for now.