Mayor's Blog August 2009
Mayoral Blog 2009/10
Councillor John B. Sullivan JP, GNSM, LTCL
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Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the summer.
Francoise, Ben and myself had a lovely couple of weeks in France visiting Francoise’s parents.
It’s good to get back to work though and back into a routine.
Engagements began on Wednesday morning this week when I was invited to visit a new kitchen showroom and training centre in Ashton. Rubicon developments have recently opened a business in Katherine Street. Not only do they retail kitchens but they also offer training to fitted furniture installers. They are a recognised trusted trader in Derbyshire and will be applying for similar status in Tameside. It was a very interesting and informative visit and I wish the team every success with this new venture.
On Friday, I was pleased to attend the Tom Pendry University Scholarship Awards Presentation at Ashton Town Hall. This local scholarship scheme, is funded by the Stamford Group and named after Lord Pendry in recognition of his long and valued service to this area.
Schools and colleges in Tameside with post 16 students are invited annually to nominate suitable candidates, who live in Tameside, with the final choices being made through assessment and interview. The Stamford Group are especially concerned with promoting manufacturing opportunities for young people by helping students who show a potential for success in industry or commerce. To reflect this, the awards usually go to students who are accepted for a degree standard course in mathematics, science, technology or business related subjects. It is a wonderful initiative and I was delighted to attend the presentation ceremony and to offer my congratulations and best wishes to this year’s winning students.
On Saturday morning, it was an honour for Francoise and I to visit and officially open two new GP Practices in Guide Bridge and Droylsden. The surgeries are owned by Go To Doc Primary Care, a subsidiary of Go To Doc Out of Hours Service and their aim is to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live in the Borough will have the same access to a GP as anyone else. The surgeries will provide extended opening hours including evening and weekend opening. We wish the GPs and their teams well and I’m sure the new surgeries will be welcomed and greatly appreciated by the local community.
From here, Francoise and I travelled over to the Corner Garden at Patterdale Close, Stalybridge for a Cream Tea event at the invitation of the RASH Princesses. RASH also known as Ridgehill, Arlies, Springs and Hague Community Forum, works tremendously hard within the local area and the princesses do a wonderful job to promote and complement this work. I was pleased to present the young ladies with certificates in recognition of their achievements and to thank them for their efforts throughout the year. It was a lovely afternoon and it was good to see the local community and particularly family groups supporting this community event.
There were no engagements on Sunday so that brings the week to an end.
Thank you for joining me and I hope to see you next time.
Best wishes
It has been a relatively quiet, but important Mayoral week this week; in fact we have had only 4 engagements.
The first engagement was on Monday evening when Francoise and I were delighted to be able to welcome to the Town Hall members of the Freedom Club in Hyde. You may remember that I officially opened the club in June. It is a new social group which meets once a week for people with mental and physical disabilities. Our guests were thrilled to visit the Town Hall, especially the Mayor’s Parlour and they thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
On Tuesday I had the Honour of attending the funeral service of the late Corporal Joseph Etchells.
As you are probably well aware “Joey” was killed whilst serving in Afghanistan with the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
I was accompanied by the Mayoress, Francoise.
Also attending were The Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester 
and other Civic dignitaries’ from Mossley and Oldham, as well as senior officers from the military and beyond. The church path from the lych-gate was served with a Guard of Honour from the Royal British Legion.
It was an exceptional turnout and the streets were lined with people, friends, neighbours and soldiers from “Joeys” regiment. The service was very moving and emotional. The people of Tameside’s condolences and thoughts are with the family members at this time.
On Wednesday I was pleased to host the first in a series of receptions for Council employees. We have many wonderful people working for Tameside MBC. People who do a fantastic job and who continually show outstanding commitment and dedication to their work. By hosting these ‘thank you’ receptions for our staff, it is my way, on behalf of the Council and indeed on behalf of the citizens of Tameside, to acknowledge their hard work and success and to show that their efforts are very much appreciated. The first group of employees to join me were members of the Community Services Adult Services Team and the event acknowledged the individual contributions that have made this the best service of its kind. We had a lovely afternoon and I was delighted to be supported at the celebration by the Council’s Chief Executive, Executive Director for Community Services and Councillor Brenda Warrington the Cabinet Deputy with responsibility for Personal and Community Services.
On Thursday evening, I recorded an interview at Dukinfield Town Hall for the Tameside Talking News. Very soon, the listeners will be able to hear about my role as Civic Mayor and about some of the engagements I have had the pleasure of attending.
And that’s it for this week.
This will be my last blog for a little while as I am taking a couple of weeks off.
Enjoy the rest of the summer and I will see you all soon.
Take care.
Well things have really quietened down now during August as of course a lot of people are on summer holiday.
On Monday evening, Francoise and I were pleased to welcome to the Mayor’s Parlour the new President of the local Soroptimist group , Mrs Jill Dewsnap and guests. We had a lovely evening with Jill at the Soroptimist Annual Dinner in June and it was nice to be able to repay some of her kindness and warm hospitality.
On Tuesday evening, I was delighted to be able to welcome members of the Probin Mela Luncheon Club in Hyde to the Town Hall. The gentlemen enjoyed their visit and were fascinated by the history of the Mayor's parlour and Town Hall building.
There were no engagements on Wednesday but on Thursday, I was invited to join the Members of the Dukinfield District Assembly at a special lunch in honour of Viscount Lord Mackintosh of Halifax, the great grandson of John Mackintosh, a former resident of Dukinfield and the founder of the world famous Mackintosh Confectionery Company. It was a very pleasant afternoon and the guest of honour certainly seemed to enjoy learning about the town.
From here, I attended a Roadpeace Remembrance Service at the Grange Community and Resource Centre in Beswick, Manchester. The service was held in the Memorial Garden at the centre in memory of all people killed in road accidents but especially Jodie Webb and Joanne Greenwood, two local girls who were tragically killed on the 6th August 2000. It was a very moving ceremony and it was heartbreaking to see the grief suffered by so many families.
On Friday morning, I joined the Executive Leader of the Council and Chief Executive for a guided tour of Nexus House, the new Greater Manchester Police Serious Crime HQ which has recently been located to a very impressive new building on Ashton Moss .
I then travelled over to the Indian Community Centre on Union Road in Ashton to help members of the local community celebrate the Hindu Festival of Raksha Bandhan. This annual festival celebrates brotherhood and love and is celebrated on the full moon in the month of Sravana in the lunar calendar. During the ceremony, I was pleased to accept 4 friendship bracelets or Rakhis and a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the Mayoress and in return, I presented the hosts with some Indian sweets as a token of my appreciation.
There were no Mayoral engagements over the weekend so it was nice to be able to catch up with some jobs at home.
And that’s it for another week.
Take care and I hope to see you soon.
Regards.